With as prevalent as special and visual effects are in movies these days, and as good as they have become overall, it’s important to look back to the times when they weren’t super great. Why is it important? What can be gained from spending time on subpar things? Well, as the great Charlotte Rae once said: “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and THEN you have the facts of life.” She was a real smart old lady.
Where was I? Oh yeah, bad effects.
The degree of quality on modern CGI is so high that, with the exception of people’s faces, it’s getting close to impossible to tell the difference between practical and computer. Any of the big Marvel movies are so close to photo-realistic at this point that we just accept it. And that’s rather how special effects should be; whether made with a prop or with a computer, if done well, we never (or hardly ever) get taken out of the proceedings.
And that’s what leads us to the other side of things, when effects are downright silly. World Wide Interweb has put together a supercut of some awful special and visual effects from the past 30 years or so. There’s a lot of poorly-rendered ’90s CG in there, but it’s nice to see there’s also some shoddily-constructed model shots and bad stop-motion in the mix, too. This video also has a particular affinity for sharks, probably because most shark movies are terrible.
Have a look!
The Worst Movie Special Effects Ever Compilation by worldwideinterweb
There’s some classics to be sure, and also some controversial choices, though Die Another Day‘s garbage surfing scene deserves to be on every list. There’s also a lovely nod to the ’70s classic Night of the Lepus, which I once wrote about.
What’re your favorite crappy effects in movies? Share them below so we can all have a good laugh.
