10 Recent Movie Effects You Thought Were CGI (But Weren't)
7. Kung Lao Kills Nitara - Mortal Kombat
Without question the gnarliest fatality in the new Mortal Kombat movie sees Kung Lao (Max Huang) using his bladed hat to split the villainous Nitara (Mel Jarnson) straight down the middle.
Director Simon McQuoid holds nothing back in lingering on Nitara's body being brutally bisected by the hat, and the kill seems so brilliantly over-the-top that it surely had to be 100% digital, right?
Wrong. Though the blade itself is a visual effect and some touch-ups were added to the scene in post, the blood and Nitara's body were actually practical elements.
While actor Huang didn't go into the particulars of the scene's in-camera execution, he did confirm that it was far from the all-digital effect people likely assume:
"It was actually more practical than CGI, I have to say because all the blood you see that is all real. I can't give away too much, but, when we shot that fatality, it was coming at me and it was a mess... Later on they worked around with the CGI to make it even look more outstanding, but yes, majority of it was all real.