10 Most Incredible Practical Effects In Sci-Fi Movie History

Christopher Nolan's sci-fi masterpiece, Interstellar, blew audiences away with its astounding acting, poignant score, and Oscar-winning visual effects. The designs of the singularity, Gargantua, and the wormhole were accomplished with a fluid mix of colossal sets, CGI, puppets, and animatronics. But the one effect that seems to stand out is the robot, TARS.

TARS was supposed to look like humanoid but the director thought it would be more creative if the robot's shape adjusted to his surroundings. In neutral, TARS resembles a sleek monolith (which is a sneaky reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey) but can alter his segments to "sprint" or pick up paraphernalia and crew members.

Because of his unique design and ability to reconfigure his form, viewers will instinctively think TARS is CGI. In reality, the robot is a puppet which is voiced and controlled by Bill Irwin. Even the scene where TARS spins towards Anne Hathaway's character to rescue her was performed by a giant puppet.

CGI was used to remove the puppeteer in the shots with TARS but it is still an incredible achievement to craft such an incredible puppet that viewers assume it's fake.