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How did these films get away with CGI this bad!
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00:00So, until recently, computer-generated imagery was mainly used for movies that focus on action,
00:05fantasy, or superheroics. But as cinema keeps on evolving, so too do the tools of the medium.
00:12In today's world, green screen, motion capture, and CGI are used more than ever.
00:17But what's interesting about this development is how you can usually tell if a movie is good or not
00:21based purely upon the quality of their special effects. If the computer-generated imagery is
00:25unpolished, it's a sure sign the film isn't up to snuff. But every now and again, a movie will come
00:30along that the whole world will fall in love with, despite the fact that the VFX really aren't up to
00:35standard. And that's what we're here to talk about today. I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:39and these are 10 Great Movies with Terrible CGI.
00:4210. Deep Blue Sea
00:44In Deep Blue Sea, a group of marine explorers battle a school of super-intelligent sharks.
00:49Now, based on that storyline alone, you'd assume that this would be a dumb bee movie in the same
00:53vein as Birdemic or Maximum Overdrive, right? But even though Deep Blue Sea could have been
00:58trashy schlock, it's elevated by an excellent cast, including Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J,
01:04and Thomas Jane. On top of that, it's got some genuinely great jump scares, including when
01:08Stalin Skarsgård's character gets his arm ripped off by a great white. But let's not forget what
01:13Deep Blue Sea is best remembered for, which is after Jackson's character gives an uplifting monologue,
01:18a shark comes out of nowhere and rips him to pieces. Because you genuinely don't see it coming,
01:23this moment is regarded as one of the best jump scares in cinema.
01:27That's why it's rather ironic how the film's defining moment happens to have the worst special
01:31effect. Not only does the computer-generated shark look like it's composed of rubber,
01:35Jackson's CG counterpart looks hilariously unfinished and contorts its limbs like a ragdoll
01:41rather than a human being.
01:429. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
01:45Contrary to popular belief, there was way less computer-generated imagery in Harry Potter
01:50than you would actually believe. Many moments that seemingly rely on CGI use alternative SFX
01:55like scaling, animatronics, puppetry, green screen, wire work, and forced perspective.
02:00The reason why the directors of the franchise limit digital effects is because they're expensive
02:04and time-consuming. But another reason why CGI wasn't commonly used is, well, it makes everything
02:10look a bit crap, especially in the first film.
02:12In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry and Ron get into a scuffle with a troll in a bathroom.
02:17Because this is the first monstrous creature that we've seen up close, this should feel like a
02:21magical and scary moment for the viewer. But because of the ogre's janky movements and blurred
02:26animations, he looks downright shoddy. To add insult to injury, Harry is blatantly replaced with a CG
02:32image in certain shots, making the whole scene feel less believable.
02:368. Spider-Man
02:37Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was the first movie in history to earn $100 million in its opening weekend.
02:43Even though the trilogy ended on a bit of a downer, there are legions of fans who preferred
02:48this incarnation of Spidey over the MCU version. But the biggest lovers of the first film can't
02:53deny the fact that the visual effects are subpar. Ironically, most of the worst CGI moments come
02:58from Peter Parker being, you know, Spider-Man. When the web-slinger leaps from building to building,
03:02he looks like a rubber man with Tobey Maguire's face stitched on. When Green Goblin is terrorizing
03:07the citizens, his unnatural movements make him resemble a cartoon character. Even though we should be in awe
03:13watching the wall crawler soar through the sky, most viewers are wondering why Spider-Man looks
03:17more like his video game counterpart than the actual video game equivalent. Even though there
03:21are a couple of solid shots of the web head swinging through the city, the bad far outweighs
03:26the good. Even though the special effects in the sequel are light years ahead in quality,
03:30this just makes the CGI in the first film look more than a little underwhelming.
03:347. Rogue One – A Star Wars Story
03:37Now, Star Wars fanatics were so psyched to see Darth Vader in Rogue One that they never
03:41considered the possibility that the prequel would contain other iconic figures from the
03:46beloved franchise. So when Moff Tarkin revealed himself, viewers were blown away. Nobody expected
03:51to see the architect of the Death Star since the actor portraying him, Peter Cushing, was
03:55suffering from a severe case of, well, you know, being dead for 22 years. But thanks to the wonders of
04:00CGI and motion capture, the VFX efforts resurrected the legendary British actor, allowing him to portray
04:06his most famous role. But with the benefit of hindsight, it seems that fans originally watched
04:11this scene with rose-tinted glasses. Viewers got so caught up on seeing the deceased actor on the
04:16big screen again that they didn't realize that the special effects, well, they aren't as mesmerizing
04:20as they initially thought. Although Tarkin's facial tics and voice is spot on, his mouth is just weird.
04:27Not only does it move unnaturally, his lips don't move in accordance with his voice, making him look
04:32like he's being dubbed. Now, you have to commend the visual crew for pushing the effects as far as
04:36they could, but the scenes with Tarkin proved that technology, it still isn't quite there yet.
04:416. The Social Network
04:43Nobody exemplifies this philosophy that the best visual effects are the ones we don't notice
04:48better than David Fincher, and viewers of the social network were baffled when they learned
04:52digital trickery was used to make Armie Hammer to pick the Winklevoss twins. However, there's one
04:57visual in the social network that, well, just doesn't work. While Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo are
05:02speaking outside a party, their breath is actually all digital. Although the visual was inserted to
05:07illustrate how cold it is, it looks like the pair have freeze breath like Superman or Iceman. What's
05:12worse is this visual is completely inconsequential. We can see the characters are shivering, so we know
05:17it's chilly. Why did the visual team have to force such an unconvincing effect to hammer this fact in?
05:22The sad thing is that once you notice the CGI breath, it becomes so distracting that you don't even
05:26listen to a word that either character is saying.
05:295. The Hobbit Trilogy
05:30Now, The Hobbit did not live up to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. Nobody is going to deny that,
05:36nor did anybody think that it could reasonably happen. But it doesn't change the fact that
05:39Jackson crafted a satisfying trilogy in its own right. The action sequences in The Hobbit are
05:44innovative, the battle sequences are epic, and the performances are astounding. Even though Lord of
05:49the Rings set the bar unnaturally high in terms of special effects, you'd expect The Hobbit's
05:53visuals to surpass it, right? I mean, since technology had advanced over 10 years and
05:57the prequels had over double the budget of its predecessor, how could The Hobbit's CGI not be
06:02out of this world? Well, ironically, the visuals are the trilogy's biggest detriment. Everything
06:06looks so artificial that you can practically see the green screen. Instead of using CGI to add to the
06:12spectacle, Jackson's crew here relied on the technology like a crutch, swashing every shot with a
06:17smorgasbord of cartoonish VFX. This issue is extra noticeable when characters are substituted for CG
06:24doppelgangers. Because their bodies just don't move in a natural way, you never believe that they are
06:28really there for a second. 4. Forrest Gump
06:31For the most part, the special effects in Forrest Gump are absolutely breathtaking. Most viewers didn't
06:36have an inkling that the feather in the opening shot was actually computer-generated. People are
06:41gobsmacked when they learn that every single ping-pong ball that Forrest plays with are digital. The
06:45green screen used to depict Lieutenant Dan without legs looks just as good now as it did back then.
06:51But there was one special effect that, let's face it, looked bad even when the film was released.
06:55Throughout the movie, Forrest rubs shoulders with many famous people throughout history,
06:59including John Lennon, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon. Instead of relying on body doubles,
07:04the film digitally inserted Tom Hanks' character into archival footage to make it look like he was
07:08meeting these historic figures. Although these scenes look convincing at first, the VFX is all over the
07:14place when it comes to each character's mouth. If you analyze the lips of Nixon, Johnson, or Kennedy's
07:19in these moments, they clearly don't match with what they're saying. And sometimes digital trickery is
07:24used to make the lips move in a certain way, which makes it look all the more superficial.
07:283. I Am Legend
07:30I Am Legend takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a retrovirus has either killed humans or turned
07:36them into vampiric mutants called the Darkseekers. The story follows a virologist called Robert Neville,
07:42who does everything in his power to find a cure for the creatures to save what's left of humanity.
07:46It's common knowledge that this adaptation is quite the departure from Richard Matheson's novel
07:50of the same name. Nevertheless, the 2007 movie's long shots and slow build-up helps to keep the
07:56viewer on edge. Unfortunately, all that tension disappears the moment that you see the Darkseekers.
08:01Their movements and facial expressions are exaggerated to the point where they'd feel
08:05more at home in a comedy over a sci-fi horror. These visual effects are so heinous that viewers couldn't
08:10understand why the film crew didn't bring the creatures to life with actors wearing prosthetics
08:14instead of CGI. Well, that was apparently the original plan, but during the test screenings,
08:20the director worried that the Darkseekers resembled angry mimes, so switch to CGI at the 11th hour.
08:26But upon watching the screen test, there's no question the original design of the monsters
08:29is vastly superior.
08:322. Black Panther
08:33Black Panther was an unprecedented success on every level. It was the first film with a black director
08:39to earn a billion dollars and ushered in a new age for Marvel. Although Michael B. Jordan's
08:43Fantastic Four tanked, the young star redeemed himself in the eyes of Marvel fans by playing
08:48one of the best villains in the franchise. All in all, there is a lot to love about this
08:52film. But one thing that stops this film from possibly being seen amongst the MCU greats
08:57is the rather atrocious special effects. This is ironic, since Marvel has always prided
09:02itself with pushing visual technology as far as it can go. After all, it was the first studio
09:05that pretty much perfected de-aging, but in Black Panther, the VFX are astonishingly shabby,
09:11especially in the final battle. Because the visual team only had six weeks to animate the
09:16fight with T'Challa and Killmonger, simple things like shadows and textures were compromised.
09:21Also, it's nearly impossible to know what's happening since the scene was really, really
09:24dark.
09:251. The Irishman
09:27In terms of acting, directing, story structure, and editing, The Irishman is almost perfect.
09:32Sadly, the de-aging effects used for Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino never stopped
09:37getting in the way of Martin Scorsese's remarkable movie. To make these actors look up to 50 years
09:43younger, each of them wore motion capture sensors on their face and body. However, the final results
09:48look so awful that you'd swear the characters on screen are pure CG creations. Even when the
09:53effects look impressive, the characters just don't move correctly. When we see De Niro's character
09:57in his 30s, you just don't buy it because he moves like a man in his 70s. If this special
10:02effect was an issue for only one of two scenes, then viewers would be more forgiving. But since
10:06the de-aging is noticeable throughout the entire 219-minute runtime, it stops The Irishman from
10:12being better than it should be. The fact that there are YouTubers and freelance VFX artists
10:16who are able to create more convincing de-aging effects for these scenes without a $200 million
10:20budget does make The Irishman all that more disappointing.
10:45both physically and mentally because you deserve all of the best things in life, alright? And do not let
10:49anything or anyone else tell you otherwise. You are a massive ledge and I want you to go out there
10:54and utterly smash it today. I believe in you. As always, I've been Jules. You have been awesome.
10:59Never forget that. And I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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