Top 50 Movie Special Effects Shots

[Neroon]

Link

We've all seen numerous lists detailing the "top ## of ..." and "the ## worst of ...". This list however does a nice job of explaining why each entry on it is so special, using what appears to be appropriate terminology and some controlled enthusiasm. Not all entries of science fiction, the playground of special effects to be sure, but several are still impressive if a bit more subtle. It makes me appreciate all the more what these masters had to go through to achieve their magic.

Which ones are your particular favorites?

 

[amdmiami]

Those were some great ones on the list. Especially the Jurassic Park T-Rex. I would add to the list the Star Wars prequel trilogy with scenes like the podrace, Geonosis arena, and the Battle over Courascant.

 

[T'Baio]

My favourite is definitely Return of the Jedi. Best space battle ever committed to film.

 

[Mistral]

So many good ones-maybe Lt. Dan. Yup.

 

[QuasarVM]

In no particular order...I'm sure I'll forget some great ones, but these are some that immediately come to mind...

1. Close Encounters -- Saucers "come round" mountain road/saucers come out of the big cloud at Devil's Tower/arrival of the mother ship.

2. The Empire Strikes Back -- Either the battle on Hoth or the Asteroid chase.

3. Silent Running -- Camera pulls back from Bruce Dern (in a window) and we see the fleet of agro freighters...

4. Blade Runner -- Deckard goes to Blade Runner HQ in his spinner.

5. 2001 -- The trip to the moonbase.

6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture -- Spacedock sequence.

7. Star Trek II -- Battle in the Mutara Nebula

8. Dark City -- The transformation of the city.

9. Superman: The Movie -- Superman spins and drills his way down into underground lair from street level.

10. Superman Returns -- Opening credits and Superman rescues space shuttle.

11. Jason and the Argonauts -- Colossus of Rhodes/Battle with the Hydra and skeleton army.

12. Clash of the Titans -- Medusa sequence.

13. Star Wars: Episode 3 -- Opening battle.

14. Starship Troopers -- Bug battles.

15. Total Recall -- Journey into mind of Kuato where we see walkway and inside of Martian pyramid. Cool flying camera sequence...and great music from Jerry Goldsmith.

16. The Abyss -- Lindsey sees first alien ship underwater/Bud taken to the big underwater alien ship. Great musical score from Alan Sylvestri.

17. Star Trek III -- Enterprise enters spacedock.

18. Lord of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring -- Battle with Sauron/Battle with the Balrog.

19. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers -- Anything with Gollym.

20. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King -- Final Battle.

21. Star Trek: First Contact -- Battle with the Borg Cube.

22. Spiderman -- Spidey's fight with Green Goblin among the balloons.

23. Aliens -- Drop ship sequence/Bishop rescues Ripley and Newt.

24. Alien -- Nostromo descends to the alien planet.

25. 7th Voyage of Sinbad -- Woman transformed into multi-armed dancing snake.

26. Golden Voyage of Sinbad -- Dancing Kali

27. Logan's Run -- Destruction of the city of domes/finale.

28. Raiders of the Lost Ark -- Big ending where the ark is opened.

29. True Lies -- Action sequence with the Harrier jet near end of film.

30. The Terminator -- Attack of the Endoskeleton at the end of film.

31. Terminator II: Judgement Day -- T-1000 is frozen and breaks into pieces that morph back into the T-1000/Sarah's nuclear vision

32. Godzilla: Final Wars -- any of the battle sequences

33. Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe -- Final Battle.

34. Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope -- Star destroyer flyover/Death Star Battle.

35. Titanic -- Titanic leaves dock/The famous "I'm king of the world" shot.

36. Star Wars: Episode V Return of the Jedi -- Rebel Fleet gathers and jumps into hyperspace/Final Death Star Battle.

37. The Mummy (Stephen Sommers film) -- Opening Egypt sequence in ancient egypt/Any of the mummy effects.

38. Apocalypto -- Mayan city sequences.

39. Alien vs. Predator -- Flashback to Aztec city.

40. 20 Million Miles to Earth -- Any of the Ymir effects from Ray Harryhausen.

41. King Kong (Peter Jackson version) -- Battle with Dinosaurs/Empire State Building

42. Jurassic Park -- The main cast first sees the Dinos.

43. Twister -- Tornado effects.

44. Spiderman II -- Peter Rescues Aunt May from Doc Octopus.

45. Dragonslayer -- Final battle with the dragon.

46. Reign of Fire -- Any of the dragon effects.

47. The Exorcist -- Demonic possession physical effects.

48. Independence Day -- Alien motherships blow up LA building/White House.

49. War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg) -- Alien war machine rises up from underground to kill, maim and wreck havoc.

50. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country -- Explosion of Praxis/Enterprise "fires" on Gorkon's ship and consequences.

 

[TheBrew]

My favourite is definitely Return of the Jedi. Best space battle ever committed to film.

Agreed! I would put it number one because it is mind blowing how many elements they had in those shots.

 

[Neroon]

What impresses me is the amount of explanation that is present in most of these entries. Explaining the "why" has always been more interesting to me when one of these lists comes up.

 

[Obi Wana Jones]

The entire LOTR trilogy. Peter Jackson was the man, and his crew really captured Middleearth. Nothing compares.

 

[QuasarVM]

What impresses me is the amount of explanation that is present in most of these entries. Explaining the "why" has always been more interesting to me when one of these lists comes up.

Who has time to type up the "whys"? If you wanted that, then you should've requested say -- ten effects shots...

I'd be here all night if I tried to type "whys" for my list...

 

[Neroon]

What impresses me is the amount of explanation that is present in most of these entries. Explaining the "why" has always been more interesting to me when one of these lists comes up.

Who has time to type up the "whys"? If you wanted that, then you should've requested say -- ten effects shots...

I'd be here all night if I tried to type "whys" for my list...

The author of this list which I linked in my original post apparently did have the time. There's no need to take offense. This list simply stands out for me because of those extra details, which I find add an extra dimension to the list. Simply saying "these are the best" is entertaining enough, but I like to know WHY they are so good, and with cogent arguments to support it. Plus, all I was curious about on everyone else's part was which of the items listed were their favorites. Granted, the way I phrased it makes it seem like I was asking generally for favorites, not necessarily which of that original list.

 

[JonathonWally]

I'm really surprised this wasn't on the list.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Just about every scene in the movie too. Especially the street sequence and then the house part at the end.

 

[trevanian]

There's a huge difference between 'shot' and 'sequence' ... almost all of these 'bests' are sequences, not single shots. I agree with a lot of them, disagree seriously with some ... the list of worst shots is a better list.

 

[Hermiod]

This is easy - number one should be the opening of Star Wars, specifically the chase with the giant Imperial Star Destroyer. That shot changed everything. It redefined special effects.

 

[Mr Light]

The opening shot from Revenge of the Sith is probably the topper for me.

 

[Neroon]

The opening shot from Revenge of the Sith is probably the topper for me.

As beautiful as that opening is - and believe me I do enjoy it - for some reason I have always preferred the final battle scene from Return of the Jedi.


BTW, did anyone watch the clip from "Frenzy" in that list? Could you tell where the transition that the reviewer refers to actually takes place?

 

[Twilight]

LOTR: TTT

Gollum's conversation with Smeagol while Sam and Frodo sleep.

It's an absolutely extraordinary series of shots. Of course, Serkis' performance drives it, but it's a several minute long close up shot of a purely digital character who is as real as any flesh and blood character on the screen.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Terminator 2: Judgment Day - The Future War sequence always gives me chills. From the ruined highway full of burned out cars with skeleton drivers, to the dude in the truck firing the missile launchers amidst two HK tanks and four aerial HKs to all the T-800s with two plasma rifles shooting everything to hell, this sequence just rocks!

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - The scene where Obi-Wan and Anakin's Jedi Starfighters go around the Republic Star Destroyer to reveal a massive orbital campaign was sweet in theaters.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park - As cheesy as the sequence is, just seeing a T-Rex tear-assing through San Diego was cool.

Independence Day - The fire clouds created by the City Destroyers entering Earth's atmosphere.

 

[Ethros]

Nice list, great to see what was Number 1, which is what I was gonna say- The T-Rex walking out of the pen in Jurassic Park
Scared me shitless when I first saw at the cinema it on my 9th birthday, and the CGI still holds up 100% today

 

[LitmusDragon]

LOTR: TTT

Gollum's conversation with Smeagol while Sam and Frodo sleep.

It's an absolutely extraordinary series of shots. Of course, Serkis' performance drives it, but it's a several minute long close up shot of a purely digital character who is as real as any flesh and blood character on the screen.

This

The only explanation I can think of that Gollum didn't make the list would be because he's more of a continuous effect and not a single shot. Still, if you had to pick a single sequence that showcased what an effective model Gollum really was, this would be the one.

 

[Ben Sisko3]

Excellent call on Road to Perdition. The lack of Dark City, The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, however, makes baby Jesus cry.