Why Modern Movies Suck - CGI Overload

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“Terminator 2” is the perfect example of how to use CGI properly and efficiently. The CGI in that movie is still respectable, by today’s standards. The fact that they relied mostly upon real life effects and used CGI, only when necessary is what makes it great.

It's ironic how CGI is so overused in live-action yet the medium of animation itself is so undervalued

Possibly the saddest side effect from overuse of CGI is that audiences are so ruined by CGI that they don't trust actual effects and aren't in awe the way they should be.

I find it interesting that in the same movie you had Natalie Portman, who couldn't be bothered to even get a little toned for her role, and Christian Bale who goes to absolute extremes to match his physical appearance to the role he is playing. Goes to show that some people really don't care about the product they are putting out and others REALLY care.

Watching Top Gun: Maverick reminded me just how visually impressive movies can be without a constant barrage of CGI nightmares. CGI can be incredibly useful, but I've really gotten sick of it over the years.

As the saying goes, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail". Fits perfectly for what studios do with CGI

It's like the time when Sir Ian McKellen cried in the set of The Hobbit because 'everything was greenscreen and that wasn't the reason he became an actor'. I totally feel him now, and although the crew cheered him up by decorating the set, it's heartbreaking that it is still the norm. You can't cgi a bond between people and at the end of the day, the actors are the emotional core of any movie, if they can't feel the magic, how can you invest on it

That's why I love the pirates of the carribean movies, the original 3 at least, the cgi was only implemented when absolutely necessary and they still went into extreme lengths to get all of the real sceneries and movements they could before adding the cgi

Interesting fact from that Lord of the Rings fight. The most memorable part of that is where the Orc throws the knife at Aragon and he parries it with his sword. With special effects that would never have happened. The Orc guy was supposed to throw it off to the side of Vigo, but because of poor vision due to the prosthetic, he threw it straight at him instead. Vigo just reacted and deflected it for real. Bad ass. So, obviously, Jackson put it into the film.

I missed when movies actually pushed the boundaries of film making and weren’t just cgi objects hitting cgi objects

Regarding CGI-enhanced Natalie Portman, it makes you all the more appreciative of the work and dedication of Linda Hamilton to get in shape to portray one of the all time great REAL strong female characters in Terminator 2

One thing that should be mentioned: the reason a lot of CGI looks terrible is because film producers couldn't be bothered to consult the visual effects studios they employ. A lot of the realism of CGI depends on very controlled conditions and decisions during filming. However, producers tend to just film what they want, hand over the tapes to the studios, and expect them to magically finish the movie. They do the best they can with what they're given (and are often overworked and underpaid), but are limited by the material they're given. It's a shame the CGI artists are often the first to blame, when it really comes from the top down.

Practical effects with a bit of CGI where necessary is the best approach for film and television.

I am never going to forget how Ian McKellan, a LEGEND in the acting profession, practically CRIED on the set of The Hobbit because he was forced to act alone with some puppets and green screen in the back instead of a real human being and some practical effects and how he thought he was total shit and didn't deliver a believable performance.....that's one of those cases where CGI hurts the production more than helping it.

Recently rewatched the Pirates of the Caribbean movies and the CGI used for Davy Jones is still some of the best I have ever seen.

Remember when the cgi in Jurassic park was absolutely mind blowing? It was limited use and the animatronics were fantastic

This is one of the reasons the first Iron man, Mad max fury road, Mission impossible franchise, Indiana Jones trilogy, Terminator 2 & Jurassic park has aged so well. They used also great practical effects

Honestly, all this CGI overload just makes me thing "If you wanted a movie focused on computer generated graphics, just make an 100% animated movie so it doesn't stand out". I know animation suffers the stigma of being lesser than live-action, but if your main appeal is the CGI, you might as well go all in!

I’ve felt this for a long time. That’s partly why I loved Maverick so much. Tom Cruise insisted on no CGI. Good for him. It’s so lazy to constantly resort to using it, and far more impressive to me when it’s done for real or with clever camera trickery. I miss the days when you really were impressed with CGI before it became so overused, like in 1993 with Jurassic Park. That was jaw dropping when I saw it. Now CGI is so prevalent, it just doesn’t impress anymore.