Watch This: Visual Effects -- 100 Years of Inspiration
Filed under: Fandom, Trailers and Clips
.jpg){kind=avatar}
On the day that brought us the first trailer for James Cameron's Avatar, it's only fitting that we throw up a video tribute to the films that have dazzled us with groundbreaking visual effects over the years. This video (featured after the jump), titled Visual Effects: 100 Years of Inspiration, was originally intended to be used in a classroom as part of a lecture, and while it leaves off films like The Matrix, as well as anything from 2009, it does do a pretty good job of doling out some nostalgic flavor as we take a trip through time.
Not all of the films featured in this video tribute are named, so we've included a list of them after the jump. It truly is pretty astonishing to see how far we've come with visual effects, and although there will always be a group of people who complain about everything, at least there are visionaries like James Cameron who continue to create and discover and share their work with the rest of us.
Head after the jump to watch the video and check out the complete list of films.
1900 - The Enchanted Drawing
1903 - The Great Train Robbery
1923 - The Ten Commandments (Silent)
1927 - Sunrise
1933 - King Kong
1939 - The Wizard of Oz
1940 - The Thief of Bagdad
1954 - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
1956 - Forbidden Planet
1963 - Jason and the Argonauts
1964 - Mary Poppins
1977 - Star Wars
1982 - Tron
1985 - Back to the Future
1988 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit
1989 - The Abyss
1991 - Terminator 2: Judgement Day
1992 - The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1993 - Jurassic Park
2004 - Spider-Man 2
2005 - King Kong
2006 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
2007 - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2007 - The Golden Compass
2008 - The Spiderwick Chronicles
2008 - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Additional notes: The music track is "Rods and Cones" from the album "Audio" by Blue Man Group.
[via The Awesomer]
The Return of Jessica Alba?
Now 'New Moon' Prevents Skin Cancer!_thumbnail.jpg)
Discuss: Who Would be the Most Profitable Director if ...
Warner Bros Will Make Clint Eastwood Fans' Day
Their Best Role: Nicole Kidman in 'To Die For'
_thumbnail.jpg)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-20-2009 @ 5:09PM
benbligh said...
1900 - 2008 = 109 years (if you include the first year. Not 100 years. Ahem.
And no Citizen Kane? Almost every shot in that film was VFX.
Reply
8-20-2009 @ 5:42PM
Erik Davis said...
Hey, I didn't come up with the title of the video -- I'm just the messenger.
8-20-2009 @ 5:30PM
Saltypoison said...
Cool video, but two small gripes.
1. The footage used from Star Wars is the revamped version released in the 90's.
2. No Matrix. Seriously, every action movie since then has ripped it off in some way or another.
Reply
8-20-2009 @ 6:21PM
Angel said...
Amazing trailer! Now I'm not the biggest Sci-Fi fan in the world so anybody correct me if I'm wrong but can this be the best year for science fiction ever? Maybe none of the sci fi movies released this year will be better then other sci fi classics but in regards to the number of quality sci fi films could this be the most significant year for the genre. With Star Trek, Moon, & District 9 already pleasing the masses & the cherry on top might just well be Avatar. Obviously we don't know yet but the potential is definitely there.
Reply
8-20-2009 @ 8:52PM
Jaded said...
No Last Starfighter?
Come on!
Besides Tron it was one of the first films to use extensive CGI and has something like 300 scenes containing computer graphics.
Harumph.
Reply
8-21-2009 @ 10:30AM
ML said...
There were some obvious gaps for any serious attempt to hit the hightlights of 100 years of visual effects, even for casual observer like me - particularly for the early era.
Reply
8-21-2009 @ 10:35AM
Moriakum said...
No Matrix? No Lord of the Rings? No Transforrmers? But we have The Golden Compass and The Spiderwick Chronicles... This list is bullshit!!!!
Reply
8-26-2009 @ 2:19AM
robot monster said...
Yeah, that's a big omission all right- hard to understand it.
I saw Linwood Dunn's 'demo' reel once- (and it was literally a reel).
Spectacular.
To say nothing of 2001: A Space Odyssey- completely m.i.a.
Nice to see the original The Ten Commandments though.
Reply