Special effects: another non-review

By Mal -

the odd minor spoiler

I've always been a bit of a sucker for special effects in films, but — if you'll pardon the pun — they've got to be effective to really command my respect. Whether that's through inspiring awe, horror, or merely by being unnoticeable, they've got to work in the context of the film. Otherwise, they're just some kind of self-congratulatory distraction. Humour me while I share some of my favourites (and feel free to add your own in the comments).

Probably the first effect that made a real impression on me was that of the fighting skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts. Those buggers gave me nightmares. More recently, Hannibal managed to be the only film ever to truly repulse me with the believability of its gross depictions. Of course, I can watch that scene quite happily now, but at the time, it was enough to make me look away from the screen.

The recent War of the Worlds remake is another film whose effects have me in awe. However, it wasn't the big, destructive effects that impressed me most; it was the Martians' heat ray. I fully expected it to just blow people to smithereens, blood and guts flying everywhere, but the effect they used worked so much better than that. By turning its victims to mere puffs of ash, it not only had the desired terror of instant death, but it had a completely otherworldly quality to it too. The sheer horror instilled by something so alien worked brilliantly to put you in the place of those running for their lives.

A final few, quick mentions:

  • Forrest Gump: for Lieutenant Dan's (lack of) legs. At the time, I didn't know Gary Sinise as an actor. I swore he had real legs at the start of the film, but the CGI was so damned good as an amputee that I really had to question myself.
  • Serenity, Donnie Darko and Pan's Labyrinth: for a level of special effects that perfectly suited the film's subject matter. What I remember most about these films is their rather excellent storytelling, which is exactly as it should be.

Got any favourites of your own? And what makes them so good? I've totally failed to remember the films whose CGI restraint and subtlety impressed me. Can you think of any?

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