10 Special Effects Movie Milestones That Came After Star Wars

5. The Matrix (1999)

Directed by: The Wachowski Brothers Slow motion was nothing new when The Matrix rolled around in 1999. Just a year prior, Wesley Snipes dodged computer-generated bullets in the vampire flick Blade. But The Matrix achieved "bullet time" in a fresh way, and ever since it has served as the landmark for countless super-slow-mo action sequences ranging from the awesome to the incredibly absurd. It is easy to see in early shot of Trinity leaping into the air and delivering a bone-shattering kick how the camera-spinning, time-stopping effect was achieved. Multiple cameras were placed in a ring and fired in immediate succession around the action, providing a choppy illusion that the camera itself was moving inside of a time-halted moment. The choppiness was smoothed using digital effects in post-production, and the technique was repeated in similar shots featuring Morpheus and Neo later on. Influenced: The Matrix sequels, Max Payne (both the video game and the godawful Wahlberg movie), 300, Watchmen.