“Follow the white rabbit.” - Morpheus
The most common reason that movies make so much money is because most of the world is obsessed with stunning visuals. As tragic as it is, a great deal of moviegoers believe that a compelling story is good and relatable characters are a plus, but if the movie doesn’t provide mind-boggling and spectacular special effects, it simply isn’t worth their time. You can’t tell me that The Fast and the Furious has had four sequels (and counting) because of its riveting and inspiring screenplay. So, since the world seems to be obsessed with the spectacle aspect of movies, I ask: What is the most innovative and groundbreaking film of all time as far as special effects are concerned?
This one’s easy: Avatar (2009). Did you see the way those computer-generated Na’vi eyes portrayed emotion? Not to mention the 3D breakthroughs that it created! No? Not an Avatar fan either? Okay, okay…The Matrix (1999) because of its groundbreaking use of CGI and unheard of camera techniques. I mean, the Wachowski brothers shove that red pill down our throats and take us deeper down the rabbit hole than we had ever dared to go. But wait…what about Jurassic Park (1993)? Never have CGI and animatronics been integrated so flawlessly together. My 5-year-old self actually had to leave the theater with my mom because that T-Rex was so convincing. Maybe we could step back a bit further and say this honor belongs to James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Now that’s innovation! The world had never seen a silver, metallic, morphing CGI enemy before. Well, actually, they had. The Abyss was a 1989 movie also directed by Cameron whose antagonist bears a ridiculously striking resemblance to the T-1000 from the second Terminator flick.
Well, it seems that this isn’t going to be an easy choice after all. Let’s step back even more and take a look at special effects in an historical context. What is used in most movies now that had to have been a breakthrough when it was invented/discovered? CGI is an obvious one, dating waaaay back to a 1968 experimental Russian film called Kitty. Don’t believe me that CGI is that old? Click here and I’ll accept your apology over beers later.
Another film that heralded a cutting-edge special effect innovation was the 1976 biopic, Bound For Glory. Although not really a very popular film, Bound For Glory was the first film to use Garrett Brown’s (Garrett: now that’s a name!) invention that is today known as the Steadicam. Rocky (1976) and The Shining (1980) are usually the first household names that come to mind when talking about the origins of the Steadicam, but Brown put his 2 cents into this quiet biopic a few years earlier.
We can’t forget about Citizen Kane (1941), praised as one of the most innovative movies of all time. The deep focus shots that cinematographer Gregg Toland created were unheard of at the time and are now a Hollywood standard. Man, I need a copy of that film…
We can even go further back to French magician Georges Melies’s 1902 film, Le Voyage dens la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) seen here. I’m not a huge fan of the soundtrack on this version (which was obviously added many years after 1902) but the special effects in this film blew people’s minds at the turn of the century, particularly the moon-people sequence around the 7:30 mark.
But, no other piece of cinematic history is as crucial as the final film that I will address. The effects of the film that I am about to share with you were so earth-shattering that this clip supposedly sent people running for the exits as it projected on the big screen. I must warn you: watch this film at your discretion: the Lumiere brothers’ 1896 film L’Arrivée d’un Train à la Ciotat (The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat) seen here. Amazing, right?!? Contrary to what you might think, I did NOT just waste 50 seconds of your life. As ridiculously simple as it may seem, this 46-second clip was arguably the biggest breakthrough in cinematic history. Why? Because if it weren’t for this film there would be no cinematic history to speak of. Well, there would have been cinema eventually I guess, but the history of cinema would have been radically different. The greatest special effect of all time in motion pictures was the very innovation of moving pictures themselves. Damn, I think I just accidentally divided by zero…
By no means is this discussion of films remotely comprehensive. In fact, as I reread what I just wrote, I can’t believe that I didn’t even mention the stop-motion used in Jason and the Argonauts (1963) or the CGI owl in Labyrinth (1986). I have dishonored my nerd heritage! I guess I’ll have to go sharpen my replica of Sting to appease the geek gods. Where was I? Oh yes…the moral. The moral of the story is: 1) As much as critics dismiss spectacle in films (myself included) it is something that put movies where they are today and should be respected as such; 2) Public domain is straight-up awesome.
-Garrett Cypert-
