Moving this topic from another thread, as it seems to be of interest, what are your most cringeworthy moments of CGI?

So far, some of the worst offenders seem to be:

Anaconda - the snake itself
Resident Evil - The Licker
Species - Sil
Blade II - the fighting Ninjas

Feel free to add more

[groundy]

The little pet monkey thing in the recent Lost In Space remake. Dreadful CGI but at least the film was dreadful too.

[James45]

The entire Final Fantasy 'movie', remember how all the publicity at the time was asking if CGI actors would replace real people? Not if this is anything to go by!

Originally posted by James45
remember how all the publicity at the time was asking if CGI actors would replace real people

Eh? They weren't real actors??

[Nobber22]

Saw Atomic Twister on Sky last night. Really crappy made-for-Tv film, but even my missus commented on how fake the people looked being sucked up into the vortex ( and she thinks Deep Blue Sea has great CGI)

[pointon]

Peter Parker running from rooftop to rooftop in 'Spider-man' was the worst CGI I've seen this year.

[James45]

Yeh but I thought that Spiderman's CG effects went well with the comic book feel of the film... I thought they looked pants before I saw the film, but as a whole it works IMO

[Mr.D]

I'd go with the blawp out of Lost in Space. (spider smith is pretty rotten too)
I didn't think the Sil out of species was that bad for its time.
Final Fantasy whilst the film is rubbish the actual CGI work is pretty outstanding ( best to think of it as an anime rather than a film).
SpaceTruckers ( all of its awful)

There is some rotten stuff in Harry Potter too. ( the centaur , oretty much all the quidditch match , although I really like the hat and the chocolate frog).

To be honest you rarely get any films that don't have some nastiness in there somewhere but often its a question of giving the director what they want rather than what you know will look better.

The blawp for example was a rushed replacement for a practical model that looked even worse than the CG version!

I certainly feel the sword of public opinion dangling over my neck as we finish up our latest cheesorama .... you are up against it a little with subjest matter that everyone knows is not real : on the other hand you can get away with murder on the ones where no-one is looking for anything fake!


I thought the CG planes in pearl harbour were fantastic up until I watched the making of and found out they were real!

[Boink!]

IIRC:
The bad werewolf bursting into the train carriage in [the terrible] American Werewolf in Paris.
Towards the end of Godzilla [the US remake] a couple of the baby Godzillas looked badly done.

Boink!

Ahem how about the CGI used in The Sopranos Season 3? You'll spot it when you see it. A cast member went and inconsiderately died between Season 2 and 3, so they CGI'd her in. It didn't work!

[pointon]

Originally posted by James45
Yeh but I thought that Spiderman's CG effects went well with the comic book feel of the film... I thought they looked pants before I saw the film, but as a whole it works IMO

The CGI of Spider-man himself works, it's just the Peter Parker pre-Spider-man that doesn't. He looks like some rag doll, same as in Blade 2 in the above mentioned sequence.

[Bada Bing]

The Sopranos: Season 3
Livia's last scene. Nancy Merchand died suddenly and the storylines had to be altered around her character. Basically they stuck her head from old scenes and stuck it onto another actresses. Dire.

[Bada Bing]

Originally posted by Jenz
Ahem how about the CGI used in The Sopranos Season 3? You'll spot it when you see it. A cast member went and inconsiderately died between Season 2 and 3, so they CGI'd her in. It didn't work!

D'OH!
Sorry Jenz, never saw your post!

Yeah, that Sopranos scene made me sick to my stomach. I can't believe the guys in charge looked at this and said... "sure, leave it in. Her head is floating around, and the lighting keeps changing, but what the heck."

Also, the Scorpion King at the end of Mummy 2 comes off as a big pile of crap. Apparently, the FX guys were rushed by the studio, but somebody's still to blame.

Frankly, I'd rather see no effects at all than bad CGI.

And don't even get me started on CGI addiction and over-dependance. (cough, Lucas, cough)

[Ripco]

has to be Blade 2. The bit where the two messenger, vampire ninja types visit blade with the night vision goggles on. When they are fighting and Wesley runs up the wall etc. Same bad effects from Spiderman although more noticable. Worst effect every invented. You just cannot animate a persons torso properly to look real enough, vampire or superhero body muscles aside. I mean Look to Asia for wire work which looks far more real and most stunts can be done. Unsure though whether its more costly for the actors and wire work or CGI.

[Mr.D]

Originally posted by Ripco
Unsure though whether its more costly for the actors and wire work or CGI.

practical is normally more expensive... unless its water...You guys will just love the next bond film....

Honestly its rarely the vfx artists fault.

Have you had much to do with the new 007 Keith??


Taz.

[Mr.D]

oh yes but I was only following orders.

Hmmm... looks like were not gonna get much 'inside' info out of you then!



Taz.

[Garrett]

Originally posted by James45
Yeh but I thought that Spiderman's CG effects went well with the comic book feel of the film... I thought they looked pants before I saw the film, but as a whole it works IMO

I thought the CGI looked poor and made it look more like a budget film, and even though a comic book character there was no need for it the CGI were far better in the X-Men which I thought the better film.

[James45]

still undecided whether Spiderman or X-men was the better film but look at the fight between Wolverine and Mystique, when it gets a little frantic the CGI kicks in just like Spiderman and Blade 2 (that bit where Mystique jumps through her arms).

As for whether wire work is more 'costly' for the actors involved, many Hong Kong stunt performers are paralysed or physically disabled by the time they reach 50.

[Garrett]

The story of the X-Men was fresh whereas Spider-Man more or less followed the comic’s stories.

[James45]

X-Men is great but wait till I see Spidey on DVD before I cast a final judgement.

[Reiner]

Speed2: the boat collision

Minority Report: pretty much all of it but especially the traffic

Lost in Space: the whole movie

Wing Commander: everything

[LV426]

Deep Blue Sea. F/X dire throughout.
Escape from Los Angeles. Ditto

[Mr.D]

I quite like the fire falling down the main shaft in deep blue sea.
( unless its ILM and even then its not always the case most films are done at a variety of effects houses: some good some not so good: even ILM and DD make the odd nasty)

At the end of the day you are at the whim of the director and or VFX supervisor. With the best will in the world if these guys are saying things that effectively will make the work look like poo thats what you have to do ( at anywhere between 5K and 200K a shot the client gets what they ask for).

Escape from LA is utterly rotten throughout: I'd be embarrassed if I put temps out that looked like that: however I have it on good authority that it was done in the final days of BOSS (the effects house responsible who had a fairly glittering track record: ghostbusters for example) by a handful of staff for next to no money whatsoever ( it doesn't even look like the right colourspace to be honest) I know what its like though everyone in my profession has done work they aren't that proud of: mostly thats down to lack of time and money ( same things in this industry) and ineptitude further up the chain. When the patient is dead on the table all you can do is try to make the corpse pretty but even a pretty corpse is unlikely to get up and dance.

[Garrett]

Originally posted by Reiner
Speed2: the boat collision

Do you mean when the ship crashed into the dock and just kept going and going. It was just utterly stupid.

[Rambo John J]

Originally posted by Mr.D
When the patient is dead on the table all you can do is try to make the corpse pretty but even a pretty corpse is unlikely to get up and dance.

I'll have to use that one in my next strategy meeting.


I'll have to add The Island Of Dr Moreau to this long list. The jumping manimals were pretty lame, although strangely they added a bit of sophistication and quality to the film overall.

[Stuart Wright]

I thought the CGI in Episode II was outstanding. Ditto Saving Private Ryan and Cast Away. And on the whole I was VERY impressed with the 3 Jurassic Park movies.

It's a pity that CGI can be so bad that it belts you out of the movie and you're left thinking about the CGI.
My list of CGI bloopers :

Surprised nobody mentioned the Aligators in the Zoo bit in Eraser. They looked crap. As did most of the rest of the CGI.

Deep Blue Sea was rubbish throughout. The Sharks didn't look real for a minute. Mind you neither did they in Jaws when you could see them but the movie was made so well it didn't matter.

I thought the Alien in Alien3 was disappointing.

Ninjas in Blade II distracted me so much that I didn't appreciate the in-joke that it was a parody of Cats and Dogs. Wasn't it?

Somewhere near the top of the list, though is the crash at the end of Airforce One. Deeply disappointing. Seen better effects in Joe90.

[Setenza]

Seen better effects in Joe90.

This is it. Miniature effects (still extremely wide spread in movie making) still have a valid contibution to make.

The work of Derek Meddings testifies to this.