27 of the Best Examples of CGI in Movie History

What they mean when they say ‘movie magic’
27 of the Best Examples of CGI in Movie History
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Using CGI in movies is a pretty risky endeavor. When it’s bad, it’s this glaring record-scratch moment that takes us right out of the movie. When it’s great, we just stare in jaw-dropping wonderment. When it’s incredible, we don’t even know it’s there. Like, who’d have ever guessed that the dog poop in John Wick was CGI?

Nobody. 

But that’s exactly our point. Imagine how jarring it would’ve been to see some cartoonish dog poop in John Wick? Here’s a whole bunch of that greatness and then some…

Avengers: Endgame

In Avengers: Endgame, the Quantum Realm suits are 100% CG. They never bothered making physical versions of them. CRACKED.COM

Crawl

Inconspicuous CGI Crawl Of course, the alligators in this intense survival flick are all CGI - and so is the storm. The film was shot in a soundstage, and the intense waves of hurricane rain sweeping Florida were digitally added in post. CRACKED.COM

Jurassic Park

Inconspicuous CGI Jurassic Park Ariana Richards' stunt double fell through the roof wonderfully, but glanced at the camera. So they digitally composited the actress' face on her- decades before digital doubles were common. CRACKED.COM

Children of Men

Inconspicuous CGI Children of Men Remember American Sniper's plastic doll scene? This is the exact opposite of that. The newborn is all CGI, completely blending with the scene's lighting and even documentary feel. CRACKED.COM

Antz

CGI WATER IN A MOVIE 1998 CRACKED.COM Dreamworks' Antz (USA, 1998) was the first movie to use computer software to simulate the properties of water, prior to this, computer-generated fluid effects were drawn, frame by frame, using graphics programs. The detailed studies of fluid dynamics at the time were being carried out by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, USA.

Casper

CGI LEAD CHARACTER 1995 CRACKED.COM Casper the Friendly Ghost from 1995's Casper was the first movie to feature a CGI lead character. It was a box-office hit, grossing $287.9 million against a $55 million budget and was created with the help of 150 people at George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic (ILM).

Die Hard with a Vengeance

Inconspicuous CGI I HATE Die Hard With a Vengeance Bruce Willis did not really stand in the middle of Harlem with that N-word sandwich board. The board was blank, and the FX team adde the hate word (and a surprisingly bland I hate everybody for the TV version). CRACKED.COM

Iron Man 3

Inconspicuous CGI Iron Man 3 Robert Downey Jr. Injured his ankle during the final days of the shoot, but instead of halting production for six weeks, the film's very last scene was done with a digital double. Tony Stark's smirk, his smug eye brow lift, his intense look? All CGI, baby. CRACKED.COM

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Inconspicuous CGI Spider-Man: Homecoming For the scene where Tony chastises Peter on top of a building, the time of day was changed late in production, so CGI was used to adjust both characters' hair. This included lighting, the wind messing up the hair, and probably overworked FX artists. CRACKED.COM

Blood Diamond

Inconspicuous CGI Blood Diamond For the scene of Leo DiCaprio' saying goodbye to Jennifer Connelly, they added one single CGI tear to her performance. It's seamless, it does give the scene the sort of oomph that the average movie desperately needs-but on the other hand, do they dare question Jennifer Connelly's acting? CRACKED.COM

Fight Club

Inconspicuous CGI Fight Club The sex scene between Helena Bonham Carter and Brad Pitt is entirely CGI. Digital models were created and twisted around in positions we've heard are fun. Plus, the scene even featured Matrix-like bullet-time the same year the Wachowski's film came out, but without even caring to make a big deal about it. CRACKED.COM

Gone Girl

Inconspicuous CGI Gone Girl Mirroring the much better-known CGI ping-pong balls in Forrest Gump, we give you: CGI gummy bears. Tyler Perry is not a master marksman, so to get the gummy bears to hit Ben Affleck in the exact places David Fincher wanted, CGI was used. CRACKED.COM

Machete

Inconspicuous CGI Machete Jessica Alba was not actually naked during the shower scene. Alba has a strict rule against doing nude scenes, so she and Robert Rodriguez agreed that digitally erasing her underwear would work. CRACKED.COM

Toy Story

FULLY CGI MOVIE 1995 GRACKED.COM In 1995, Toy Story was released in theaters, becoming the first entirely computer-animated feature-length film. It was produced by Pixar with Steve Jobs serving as an executive producer, and was the highest grossing film of 1995, making $192 million in the US and $362 million worldwide.

CGI in ‘A Beautiful Mind’

Inconspicuous CGI A Beautiful Mind As Russell Crowe's John Nash is losing his mind, he leaves his baby in the bathtub. Obviously, they were not going to risk drowning a baby, so they filmed the kid in an empty bathtub and composited the shot with a CGI-altered, real bathtub with water. CRACKED.COM

Les Miserables

Inconspicuous CGI Les Misérables The singing was not added in post-production, but recorded right there with the actors singing their hearts out while they shot their scenes. Clever use of CGI was made to hide the earpieces and microphones the cast was wearing. CRACKED.COM

Shazam!

Inconspicuous CGI Shazam! The production had trouble securing the right to shoot at the Philadelphia steps-and when they finally did, the skyline was obscured by fog, so they had to digitally recreate it. CRACKED.COM

Black Swan

Inconspicuous CGI Black Swan Darren Aronofsky used tons of CGI trickery to take us down this terrifying descent into madness, but one of the uncanniest must be Natalie Portman's weirdly elongated hands. That's not a hand double, but a CGI alteration of Portman's own hands. CRACKED.COM

Spider-Man 2

Inconspicuous CGI Spider-Man 2 Doc Ock sacrifices himself and sinks in an Oscar- worthy close-up full of powerful dramatic gravitas -that's pure CGI. Alfred Molina wasn't even on set. CRACKED.COM

Tag

Inconspicuous CGI Tag Who could forget Tag, the beloved comedy about, erm, sentient price tags, we guess? Jeremy Renner broke both arms doing a tricky stunt, and since the shoot could not be postponed, he had to wear casts and the arms were then digitally added. (Also, we now know something about the movie Tag!) CRACKED.COM

John Wick

Inconspicuous CGI John Wick This scene is a synonym for absolutely unnecessary CGI. It's dog poop. That's it. When the puppy leaves John's house to poop in the lawn, the doggy waste can be seen as the little girl sprints back. They couldn't give her laxatives, so they added CGI poop, which probably cost a few hundred- -wait, $5,000? CRACKED.COM

Dark Shadows

Inconspicuous CGI Dark Shadows Johnny Depp's Barnabas Collins never blinks, as his eye movements were digitally altered. We'd say it's the exact opposite situation to Wesley Snipes in Blade: Trinity (where he refused to open his eyes for a scene, forcing horrible CGI trickery), but Depp deserves to be the butt of more jokes than Snipes. CRACKED.COM

Brokeback Mountain

Inconspicuous CGI Brokeback Mountain Yup, the first thing in our minds when we think of this movie is heavy CGI (and only that, because we don't feel like crying, OK?). Seriously, trees, clouds, mountains, flocks of sheep, entire sceneries were digitally constructed and composited. CRACKED.COM

Breaking Dawn

Inconspicuous CGI The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn-Part 1 Kristen Stewart did not lose 30 pounds, but was instead under heavy makeup, and even prosthetics were used. Still, the final touches were done with a good use of CGI (unlike that damn creepy CGI baby). CRACKED.COM

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