When CGI Goes Wrong: Top 5 Most Infamous Visual Effects Flops
These scenes can make you wonder if you stumbled upon a fan-made parody instead of watching an actual movie.
Let's take a moment to remember those beloved movies we all adore, but also can't help but cringe at their terrible CGI.
Terrible death — Deep Blue Sea
The 1999 sci-fi movie features a scene where Samuel L. Jackson 's character dies, eaten alive by a shark.
The rendering of both the shark and Samuel L. Jackson's body in that scene was pretty shoddy, to be honest. The scene, instead of being dramatic or intense, ended up being downright hilarious.
Fake breath — Social Network
There is a scene in David Fincher's movie when Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) and Saverin (played by Andrew Garfield) go outside to talk.
Despite the freezing temperatures outside, the creators took it a step further to make us truly feel the chill.
They used CGI to add breath effects, giving us a clear visual cue that it was cold out there. However, it ended up looking entirely fake and unrealistic.
Goofy skull — Ghost Rider
The movie starring Nicolas Cage seemed decent but not too long. When it came to the first transformation of Ghost Rider, that's when things took a turn.
We quickly realized they should have left Nicolas Cage's face, as we were greeted with a badly animated CGI skull and equally poorly animated flames.
Cape that is too huge to animate properly — Spawn
When comic book adaptations were not as popular as nowadays, Spawn was released in 1997.
Even though becoming a cult classic for many, visuals was not the strongest point of the film.
In the movie, Spawn wears this huge red cape that's supposed to be a standout feature. But it was presented in the worst manner in the scene where Spawn jumps through the glass roof, and we see his poorly animated cape in all its glory.
Scorpion King — The Mummy Returns
This one is legendary. The Scorpion King from The Mummy Returns is often cited as the best example of poorly executed CGI.
The character, portrayed by Dwayne The Rock Johnson, appears in a fully CGI-rendered form during the film's climax.
The main criticisms of the CGI Scorpion King revolve around its lack of realism and the artificial appearance of its textures, movements, and expressions.