10 Epic Movie Moments You Won't Believe Used No CGI
Iconic moments brought to you by directors who prefer to play outside.
There was once a time when going to the cinema and seeing an epic moment of CGI was a rarity, those blockbuster-exclusive scenes that were the cause of all the chatter as the screen emptied. Most of the time you were fully aware that it was CGI, but it was awesome anyway, like Legolas defying the laws of physics as he battles the mumakil, or the dinosaur stampede in King Kong.
Not that I have anything against films directed by Peter Jackson, on the contrary. Despite Lord Of The Rings (and, to some extent, The Hobbit franchise) containing moments of CGI that doesnt really fool you for a second, Jacksons original trilogy is quite rightfully hailed as one of the best ever, warts and all.
Nowadays, with game changing franchises like Transformers going so heavy on the computer imagery, CGI doesnt really get the blood pumping the way it used to. If a scene isnt totally seamless, its the first thing to be pointed out, and is something you invariably remember about that movie.
In fact, CGI is such a norm now that the whole scenario has been flipped on its head, and what really impresses us is film makers managing to create amazing things without the use of computers.
Some of the most epic moments in movie history have been achieved with practical effects and good old fashioned ingenuity...