10 Great Movies With Terrible CGI

Contrary to popular belief, there is way less computer generated imagery in Harry Potter than you would believe. Many moments that seemingly rely on CGI use alternative SFX like scaling, animatronics, puppetry, greenscreen, wirework, and forced perspective. The reason why the directors of the franchise limit digital effects is because they're expensive and time-consuming.

But another reason why CGI wasn't commonly used is... it makes everything look a bit crap, especially in the first film. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry and Ron get in a scuffle with a troll in a bathroom. Because this is the first monstrous creature we see up close, this should feel like a magical and scary moment for the viewer.

But because of the ogre's janky movements and blurred animations, he looks downright shoddy. To add insult to injury, Harry is blatantly replaced with a CG image in certain shots, making the whole scene less believable.

Some viewers justify the troll's appearance, since visual artists still hadn't mastered fully-rendered CG characters. However, the troll in The Lord of the Rings looks dramatically better, even though the film was released only a month later.