Unremarkable Special Effects

I like the original Ghostbusters, but there’s occasionally some iffy fx shots. The one that comes to mind is when the Terror Dog wreaks havoc on Lewis’ party, specifically the shot where it takes out the table.

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*Snort *

Or, I guess the more appropriate term would be -
*Squawk! *

Though I still think that looks better than the Quetzalcoatl they came up with for The Flying Serpent

Granted, that was from 1946, but still.

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How about Game of Death where this cutout of Bruce’s head is superimposed over an actor? The best part is that the head is absolutely still while the body rocks about a bit.

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Reminds me of whenever an AFV host (usually Tom Bergeron) would insert themselves into a clip.

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If awful makeup jobs on undeserving humans count, then I’ll add the wonder of clumsily aged-up Margo Kidder in 1975’s The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud. That’s only the 7th or 8th most inept thing in the film, by the way. A truly painful exercise, though Lord knows its boring dim bulb protagonist gets what’s coming to him. I feel like even Rifftrax would be wise enough to pass on riffing it, given that a drawn-out marital rape is a pivotal part of the (alleged) story. You can’t really joke about that, and you can’t keep what marginal credibility the plot has without it either. :roll_eyes: :fu:

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I think somewhere in the Beautifully Illustrated Film Posters thread I said something to the effect of “This shows that it’s easier to make a beautiful poster than a beautiful movie.”

I mean, there have always been styles of filmmaking that emphasize different aspects of the art, but I do feel like fewer and fewer filmmakers really appreciate composition and colors. I don’t know if it’s “great art” but Anna Biller’s The Love Witch reminded me that there was a huge aspect of shooting on film that is basically lost today.

Oh, good call. The movie has won the audience over by that point, but that is a rough sequence. Actually, it kind of looks like bad CGI, the kind of debris/dust effect. :thinking: I wonder how they did that.

Well, the technology had improved ten whole years and…well, it’s basically indistinguishable from 1957 FX.

Or that time not-Bela Lugosi wore a cape over his face!
image

I used to say aging makeup was always bad, but it’s occasionally so good, you kind of wonder why it’s ever bad. Like, Max von Sydow in The Exorcist—so good, I think a lot of people (including me) just thought he was old. And yet, mostly, it’s…it’s just awful.

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At least he used the cape that time. In Bride of the Monster, Ed didn’t even care enough to cover the stunt man’s face.

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Yes… The “werewolf break…”

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The Scorpion King…of bad CGI.

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The digital model work on Spider-Man 2 (2004) in the train scene. When Peter is slowing down the train and it’s so glaring he’s a computer effect. It ripped me out of the movie every time.

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The actors actually had NO IDEA what the monster was going to look like during shooting, and were furious when they got to see the movie and learned that was what they were acting so afraid of.

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I believe the Star Wars cast had a well-earned trepidation over what the final cut was going to look like.

I wonder about the Mars Attacks! cast as well. But Tim Burton was riding pretty high and Jack Nicholson clearly didn’t GAF, so it kinda works.

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I was thinking the same thing. Just add this dialog to the movie and it becomes much better.

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I’ve never had an issue with the CGI. The story was so compelling I was able to ignore the minor flaws. A movie with a terrible script, on the other hand, makes poor special effects much worse. Michael Bay’s Transformers 1-5, Zack Snyder’s DCEU trilogy, or Joss Whedon’s Justice League spring to mind. That last one suffers from a severe case of Clutch Cargo disease.

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I suspect CGI fire is more about safety than expense. That said however, if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all.

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True, but yeah, it was lamentably bad for a show that was, at the time, one of the most popular in the world. You’d think they could spend a bit more for good CGI.

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Speaking of DC movies and special effects, what about digitally removing Henry Cavill’s mustache for Superman?

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@FlyingSquid Good one! The upper lip drew attention and I kept staring at his face. Wasn’t positive why at first, then I recalled the story.

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The shot of Peck standing in front of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man is the one that always stuck out to me.

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Ghostbusters is kind of a miracle given all the cutting-edge FX that somehow don’t overpower the comedy.

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