10 Filmmakers Who Defended Their Terrible Movies

Alex Laurant probably isn't a name you're familiar with, but you've almost certainly seen his work. He was involved in the visual effects for movies like Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, and The Mummy Returns, and it's an infamous moment in the latter project that earned him a spot on this list.

Often being remembered as one of the worst bits of CGI in movie history, this infamous moment occurs when a remarkably unconvincing Dwayne Johnson scorpion monster meanders onto the screen during the final battle.

Acknowledging this sequence's shortcomings, Laurant appeared on an episode of Corridor Crew's VFX Artists React, and explained how it went so wrong.

He stated that, because of the "under-developed" facial capture techniques present in the 1990s, getting the Scorpion King to look exactly how they wanted it just wasn't possible. As is still the case over 20 years later, it was the face that proved the trickiest element, with that pesky uncanny valley dragging the entire sequence down.

So, what did they do? Well, the only thing they could do - they attempted to hide the bad CGI as much as possible, using dim lighting to their advantage.

It sounds like the VFX team bit off more than it could chew, and despite their best efforts, this moment was probably doomed to look awful no matter what.