10 Practical Film Effects You Probably Thought Were CGI
8. Edge Of Tomorrows Armoured Fights
After seeing Robert Downey Jnr blended with CGI so many times as Iron Man, whenever you see a heavily armoured fight scene these days your first assumption is probably that theres some digital trickery going on to make it easier for the filmmakers and actors involved.
With Doug Liman's timey wimey action flick Edge Of Tomorrow, this wasn't the case. Tom Cruise and his co-stars actually lumbered around in probably-lighter-than-they-look robotic suits for hours, on a massive battlefield set surrounded with green screen walls later used to add background detail.
The actors were often on wires, enabling the stunt co-ordinators to send them flying around in reaction to the films manifold explosions. A fair few of these blasts were actually staged in real life, too, to give the battle scenes some semblance of reality. (You can watch footage of the battles being films on YouTube if you want to learn more.)
The result of this commitment to practical effects is that Edge Of Tomorrows action scenes have a visceral thrill despite being ensconced in fantasy elements. This makes it an even bigger shame that the film didnt find a huge audience in cinemas.