16. Star Wars Beats Mad Max: Fury Road For Special Visual Effects
The first awards shock of the night went to Star Wars: The Force Awakens defeating Mad Max: Fury Road for the Special Visual Effects Oscar. Yes, Star Wars certainly did a good job with its effects-heavy conception, but wasn't Fury Road's impressively subtle concoction so much better-executed? Considering that so many people bang the "it was done practically!" drum without realising that much of Fury Road was in fact the product of incredible compositing work, it's a perfect testament to how well-integrated into the practical stuff the CGI was. It's not so much that Star Wars is undeserving, but that it's a very safe, boring choice, when Mad Max actually did something fairly unique and memorable with its CGI package.