The Force Awakens Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (JJ Abrams 2015)

[Jay 37,363]

Only of they didn't get bantha legs right

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Obviously they would get the fur wrong, and the position of the leg muscles would be anatomically incorrect in comparison to big Yak or Ox type cattle that we have on earth.

[Brónach 1,302]

Totally agree, the special effects in AOTC and ROTS don't hold up at all. They just look worse with each year that passes

John Carter had great special effects

It's actually pretty ironic, considering ILM nor WETA had no involvement with John Carter. Vast majority of John Carter's visual effects were done by MPC, Cinesite and Double Negative.

Yet it had brilliant, complex special effects. Someone knew what they were doing.

It's always ILM vs Weta vs ILM vs Weta.

[Sandor 797]

Funny how great ILM's work has been for the JP films, Pirates, Transformers, The Avengers, ..., and how uneven their efforts seem in anything Star Wars related post Star Tours...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yes.

And Indy 4 also has some shoddy effects work.

You expect that would do their best work for Lucas produced films....

[Brónach 1,302]

Red Tails looked quite unnatural in the trailer. I kept replaying it and mourning for real planes like in some old films.

[Jay 37,363]

I think they just took on too many films at once during the 00s so their work in the 90s and 10s is better

Plus films like JP and TLW had a limited number of SPFX shots, the latter two SW prequels were just loaded with shots, pretty much every shot in both films had some kind of cgi tinkering

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

For some reason directors no longer know you can actually film real planes too

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

Yes.

And Indy 4 also has some shoddy effects work.

You expect that would do their best work for Lucas produced films....

The problem is, Lucasfilm has to pay ILM the same way any other company does. And Lucas notoriously has a "good enough" philosophy when it comes to effects, and as result I think the work isn't up to the standard that someone expecting real results would demand. In short, I don't think Lucas let's them work on any shot more than he thinks is absolutely necessary.

[Jay 37,363]

And Lucas notoriously has a "good enough" philosophy when it comes to effects, and as result I think the work isn't up to the standard that someone expecting real results would demand.

I agree, that is also part of the problem.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's the same way he works with actors, a take or two. If no one flubbed their lines...move on to the next scene.

But Spielberg is more a perfectionist when it come to special effects.

His last two films with Lucas are a bit of an exception though.

[Jay 37,363]

The special effects in War Horse and Lincoln were absolutely perfect

I can't remember how I felt about the War of the Worlds special effects... I think I liked them

[crocodile 8,012]

War of the Worlds had great special effects and sound design.

Karol

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

It's the same way he works with actors, a take or two. If no one flubbed their lines...move on to the next scene.

But Spielberg is more a perfectionist when it come to special effects.

His last two films with Lucas are a bit of an exception though.

I'm guessing that Spielberg let George oversee the CGI on KOCS (I refuse to call it Indy 4).

Though speaking of planes, the one that Dr. Jones Sr. brought down with his quacking umbrella and the birds in Indy 3 wasn't exactly photo realistic either. Actually all the planes in that movie were awful. Always bothered me.

[Jay 37,363]

I think that's what Stefan was referring to by his last two movies with Lucas (Indy 3 and Indy 4)

[Faleel 5,348]

Temple of Doom didnt have the best Special Effects either.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I give the older Indy films the benefit of the doubt since they were going for a quick and dirty look anyway. There isn't a lot of room to mess up with CGI though because mixing live action with shoddy computer animation looks like the characters could walk through each other.

[Wojo 2,453]

Hehe, cry-snot.

[A24 4,333]

War of the Worlds had great special effects and sound design.

Karol

Still, it leaves me cold. It's meant to look real but the brain knows better.

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

I know he said he wouldn't, but I wonder if Speilberg will ever direct a Star Wars film. His name is always mentioned, and supposedly he was Kathleen Kennedy's first choice, but I'm not sure he has the sensibilities for it.

It occurs to me that he's never made a truly epic film on the scale of Star Wars or Lord of the Rings. He's had epic backgrounds...war, alien invasion, etc., but those are usually just vehicles to telling a more personal story. So this isn't a criticism, just an observation. I'm not even sure if something like SW or LOTR would interest him. In fact I don't believe they do.

Edited for coherence.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

His name is always mentioned, and supposedly Kathleen Kennedy was his first choice.

Don't you mean that he was Kennedy's first choice?

[A24 4,333]

I wonder if Speilberg will ever direct a Star Wars film. His name is always mentioned, and supposedly Kathleen Kennedy was his first choice, but I'm not sure he has the sensibilities for it.

If Spielberg makes one, he should make one according to his 'sensibilities'. The film should be Star Wars seen through his eyes.

Alex

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

His name is always mentioned, and supposedly Kathleen Kennedy was his first choice.

Don't you mean that he was Kennedy's first choice?

Indeed I do.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

The special effects in War Horse and Lincoln were absolutely perfect

the horse jump and fall into the trench in the no man's land scene is awful. its problably the more complex CGI in the film, and he should have hired a better company. or paid more and give them more time...

I can't remember how I felt about the War of the Worlds special effects... I think I liked them

The ravens that are on top of the tripod on the final scene are crap. as are the gulls flying out before the ferry scene though

Obviously they would get the fur wrong, and the position of the leg muscles would be anatomically incorrect in comparison to big Yak or Ox type cattle that we have on earth.

Since the original bantha is an elephant in disguise... using a Yak-Ox anatomy would be totally wrong

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

Of the use of CGI in War Horse, Spielberg said: "There are only three shots in the film that aren't real horses, and those are pretty obvious shots."

Steven Spielberg: 'CGI is artificial and audiences can tell'

[crocodile 8,012]

Is it not the only CG shot in the film?

Karol

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

looking at this i found they used also animatronic horses. I didnt noticed those...

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,363]

Don't you guys remember this video?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

Looks like the horse is still working.

[Jay 37,363]

[Datameister 2,042]

Actually, I believe the barbed wire shots were done with real horses. The barbed wire was made of rubber or the like, with some added CG elements.

[Brónach 1,302]

Yes he said that in an interview. Apparently the horse was always scratching against the rubber barbed wire lol

[scallenger 483]

If Spielberg makes one, he should make one according to his 'sensibilities'. The film should be Star Wars seen through his eyes.

Alex

He won't ever make one. There was an article a while back saying he won't.

[Datameister 2,042]

Yes he said that in an interview. Apparently the horse was always scratching against the rubber barbed wire lol

Speaking of which, if you've never seen good fake barbed wire up close, it's kind of unnerving. It looks exactly like the real thing, but you can mess with it all you want and never get hurt. Kinda freaky.

[ymenard 54]

Yeah none of you guys have seen the pre-viz that Spielberg did for the last Star Wars movie? With the train and all that crazy shit happening? It was that Tintin chase x100!

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

You can hate on The Phantom Menace visual effects all you want, but it is a triumph of artistic and technical achievement.

When you put it into perspective, the most FX dense film prior to TPM had ~400 shots. The Phantom Menace had 2000. It redefined what was possible.

Does Jar Jar look fake? Sure. But so does the T-1000 and so do the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Gollum is already starting to show his CGI age. That's not the point.

[Sandor 797]

Wow..! Finally I can agree with Bluhm on something..!

[Jay 37,363]

the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

[Wojo 2,453]

Call us back when you see a real dinosaur to compare them to.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and The Lost World still look great. The Phantom Menace was a catalyst for all these awful modern movies overloaded with CGI where filmmakers can basically do anything they want to. They fail to impress and actually abuse the technology. To this day, something as relatively simple as the opening shot of Star Wars is more impressive. When they had to figure out ways to sell effects and make things look more realistic, the results were great. Now, they can just render whatever in the computer and it's usually unconvincing and artificial-looking.

[Wycket 36]

Exactly. Let's not praise Phantom Menace for the modern usage of CGI in films. Say what you will about Nolan, but he does it the right way. CGI is only a last resort for him, and it adds to the believability as a whole. Having the actual physical Bat flying down the street in Rises helped to sell that as real when its flying in the sky as a CGI model. Lucas helped create this idea in Hollywood that everything needs to be done in CGI and has lead to a degradation to effects as a whole in terms of that wow factor. The dinos in JP still look and feel real twenty years later to me. I doubt they will feel the same in the next one when they're likely going to be 100% CGI.

[Brónach 1,302]

Being able to put anything on screen isn't so much the problem as it is settling to whatever idea and way of doing things comes first.

The can't really put anything on screen anyway. At least not on a completely lifelike level.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.

They look like a plastic clay hybrid, Jason.

Let go of your boyhood nostalgia.

[Quintus 5,399]

The very first close up shot of the Brachiosaurs then the one later on up in the trees never looked real even in 1993, but the T-Rex in night and daytime light still looks absolutely brilliant.

You can hate on The Phantom Menace visual effects all you want, but it is a triumph of artistic and technical achievement.

Subjective hyperbull (not to mention a demonstration of poor taste, imo).

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

The very first close up shot of the Brachiosaurs then the one later on up in the trees never looked real even in 1993, but the T-Rex in night and daytime light still looks absolutely brilliant.

Well, you could even mold a turd into T-Rex and make it look believable in a dark night scene with rain and fog, some strategic key lighting, and lightning.

You can hate on The Phantom Menace visual effects all you want, but it is a triumph of artistic and technical achievement.

Subjective hyperbull (not to mention a demonstration poor taste, imo).

Everything Naboo was beautifully designed. Darth Maul was menacingly well envisioned and executed. The wonderful conversion of the Star Wars universe into a clean and elegant look.

The Naboo Starfighter alone is one the best looking object in the Star Wars universe.

[Datameister 2,042]

Well, you could even mold a turd into T-Rex and make it look believable in a dark night scene with rain and fog, some strategic key lighting, and lightning.

Sure - but half the battle is knowing how to showcase your creations in a way that emphasizes their strengths, rather than just shoving them all out there with all their flaws clearly visible.