Since there are two days in a weekend, I guess I can do two half-ass posts. Does that make a whole post?
This weekend, I watched Jurassic Park for the first time in ages. I have to say, that this movie is by far (in my humble opinion) one of the best movies ever. I mean it. Ever. It came out in 1993 I think, and let me tell you, those damn dinosaurs still look real. And sound real. And I'm still impressed by it, and it's -what?- nearly 20 years old. Effects included.
I can't even say that about some of the newer films that have come out in recent years. One of them being the new Indiana Jones movie. Now, I love me some Indiana Jones, don't get me wrong. I love Harrison Ford, and Indiana Jones was the sole reason for it. But I'm sorry, the effects were totally fake. The effects in the first three were way better and the first one is 30 years old for Pete's sake. Probably because they had to think of ways to make things seem realistic. They couldn't rely on CG like they do now. They had to be inventive.
I'm not completely dissing the new Indy movie, I did enjoy it. And I know that CG and technology have come a very long way since these movies came out 20 or 30 years ago. I'm amazed at some of the new movies because even though I can tell more often than not what is totally fake, it's still impressive they can do what they can.
However, I'm still impressed by Jurassic Park. Call me weird. But they did a bang-up job with their effects. Here's a video I found. The video I wanted wouldn't let me copy the code, and any other good ones were ruined by people putting lame-ass music over the original movie sound.
Animatronics is a dying artform that still looks far more realistic to me than today’s CG creatures. Jaws and The Thing instantly come to mind as some of the scariest and real looking monsters of cinema. And that’s not even getting into the sterile environments of the Starwars prequels.
ReplyDeleteYOu hit right into Drake's wheelhouse here. He could go on forever I am sure. I know it's sad but I don't pay much attention to the small details in movies? Is that strange? Dialouge and character building, for sure, but the effects I pay no attention to unless they are straight up horrible and you can't help but notice them.
ReplyDeleteI think that is why I like the first three Star Wars movies better. They look more real. I like the new ones, but they seem fake.
ReplyDeleteI hear what you're saying. Even though movies like "Avatar" are fantastic in their own rights, they just don't look *real*. I also enjoy looking at old movies like "The Wizard of Oz" and being amazed at how well they did special effects way back when.
ReplyDeleteDrake - It's kind of nice to see a movie once in awhile that isn't relying on CG to make it great. I like things that actually look real.
ReplyDeleteJewels - Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I think it depends on the movie. If it's a super hero type of movie, unless their bad, I don't really give them much thought. But on others, like Jurassic Park, I will. If they had used bad CG or claymation I would have demanded my money back! LOL
Belle - Thank you! I love the old Star Wars movies! The new ones were okay. I only saw one of them, and couldn't get into the second. It's like they were trying too hard to surpass the old ones. Those old ones were pioneers and are still awesome. The new ones were too fake.
Soapbox - I was thrilled when I got the box set of Indiana Jones and Superman series, as they had DVD extras on how they did stuff. It was too cool. They didn't have the computers to rely so much on so they had to think outside the box.
Yes! This is the movie that made me want to become a director...
ReplyDeleteLove it.
Although I love old school animatronics, I have to say it really is no substitute for excellently handled CGI from a group of artists.