Best CGI ever?

I'd go with "Transformers".

I for one found them to be poor; I could really tell when they had used CGI.

Then again, many people criticise the CGi of King Kong (2005) which I find to be some of the best CGI ever, so to each his own I guess.

Remember, remember the fifth of November

I don't recall it too well, but I seem to remember I really liked it, especially when the humans got disintegrated by the tripods.

Remember, remember the fifth of November

This is quite a good topic to ponder, esp. at our current point in the progression of FX- CGI has been around in a big way for quite a while now, and perhaps we have got used to every big picture having oodles of CG shots... images that 15 years ago would have become burnt into our brains (like T2 and JP) now elicit a 'blah' response.

I remember being really impressed by the effects in Independence Day, but after that becoming a little immune to the sense of spectacle and wonder truly great 'trick work' should evoke. I think it was about that time I first watched Dragonheart with some friends, and we all agreed that only problem with computer effects is that, well, they LOOK like computer effects!
Of course, that's an accusaion you can lay against any special effects technique- an ubiquity of appearance. All of Ray Harryhausen's films have that unique identity- 'Hey, this is a Harryhausen picture!'... but that was something that a lot of those older FX-heavy films did have in spades, a unique identity, something that was missing from a lot of CG flms a while back.
But I think those days are on the way out. CG is improving all the time. I have nothing but respect for those guys. Lord of the Rings was perhaps the greatest example so far of what computers are capable of bringing to a motion picture. King Kong and Transformers had some great stuff in them too, though my (non-FX) problems with them as actual, 'whole' films precludes an objective standpoint.

We live in an exciting time for effects, one in which CG has the prospect of merging its strengths of fluidity and scope, with the essential strength of the older techniques- their very 'realness'.



'The original Kong seems quicker.'
'Yes, but my Kong won't tire.'

I was in the forth grade when The Matrix came out and I still remember sitting in the theatre when Neo is first unplugged from the system and looks out over human farms, and then that machine sees him and flushes him away. I was simultaneously scared and blown away.
Also where Neo's mouth gets shut, and the mirror scene, the bug in his stomach. Not to mention bullet time, the fight scenes themselves, and building rippling with the explosion.

The whole movie blew me away. So it's The Matrix for me, even if it (the special effects) hasn't stood the test of time so well (although I think it has).
It's the perfect example of having a good story first and then special effects.
My Love for that film matured over the years as I grew up and became capable of seeing the subtext and layers beneath the obvious story. It can be enjoyed on a superficial and a deep lever without isolating anyone.


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Insert witty, amusing and pithy diatribe here.

...Formerly KnifeySpooney...

I don't know if it is the best CGI, but the end of King Kong when he is shot and dying, watch his eyes. They did a masterful job of showing the life leaving his eyes. That is what I remember the most.