10 Awesome Movie Effects That Aren't What You Think

7. The T-1000's Battle Wounds - : Judgment Day

What You Thought

James Cameron's Terminator 2 is a stunning triumph of cutting-edge visual effects which still looks incredible almost 30 years on.

And though the film is well-noted for its smart fusion of practical and digital elements, it's safe to say that the various scenes in which the T-1000 (Robert Patrick) sustains battle damage are accepted by most everyone to be entirely digital.

The Actual Effect

Unbelievably, a good deal of these shots were entirely practical thanks to legendary special effects wiz Stan Winston.

When the T-1000's head gets blown apart during the hospital escape, for instance, we're looking at a physical model, with animatronics used for the head's movement. CGI was only used for the final shot of the T-1000's head fully re-forming.

Elsewhere many of the T-1000's liquid metal "wounds" throughout the film are nothing more than foil squibs glued to Robert Patrick's clothes, with CGI only used to animate the original appearance and disappearance of the wounds.

Given how so many modern films struggle to blend practical and digital effects together, it remains mind-boggling just how expertly Cameron and his crew left audiences unsure of what exactly they were seeing.