Top 10 Practical Effects of All Time | A CineFix Movie List

From the first time Georges Melies shot the moon’s eye out with some over-powered artillery, the visual effects of movies have helped filmmakers like Geroge Lucas take us to new worlds, helped Stanley Kubrick visualize our most far-reaching dreams, and helped filmmakers like James Cameron, and John Carpenter bring our greatest fears and impossible creatures to life.
For over a century, special effects have helped Hollywood realize impossible visions. Now, computers, pixels, and CGI have become the dominant force in vfx, but in this movie list, we’re talking about the old-school art of practical effects. This is for sure going to be a long one. So get ready for a fascinating VFX breakdown or two or ten, because we’re going to take a deep dive into the behind the scenes magic of some of your favorite action movies, sci fi movies, and horror movies with CineFix’s Top 10 Practical Effects of All Time.
The Picks:
10 - Body Horror - An American Werewolf in London (1981) - dir. John Landis
9 - Animatronics - Jurassic Park (1993) - dir. Stephen Spielberg
8 - Forced Perspective - Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) - dir. Peter Jackson
7 - Rotating Sets - Inception (2010) - dir. Christopher Nolan
6 - Motion Control - Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) - dir. George Lucas
5 - Creatures - The Thing (1982) - John Carpenter
4 - Stop Motion Animation - Jason and the Argonauts (1963) - dir. Don Chaffey
3 - Everything and the Kitchen Sink - Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - dir. James Cameron
2 - Ship Design - 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - dir. Stanley Kubrick
1 - The Birth of Practical Effects - A Trip to the Moon (1902) - dir. Georges Méliès
Movie List Credits:
Written and Produced by Michael Calabro
Voiced by Clint Gage
Edited by Randi Redmon
Animation and Graphics by Casey Redmon
Eight years ago, we published our first version of Top 10 Practical Movie Effects of All Time. We decided it was time to revisit that list, and we hope you enjoy it.
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[@davidfoster989]

Oh Gosh. This must be the longest Cinefix film list video up to this point. Congratulations with all the brilliant videos you guys have made. It's greatly appreciated. The day we don't get another one of these videos will be a very sad one indeed.

[@oliversomething4821]

And yet, once those 52 minutes went by, I was still surprised that it was already over.

[@tallSycamore]

@@oliversomething4821 - I wanted more..

[@jaytravis2487]

@@oliversomething4821 That's a whole 3,127 seconds

[@maxpatrickhaynes2194]

I agree!!! I LOVE THIS CHANNEL!!!!

[@Kier4n99]

@Drick dude it's been years and their quality is still great. Everyone got over that in 2018. Move on

[@BritInvLvr]

I saw Jason and the Argonauts in the theater when I was a kid. The skeletons fight was the most amazing thing I ever saw in my young life and I stuck with me for decades.

[@sclogse1]

All the cold cast X-Plus skeletons issued decades ago are still on my mantle. The Hydra I keep in it's box. Marvelous.

[@benjaminwright5936]

One of the all time great movie scenes. Ray's best work still has a quality to it that stands up over time.

[@aldunlop4622]

Agreed, I watched as a kid and I was thrilled. Clash of the Titans was great too.

[@Mithrandir39]

I also saw it as a kid at the Bow Theater on one of the Saturday afternoon matinees. (I really miss those) I have remembered that scene ever since. It was amazing it is always a joy to see it when it pops up in various videos like these here. Keep on making them please.😁

[@mohammadislam2324]

ill be honest, i can see how it was groundbreaking back then, but it really doesn't hold up today.

[@Sunprism]

Robert Patrick trained at a firing range to learn how to shoot a gun without blinking or really moving his eyes whatsoever. It’s small details like that which make T2 a masterpiece

[@totallybored5526]

And the fact we’re supposed to buy John Connor is 10 years old makes it a dud

[@triggeredcat120]

@@totallybored5526 Says you.

[@Sunprism]

@@totallybored5526 No, An oversight in the script or a little miscasting is not enough to ruin that movie. If you can buy robots made of liquid metal time traveling from an apocalypse, seems to me that you can accept a kid looking a little old for his age

[@jsullivan2112]

@@totallybored5526 John Connor being 10 years old is the biggest challenge you had with suspending your disbelief? Really? You're okay with shapeshifting molten metal robots and time travel paradoxes though? I really, REALLY try not to judge people, but this is one of the most ridiculous fucking things I've ever read. You need to rethink a few things.

[@silverbulletstudios7638]

Dude, he was 13. It doesn’t really matter if the character is 10 or 13 - the movie works the same lol

[@TheHolandos]

Four years ago I got to see A Trip to the Moon at an old Art Nouveau theatre, with a live orchestra. Watching a movie doesn't get much better than that. The sheer joy of the experience had the whole room crying by the end.

[@jaustill237]

I envy you. That sounds amazing.

[@sclogse1]

There's something about the whole group of people working together to make that film. How many of us, by sheer force of personality and talent could organize such an adventure and pull it off?

[@gregoryjclark81]

Music can't be faked.

[@doubleot1984]

There's almost no wonder anymore in movies, no how did they do that eh cgi

[@katherinelynch4193]

52 minutes and not one mention of Jim Henson? The “frog on a bicycle” scene, Miss Piggy’s water ballet, the rats working in Pete’s Diner, and Labyrinth and Dark Crystal as a whole are some of the most remarkable visual trickery of all time.

[@oliversomething4821]

You are not wrong! The brilliance of the Jim Henson/ Frank Oz duo's work from _The Muppet Show_ to the muppet movies to _Dark Crystal_ and the _Muppet Babies_ deserve a CineFix analysis video all of its own. (Well, ok, maybe not so much the _Muppet Babies._ )

[@sonicgoo1121]

This and the mention of Aardman make me wonder if we could get another list out of this.

[@28Pluto]

Labyrinth and Dark Crystal were both briefly shown. When you're talking about over 100 years of special effects, not EVERY movie/effect can be discussed.

[@justajeepgirlandherdogs]

🙌

[@zuniga89122]

I was going to mention maybe they didn’t want to get flagged since Disney owns Jim Henson ….. but they did a segment of Star Wars

[@royaltyblessed2454]

I'm legit a fiend for these videos. The quality is ALWAYS worth the wait!

[@gregsmith7949]

The eighties were definitely the golden age of practical effect. What a time to be a teenager!

[@ritvikbhuinya2620]

❤😊

[@jpmtlhead39]

"The thing" is not only one of the best horror movies ever,but is one of the best movies ever. A real Masterpiece that only the great john Carpenter could pull out.

[@dannybrown2950]

I absolutely love this channel! Videos like this and the "What's the Difference?" series make subscribing such a treat. No matter how long the wait is between videos, the result is always worth it. Also, this guy is one of the best narrators on KZbin! His cadence, delivery and voice work so well for these videos, I wish him all the success.

[@Hundeputzmunter]

I could just sit and listen to Clint all day long

[@maxtubb8560]

I love Cineflix too, but my only real complaint is sometimes their humor can fall flat at times.

[@samik83]

Still can't get over how smooth the stop motion animation is in Jason and the Argonauts. Dedication.

[@johnstrawb3521]

Agreed, which makes the failure to get it right in The Terminator that much more odd. Not reason for it to be jerky (or for the Arnie puppet to be that awkward and obvious, for that matter).

[@carncats07]

I only saw that film for the first time about 8 years ago as a 38 year old with 1000's of movies under my belt, and I was still blown away at how amazing it looked. I can only imagine how people would have gasped in 1963 seeing that on the big screen for the fist time.

[@idalaursen8935]

There is a reason Harryhousen was (and is to this day) considered the ultimate stop motion artiste.

[@tallSycamore]

Thank you for covering Ray Harryhausen and Phil Tippett - two amazing artists in this wonderful list of creative giants.

[@faceofdoomness]

Totally here for CineFix Movie List videos becoming whole video essays about any given subject relating to the art of filmmaking. Thank you for this indepth look into Practical Effects! It's such a far reaching and expansive subject that it really is a challenge to distill it down to just 10 examples. Appreciate y'all and looking forward to more of your amazing lists.

[@Richard_Nickerson]

Yes! Most people dismiss Lord of the Rings' forced perspective since it wasn't a new thing, but no one knows that the camera had never moved while doing it before.

[@oliversomething4821]

_When you do something right, people won't know that you've done anything at all._

[@waywardlaser]

Jurassic Park is one of my all time favourites and it still amazes me how effective the paddock escape scene is.

[@ReverendMeat51]

The single best CGI shot of all time is the rex breaking through the fence. Then intercut with the glorious animatronic, the whole sequence is absolutely perfect. Minus the potted tree and light in the background

[@hauntedhose]

Jurassic Pk was probably good when it came out but on the whole not a great movie….SFX is all it has going for it 😮

[@nathanakpe4897]

​@@hauntedhosenot a good movie what are you saying

[@nathanakpe4897]

​@@hauntedhoselet's say you hate the story the actors are fantastic,the music score is fantastic,the cinematography is beautiful nothing like it's only has SFX going for it

[@hauntedhose]

@@nathanakpe4897 ok I guess

[@FloraWest]

I don't know that there's any other channel I'd drop everything for to watch a nearly 1 hour video for. This was so thoughtful and fun and informative and enjoyable--thank you!

[@sonofliberty1]

Okay, I'm now setting aside the rest of my day to watching this video and then rewatching a lot of films/scenes. 😅

[@sweshrung]

Dang you’re lucky I gotta work at Burger King for 10 hours str8

[@sonofliberty1]

I'm in the UK so there's a bit of a time difference but I worked at a McDonald's once so I do appreciate my luck. I hope your shift isn't too bad.

[@stephenhall2980]

I was worried that Rob bottin wouldn't be mentioned but was happy to see the thing on this list. It's practical effects are truly horrifying and legendary. See also his work on Paul verhoeven's RoboCop.

[@adrianwagner7627]

You guys put much more effort into your content than most ranking videos combined. Even with that high number of subscribers, I still think y'all are underrated. Your videos deserve more views

[@PatrickWDunne]

Agreed! I'm not sure why their videos don't regularly break 1M views. I consider Cinefix to be the modern successor to Every Frame a Painting.

[@steveharvey2102]

This documentry is above the quality of anything I've ever seen on KZbin. I went to see Raiders of the lost Ark at the age of 5. The opening of the ark, and the darnage that followed, turned me into a lifelong film and Special effects fan! It also caused me nightmares for years. It got to the point that my Father had to put black tape over the face of Toht(?), the Nazi in black, with the melting face. I was terified of similar films, horror films, etc. until, one day, my father explained to me how special effects work! At the same time, we watched the making of Indiana Jones and the temple of doom, on VHS. This KZbin Documentry brought me back to that time. A time of awe, wonderment and fear of the unknown, from all those years ago. Thank you for reminding me of the magic of cinema and all the great achievements in special effects, that I was lucky enough to see on the big screen :) Cheers from Canada P.S. I don't know who performed the voice over for this doc.but he deserves a raise. His French pronunciation is the best I have yet to hear on youtube. Merci beaucoup.

[@TheRodentSama]

Can't believe people still say the Rex coming through the sunroof wasn't planned. The making-of footage shows Spielberg months before they even started shooting, discussing how cool it would be to get that very shot. Also, no love for RoboCop's facial makeup effects or Little Shop Of Horrors puppetry work?

[@Dr170]

A tiny ol' bit of judicious pocrypha never goes amiss

[@ebuzzmiller34]

I think Poltergeist should get an honorable mention too. The stop motion and puppetry and the ending house implosion was a great combo of effects techniques. Also not to hype Star Wars but Empire pioneered go-motion which was the Dykstra Flex but with stop-motion and digital compositing to such a degree that lucas barely had to change much in the SE. Phil Tippett was a genius, and the AT-AT battle scene is so tangibly real feeling that I doubt even the best CGI could improve it.

[@Chernobog34]

This is an utterly fantastic list. And deserves the much longer runtime. My only disappointment is the lack of any mention of Aardman Animations and other claymation studios during the stop motion animation segment.

[@matteobeach4261]

I know what you mean, but this is a list on special effects, and what your referring to is what most people certify as cartoons

[@Chernobog34]

@@matteobeach4261 I would agree, if these were cartoons we were talking about. They're not. They're stop-motion animation films. Curse of the Were-rabbit, ParaNorman, Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline. Not once have I ever heard these movies be referred to as cartoon movies. They're films, and they deserve the attention just as much as any other. Just because there's no live action in the movie doesn't mean they don't use stop motion as a medium. I'm not saying they're better or worse than Jason and the Argonauts and the wonders that Ray Harryhausen created in his career, I'm just saying: a nod to them would've been nice to see.

[@nolaffinmatter]

​@@Chernobog34 I would agree with Matteo Beach that not having any live-action means that they are "animated movies" rather than "visual effects" per-se. The presence of live-action changes the purpose of the stop motion - effects in live action movies attempt to convince you that something fake is actually real. On the other hand, fully animated movies attempt to create a whole different reality entirely. It's a fuzzy boundary, but the great stop motion studios like Aardman and Laika do not belong on a list of "The best examples of convincing the audience that something fake is actually real". The real edge-case is Who Framed Roger Rabbit (and its descendants like Looney Tunes Back In Action) - the Toons aren't supposed to look convincingly real, but they aren't entirely removed from reality either. Their creation was partly done in-camera, and partly done out-of-camera.

[@krautgazer]

@@Chernobog34 This list is about "live-action" movies, so they only talk about stop-motion applied to such movies. I agree that Aardman doesn't make "cartoons" (cartoons need to be drawn) but they make animations and animations are not considered "live-action".

[@MichaelJDavanzo]

To this day I'm still in absolute awe of the use of practical and special effects in Walter Murch's "Return to Oz" (1985) many of which were mentioned on this list.

[@davehunter2814]

Return to Oz rarely gets mentioned. It was the third film I worked on in Special Effects

[@PwnzerProductions]

Little Shop of Horrors deserved more than a one second wordless nod. Not only was that a series of ever-growing plants that were fully articulated AND could sing, but they also had the entire original ending featuring the plants destroying New York

[@VonBlade]

Absolutely.

[@erakfishfishfish]

I was impressed that most of the shots with Audrey 2 had to be filmed at half speed because the puppet was simply to big to move at a normal pace. Rick Moranis had to move and speak/sing at half speed as well. You can tell in some scenes because he’s shifting his weight funny as he walks, but it works for his character.

[@ameliespencer97]

Yes I was thinking this! The articulation on the lips is absolutely stunning, so much personality on a face with no eyes!

[@rgerber]

I just recently watched this movie - the voice of the plant is just so absolutely irritating. It's the "black dude" type voice but so extremely over the top ......it's just weird.

[@ayosiku2]

Practical effects were the absolute best.

[@RatedRKO269]

Such an awesome list. That skeleton fight in Jason and the Argonauts is one of my favorites. It’s from my father’s childhood but he showed me the film when I was young and I was glued to the screen. Just as I was when he showed me Star Wars. I couldn’t believe that films could do those kind of things. Huge inspirations for me to get into the business. Agh I’m typing this as I’m watching and now you’re talking about T2! Dear, god the effects are gorgeous. One of my favorite action films.

[@radbot1]

I think Fantastic Voyage, which won an Oscar in 1966 for effects deserves a mention. Some of the effects for that film were horrendously difficult at the time and creating the entire world of the human body took huge amounts of skill, talent and imagination. It's also the one movie I would love to see a big budget modern day remake of, if it was done by a good director, no marvel/Disney rubbish but a serious sci-fi action suspense movie. Forget about innerspace (it was an entertaining buddy movie comedy), I want a serious sci fi remake of Fantastic Voyage!

[@GrzegorzDurda]

Agreed. "Inner Space" is a new take on this genre.

[@earnesthoffintonsmythe204]

The special affects of a move that still astound me to this day, Disneys 'flight of the navigator' - early cgi, morphing & tons of practical affects

[@THE-X-Force]

Great job! This was more a documentary than a top 10 list! Thank you so much for all of the cinema history!

[@Arkholt2]

It really is amazing how well 2001's effects hold up even to this day. Every shot in the movie still looks beautiful. Personally I would have put 2001 on top, but mostly because it's my favorite movie.

[@akshatmudgal2130]

I really like the movie too..I didnt really get the real meaning of the ending.. since its your top movie of all time.. could you share your understanding of the ending?

[@Arkholt2]

@@akshatmudgal2130 It is kind of vague, but to me it's just about evolution. Every time the monolith appears it allows humans to take the next step in their evolution, either in discovering weapons or creating AI. At the end, Dave has a direct contact with a monolith, which allows him to personally take the next step. In order to do this, the monolith shows him the ins and outs of the whole universe, from the smallest microbes to the largest stars, and all the experiences that human beings can have. At the end, after he's gained all this knowledge, he's reborn as a hyper enlightened being, the Star Child. Of course, Kubrick has never explained exactly what happened, and Clarke, who worked on the movie with him and wrote the novel, has different ideas on what occurred, but that's my take.

[@28Pluto]

The Cinefix lists don't really have a "top." The #1 spot is not more important than the #10 spot. They usually just list them in a way that can explain the narrative of the entire subject. The numbers are usually just used to separate topics within the subject; like #8 being about perception, and #5 being about creatures. Both are equally important, they are not ranked against each other.

[@reservoirfrogs2177]

@@Arkholt2 Dead on

[@badideabearcub2747]

@@28Pluto I think in this list the categories needed to have a certain Physical rig, as opposed to optical effects. However I don't understand the over-appreciation for "The thing", The human heads there look very fake. I think that there are tons of other movies from the same era that sell animatronics better.

[@alecsnider3225]

I'm a bit surprised that Metropolis isn't at least mentioned here, but with so many excellent films to choose from I know you can't feature them all. Love the video, well done and thank you!

[@EvilSSP]

What's really cool about this topic is how "better special effects" or to say more modern methods don't necessarily create a better movie or experience. There was a magic behind practical effects and knowing how hard it was to pull off and make believable, and now with really good CGI it's a dime a dozen and we're not impressed anymore. If someone makes a movie today and does it with real practical effects and it looks believable it's more appreciated than the "better" CGI version.

[@johnstrawb3521]

Who really thinks the amateurish critter effects in The Thing are actually good? I mean, you're kidding, right?

[@uSMELLSOGOOD]

@@johnstrawb3521 You're joking about the practical effects in The Thing, right? Practical effects are an art form that can produce more realistic effects than CGI because they are physically present. CGI has become good because it can be taught in schools on a wide scale, practical effects are a lost art in many cases because CGI is cheaper and does not require the same level of creativity to achieve results. It is the difference between creating a sculpture made of stone to using a mouse/keyboard with preconfigured plug-ins to create a replica that will never look the same. Both take creativity and are well respected, however, practical effects tend to age better and take more creativity on a larger scale in my opinion... I assume you are trolling from your message but I wanted to make this statement either way

[@Dr170]

​@@johnstrawb3521Eh, return to your cave and go back to jacking it to to Black Panther fight scenes, why doncha

[@toddleafgreen552]

Amazing video but you totally miss the 70s and the disaster genre. As a kid before Jaws and Star Wars, watching an Ocean liner turn over in the Poseidon adventure, or a skyscraper burn in Towering Inferno was terrifying. Amazing model, work, and practical effects.

[@KendyJ929]

I was lucky enough to go to a school for the arts as a kid/teen and filmmaking was something I wanted to do so badly! I conquered most everything BUT filmmaking and watching this video has sealed the deal. I'm so inspired to give that shit a go again! Thanks CineFix🤘🏾❤️

[@mattblom3990]

I grew up with multiple VHS rentals of Jason and the Argonauts (because mom had loved the film) and what I thought at the time as a kid was that stop motion actually enhanced the scene. The staccato, jittery nature of the skeletons brought to life by Ray Harryhousen was better than smooth CGI could ever do.

[@travishopkins2275]

Praise be! Cinefix has posted and in turn made this day, a good day!

[@chancemartin4737]

Great shout out to Harryhausen. He was a genius and I was able to meet him at a monster convention. Amazing list. I also love the mentions of old and rarely seen films.

[@alexc8356]

Wow. All I can say is bravo. This is a lovingly and expertly curated list of some of the legends in practical effects. Any top 10 is going to be missing some greats, such is the territory. Still, what a treat for any cinephile to watch. Thank you to everyone who was involved in this. Truly enjoyable and enlightening to watch.

[@AscendantStoic]

That video was quite the nostalgic trip down memory lane, the 80s and 90s generations grew up watching all these great movies but most didn't know the insane amount of work and talent the went into creating those amazing effects, thanks for bringing light to all these fantastic movies, their special effects and the talents behind them.

[@SunlightHugger]

Bruh, I was BEAMING the whole way through this. I adore the engineering and artistry behind movie effects, and the tactile nature of practical effects especially makes me giddy.

[@georgejones3526]

29:15 - My favorite continuity error. When the doctor’s hands go in the chest, his sleeves are down to his wrists. When the creature bites the arms, the sleeves are cuffed up on the forearms above the bite and when he liftfs up, the sleeves are shredded. My second favorite was in Aliens and involved Ripley’s headset in the transporter.

[@djuanbenjamin9149]

Haven’t even gotten there yet and i already know what you’re talking about.

[@georgejones3526]

@@djuanbenjamin9149 Watch the cord.

[@GregBreden]

Also the bite was an inch or two below the prepared break away part of his right arm so when he pulls back the arm rips apart above the bite rather than at the bite like the other one.

[@lp-xl9ld]

There are some people I know of who don't want to know how special effects are done: to them, it spoils the "magic". But to me, it makes me appreciate it even more.

[@mateodelafuente7320]

I would love for all future episodes to be like this. You can tell Cinefix always has so much to say about the films on their lists and I really love this tv episode length style for them.

[@dannygillespie6614]

You outdid yourselves with this one. One of the best videos you've ever done. Fantastic job.

[@BTroit]

Tom Scott recently did a video on an old school tank training simulator that used the same ground level camera effect. I suppose the difference there being that it wasn't programmable for repeatable camera moves. But very cool to see what they could do with analog technology and mini models.

[@weavehole]

I was wondering which came first. Did Dijkstra sell the concept to the Swiss military? Or was it independent adaptations of someone else's earlier tech?

[@KillahMate]

@@weavehole I think they were independent adaptations, since in the comments of that video people bring up lots of other old analog simulators which used the same (or similar) principle - so the camera effect itself was probably in use at least for some time.

[@weavehole]

@@KillahMate thanks

[@wojtek1582]

52 minutes!!! Insanity!! What a feast!!

[@ConradSpoke]

Yeah, that stargazing sequence in "2001" has so much stars, so much gazings.

[@quasarleon4645]

You make an almost 1 hour video seem like it's 15 minutes tops . Amazing content .

[@joshuah9109]

The rotating room used in "POLTERGEIST" predates "ELM STREET" and is one of the most effective scares in that movie!!

[@johnaustink5636]

I always find the Audrey 2 puppetry gets overlooked when we talk about practical effects but Little Shop Of Horrors definitely deserves recognition for what it was able to accomplish.

[@JohmathanBSwift]

I'm humbled by the hard work and sheer genius of these early contributors in movies.

[@SteveHarrellRally]

I was low key hoping for a Laika Studios honorable mention in the stop motion category. They're keeping the discipline alive

[@angeloflgt]

I'm a little surprised Who Framed Rodger Rabbit was not mentioned on this list, the practical effects needed to make the animated characters interact with the real world I always found fascinating.

[@erakfishfishfish]

They showed some clips of it at least.

[@MrStrangeSensation]

T2 really was something special. The culmination and perfecting of practical in camera effects, AND a huge leap forward in CG effects as well.

[@maxpatrickhaynes2194]

2/2 And then I checked the date!! I thought this must be old, (although I think I’ve seen every video you guys have done), and when I saw it was NEW and 52 mins , I freaked . Now I’m gonna grab a coffee and watch this!!!

[@caityjaynecosplay]

Looks like you guys got my Christmas list early!!! I love you all!!!

[@joshoshea3194]

Awesome video. I could watch content like this all day. I've always preferred practical over CGI although there are obviously limitations.

[@seanpyne592]

Amen brother

[@nfVidz]

Absolutely agree! The ingenuity and creativity needed to work within the constraints of practical effects are what make them so brilliant! I'm amazed at some of the techniques being used 50+ years ago.

[@Mikebuster]

the only limitation with practical effects is budget

[@joshoshea3194]

@@Mikebuster well things like ultra realistic de-aging.

[@pamlegaspi]

50 MINUTES?!?! HELL YES!!!

[@MoonLander85]

I used to religiously watch all of your lists. I would watch them and put on my "to watch" list every movie you mention (doesn't matter the context good or bad) And then suddenly about a time you were absorbed by IGN (ca march 2021), KZbin just stop informing me about your new stuff. I just slowly forgot about You guys. Out of a blue- this pops up in my feed. Awesome. I'm gonna watch a lot of your stuff now. Also i clicked "the bell". Not gonna miss anything new. Good to be back here.

[@PenultimatePenPen]

Absolutely one of the best videos you guys have ever done. Definitely would love a sequel type video to this. So great

[@trudel669]

Great list! I thought the ship design spot would go to Alien's Nostromo, but 2001's ships makes a ton of sense

[@maxpatrickhaynes2194]

52 mins? KICK ASS!!! I love this channel, probably more than literally ANY channel I watch. Please do MORE long videos !!! 1/2

[@chancemartin4737]

This video highlights the length and amount of work it can take even just seconds of footage. But the time, money and effort makes the movie all the more special and memorable. Modern Hollywood could learn a few lessons from this video

[@kdrecords4562]

Thanks for the feature-length documentary, CineFix.

[@mattyt1961]

Such great content. There are times where I think if the cineflix lists could be longer or if that is just too long, but this proves that long content from Cinefix can be awesome and engaging.

[@user-qq4ev6il2r]

Good to see you include Rob Bottin who was making grisly, fleshy creature effects as impressive as anything Baker and Winston were doing at the time ( I believe he was Baker's protege) but the omission of Derek Meddings, Brian Johnson and their employers Les Bowie and Gerry Anderson is, er, an "oversight". Meddings went on to the Bond franchise, his scaled-down sets and their often fiery, slo-mo destruction was the best, and Johnson became the go-to man for models, building Kubrick's Discovery amongst other things, he was the one who hit on the idea of using parts from Airfix and Revell model kits, while the man who gave them their first break (Bowie) realised the destruction of H.M.S. Hood in 1961's "Sink the Bismarck" in truly size-defying style. Meddings and Johnson's trick for an impressive model? Dirt, a trick they learned from Bowie, the finishing touch to making a model look big and industrial rather than a shiny plastic toy.

[@Serai3]

The wolf transformations in "The Company of Wolves" always get forgotten, but they were just as groundbreaking as the ones in "American Werewolf", especially since each wolf transformed in a completely different way.

[@GregBreden]

Yeh, it was a really great idea to make it look like the wolf emerged from inside them, very well done. It's also a great ethereal and atmpspheric film, kind of poetic.

[@lewisner]

Seriously. But I guess there are so many great sfx in movies that some had to be missed out. Only one brief clip of War Of The Worlds and no other George Pal movies.

[@Serai3]

@@lewisner True, there's a lot. But I've noticed it rarely gets mentioned even in videos about werewolf movies. Such a pity - it's one of the most imaginative and juicy films I know of.

[@fierro7771]

Great movie

[@V3ntilator]

Actually it's one of the movies i will re-watch for the first time in like 20 years.

[@ConceptJunkie]

It's the "Stargate Sequence". Other than calling the most famous scene in 2001, and one of the most famous of all time by the wrong name, this was a great presentation. I also loved that you gave Georges Méliès his due. He invented, or improved almost every special effect technique that was used in the first half of the 20th century.

[@writhms]

"The Gate" (1987) had incredible special effects using force perspective, stop motion animation, animatronics, and make-up effects. It deserved a mention.

[@krautgazer]

It was briefly shown.

[@ZOB4]

That model of Marin County with the periscope lens is f'ing awesome

[@demongorr]

These videos are the absolute best of their kind on KZbin in my opinion. Brilliant look at practical fx and anything that praises Rick Baker's work on An American Werewolf in London gets a big thumbs up from me!

[@joeclark1621]

When it comes to practical make up effects, Rick Baker is by FAR the Goat. I think I can relate to the make up of this film more than literally any other film is cause one, I've always liked classic monster movies and two, the make up in that film looked so real.

[@AfoteyAnnum]

To this day, the transformation into the werewolf in An American Werewolf is unparalleled. Literally the best transformation ever

[@amityislandchum]

CORRECTION: the Academy Award for Best Make-Up was NOT created due to Rick Baker's work on An American Werewolf in London; he was just the first to win it. The award was created specifically as a response to Graham Longhurst's work on The Elephant Man. Since no Oscar to honor the work existed, people were outraged, and the next year was the first year with the new category.

[@votex22179]

Thank you for this epic journey into cinema history 👍👍👍👍

[@jaybeam1466]

That Jurassic Park T-Rex holds up incredibly well. It's hard to believe that's from 1993.

[@gjamdz]

Another great video. When you talked about Terminator 2 and its variety of practical effects I thought you were going to name the twins shots and the mirror shot; but now that I think about it, those are shots without effects, and they're still great.

[@gabrielbalog268]

Cinefix is the only channel who's videos I like before I watch them

[@4-kathryn]

La Voyage Dans La Luna (1902) is charming. I'm grateful many years ago when I was taking a few film courses the university professor showed the class that film. It's good to be reminded of the orgins of effects work. Superb video, I'll probably share this with my Dad.

[@maxpower3726]

"Bruce" the Shark just about ate me when I was 6 years old! I was on the Universal Studios tour in 1977 and during the Jaws section of the tram ride the shark burst out of the water and came right at me mouth open like 5 feet away. I have a picture of me scrambling over other people to get away from it. I was blurred in the photo I was moving so fast!

[@Dr170]

Lucky you have a name a shark would love to touch but ultimately mustn't touch

[@maxpower3726]

@@Dr170 Awesome reply! Thanx!

[@grommy1234]

I saw the imho best practical effects pioneer: The Invisible Man (1933) with Claude Raines and Gloria Stewart. The unwrapping effect as so memorable where the audience can see inside the invisible head. Kudos for Raines for going through the picture mostly under wraps.

[@Kyle_Evers]

I absolutely love the longer form of this video! Thanks for always delivering high-quality videos about cinema, this channel has been one of my favorites for a long time since I first discovered it. Also love the subject of this. Makes you realize how truly incredible and talented the people are who make these sorts of things happen.

[@RythmGkwd]

52 minutes video !! I ain't complaining, bring em more 😎

[@Clampheed]

I had no idea how the War of LA was done for T2 and that breakdown absolutely blew my mind! Amazing video as always, but would have been nice to see some Little Shop of Horrors in here, definitely in my top 5 practical effects ever!

[@DGCInstructor]

Hi there, this is a really great video, thank you for compiling it all. I just wanted to mention that at 22:12 you introduce John Dykstra but show a shot of Richard Edlund. You do show a actual photo of Dykstra a few minutes later but it might be a bit confusing for anyone unfamiliar with these two men.

[@niepoczytalna122]

Omg, first - love the topic, and second - I LOVE LOVE the length of this video ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤🙈🙈

[@RythmGkwd]

This made me respect and appreciate the work of technicians and all the artists involved in film making all the more

[@martinsorenson1055]

It's the Stargate sequence not the Stargazing sequence in 2001.

[@ScottE5]

Amazing video in a long line of outstanding CineFix productions. Just one note - @22:10 - that's Richard Edlund, not John Dykstra. Two masters who kinda looked the same back in the day.

[@mattm5672]

Came to say the same. Glad I'm not the only FX geek here ;)

[@ebuzzmiller34]

Yeah learned to tell all the original ILM guys apart by the Light and Magic documentary series. Edlund was always the horror/creepy effects guy hence him doing most of Raiders, Poltergeist and then Ghostbusters' horror stuff..

[@lefunghi6151]

Wait 1 hour of cinefix? Is it Christmas already?!!?!

[@chancemartin4737]

Omg. So glad George M. Got the top slot. He was a genius. Great list

[@kuismase]

One of best top 10 videos you guys have put together !

[@magdalfalfa]

I loved the long format of this video! There's so much to say about every single movie, I'm glad you took the time for it

[@rohan9500]

This channel helped me discover a newfound love for cinema. Please dont ever stop making these videos…they are everything.

[@baddog57]

I've always been enthralled by special effects, especially practical effects. Didn't expect the watch this hour-long production, but I did. Excellent stuff. Thank you.

[@eatanyahel9813]

Please make a list of the top 10 "bigger than life" characters in movies. Characters like Tyler Durden in fight club, kambei Shimada in seven samurai, and Harry Lime in the third man. All amusing characters that deserve their own list.

[@oliversomething4821]

"And our #1 pick, Willy Wonka."

[@Mammutidae]

Goodness that giant squid is so impressive for its time

[@childofthesun32]

David Cronenberg's "Scanners" became an unforgettable classic the moment that first Scanner's head explodes. A shot that was proving difficult to get right until special effects supervisor Gary Zellor filled his 12-guage shotgun with kosher salt, made the whole crew get in their cars and made cinema history, by just straight up murdering one of the actors by blowing his head off with a double shotgun blast and filming the whole thing.....

[@Doomted90]

I love the new age of CGI don't get me wrong, but the ingenuity and uniqueness of practical effects just blow my mind and keep bringing me back to the classics like Star Wars and Bram Stokers Dracula. Sometimes I wish more directors would take liberties like this. I honestly believe that The Lord of the Rings would have COMPLETELY failed without their amazing work in forced perspective. Same with Inception and their unique use of rotating sets. Honestly, I just prefer to see practical effects... you can make them look just as real as CGI and totally blow minds when people realize that CGI was NOT used in a scene that otherwise should be impossible! Great video, thanks for the content!

[@fireaza]

While it's all well and good to appreciate the tangibility and craftmanship of practical effects, it's important to not lose sight of the fact that practical effects and CGI are just tools. And like any good craftsman, a good director understands the innate positives and negatives of his tools and knows what to use for what purpose. This is something the "CGI BAD! PRACTICAL GOOD! ME DISCERNING FILM BUFF!" commenters (of which this video will be swarming with given a few more hours, because that's the sort of people who are attracted to a video titled "Top 10 Practical Effects of All Time") fail to understand. Saying movies of the past were better because they only used practical effects, is like saying the buildings of the past are beautiful because the people who made them only used hammers and nails. It's not the tools that made these buildings beautiful, it's the fact that they were designed and built by people who were the masters of their craft. If these masters had access to modern building tools and materials, they would absolutely use them. Not because using them would make the buildings "cheaper", "easier" or "faster" to construct. But because they would allow them to do things that were impossible to do at the time they were originally constructed. I don't know about you, but I think giving artists the option to not compromise on their vision is a net-positive. Moreover, there are absolutely MANY examples of terrible-looking practical effects in movies from the pre-CGI era. The sort of things that, if they were done in CGI, would have the "CGI killed my father, and raped my mother" commenters baying for the summary execution of the animator who worked on it and every single member of their immediate family. One that comes to mind is ED-209 in _Robocop._ Its movements are not only incredibly jittery (even by stop-motion standards), but it moves like it's, well, a tiny model, with zero sense of the weight and inertia that a massive bipedal robot should have. And the less said about comically fake-looking rear projection effects and flat-looking matte paintings, the better. If you think practical effects always look great, you haven't seen enough movies from the era you claim produced better-looking movies.

[@sammy1552]

I wish your comment was pinned. CGI can go above and beyond what practical effects can do (not saying practical effects are bad just that it too also has limits) but the higher ups don't understand how it works. I mean, look at Pacific Rim (2013) and Pacific Rim Uprising (2018); first actually made it feel real and enormous with the scale and weight while the second threw all that out. Del Toro understands the tools of filmmaking.

[@andytol1976]

A comparison between Dunkirk and Atonement comes to mind. Don't get me wrong; Dunkirk is an excellent film in many respects. The visuals of the Evacuation scene in Atonement however, are stunning. That's 1 compromise Nolan should have made in Dunkirk to use CGI, or hire hundreds of thousands of extras.

[@fireaza]

@@sammy1552 Del Toro Is an EXCELLENT example of a director who understands his tools. In _Pan's Labyrinth,_ while Pan himself is largely a costume, things like his eyes are CGI, which fixes the dead-eyed look that's common to costume characters. They also ended up swapping the puppet which was going to be used for the toad character for a fully CGI one. This both fixed the practical problems of the puppet (the foam rubber kept getting soaked from being in the mud and becoming too heavy for the actress to move) and also allowed the character to move around more and be more expressive.

[@altosanon]

I was wondering why The Things wasn't in Body Horror, now I have found out!