10 Movie Innovations That Happened Earlier Than You Think

7. Bullet Time - Jumanji (1995)

The impact of The Matrix on blockbuster cinema can't ever be underestimated, with its hyper-creative use of state-of-the-art, Oscar-winning visual effects inviting a slew of inferior imitators in the two decades since.

The film was of course most lauded for its complex slow-motion effects, specifically "bullet time," in which a purpose-built camera rig allowed the Wachowskis to capture a 360-degree image around their actors during heightened action beats.

Though the most iconic effect in the movie is unquestionably the sequence where Neo (Keanu Reeves) dodges a series of bullets on a rooftop, another memorable scene at the end of the movie sees him flat-out stopping the bullets through sheer force of will.

But four years before The Matrix hit screens, an extremely similar effect was first employed in 1995's Jumanji.

At the end of the movie, the villainous Van Pelt (Jonathan Hyde) fires his rifle at Alan (Robin Williams), but as Alan has already said the word "Jumanji," the game itself stops the bullet mere inches from his face, before sucking it and Van Pelt back into the game.

It's a primitive version of the effect, no question, and The Matrix did so much more with bullet time as an idea, but Jumanji deserves a measure of credit for actually achieving it first.