What 10 Great Movies Look Like Without Visual Effects

Digital wizardry at its finest.

By Jack Pooley /

Marvel Studios

Love them or hate them, visual effects are a vital component of just about every major Hollywood movie these days, and like any tool, its effectiveness typically comes down to how and why it's used. And by whom, of course.

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Though often used as a crutch by lazy filmmakers, CGI can also be extremely versatile in the hands of the right artists, dazzling not only the eyes but also the heart and the mind.

To that end, these 10 films represent some of the more inspired, creative and iconic uses of VFX technology over the years, with the filmmakers using CGI to enhance what was practically achieved during shooting.

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The mind-boggling transformations speak for themselves, taking seemingly sterile, un-cinematic footage shot in front of a coloured screen and giving it the much-needed magic touch.

As these films created iconic movie locations out of thin air, added complex digital characters into the mix and cleverly concealed elements of the filmmaking process, let's peel back the curtain and see just how different the raw footage looked...

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