Ten Landmark CGI Films

Contrary to popular belief, I don't hate computer-generated visual effects

The pioneering water tentacle in The Abyss (1989). Credit: 20th Century Fox

I’m a tireless advocate for analogue, practical visual effects. These days, there is far too much lazy reliance on computer-generated imagery with a fix-it-in-post attitude on sets (the bane of many editors and visual effects artists). Wherever possible, special effects should be shot in camera, with CGI the regrettable final choice when all other options are exhausted.

Christopher Nolan is a staunch advocate of this principle, and I have nothing but respect for him. Practical effects almost always looks better, especially in an age when CGI ubiquity means a lot of shots are rushed through and sloppy. Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Flash are just two examples from as recently as 2023 that look considerably less impressive than films made years, even decades previously.

Not that all older CGI looks impressive. When the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) was rereleased in 1997 with CGI tweaks and extra footage, Sight and Sound’s review of the first instalment (in the March edition) pointed out a film that had managed to remain timeless for twenty years would now be dated as late 1990s by the CGI Jabba the Hutt. This has proved absolutely accurate. By contrast, the stunning Jabba the Hutt puppet from Return of the Jedi (1983), courtesy of Jim Henson’s workshop, still looks astonishing.

Peter Jackson is another director who has, in the past, tried to rely on physical effects wherever possible. In The Lord of the Rings (2001–3), he had actors in latex playing orcs, used a lot of forced perspective and “big-atures”, and generally did all he could to shoot on real locations with real backdrops. However, certain elements of his visionary, groundbreaking adaptation of Middle Earth he rightly relegated to CGI. Indeed, The Lord of the Rings could not be told properly on film without it.

Here we come to the myth-busting: Contrary to what some have claimed, I’m not completely anti-CGI. Indeed, I’m very grateful for the innovative technology that allowed certain films to be made in the first place. This list celebrates ten great examples of that principle, in chronological order. As usual, my ten-year rule applies. Otherwise, Ex Machina (2014) and Dune: Part One (2021), would both have been included.

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