10 Pre-2000 Movies With Special Effects That Still Hold Up Today

3. Jurassic Park (1993)

When Steven Spielberg initially decided he wanted to make Jurassic Park he wanted to use stop motion to achieve the effects required. If you have seen the extras on the DVD it doesn't actually look as bad as you may have thought but, once he was shown what could be achieved with CGI, there was no turning back. With a movie relying on bringing prehistoric beasts back to life, it was crucial that the effects were up to scratch, but what is most surprising is how convincing they look 21 years later. No matter how many times you watch it, your hairs will still stand on end at the first sight of the Brachiosaurus, your heart will still race at the T-Rex attack and the Raptors remain as menacing and terrifying as ever. In a great move, Spielberg used CGI only when it was absolutely necessary, and for the close ups he actually built life size models of the parts that we would see. This contributed to a great sense of realism and danger as the dinosaurs run amok, without it ever feeling unrealistic or dated. The excitement surrounding Jurassic Park's release was huge, as people lined up to see if Spielberg could convincingly resurrect a species which had long been extinct. The fact that many people will still sit and watch it today is testament to the truly fantastic job he did.