10 Worst CGI Effects In Sci-Fi Movies
Anything but special effects.
Computer-Generated Imagery has consistently helped bring some of the most iconic scenes and characters in science fiction movie history to life over the last 50+ years.
Without this tool, we would have never been able to completely immerse ourselves in the world of Pandora in Avatar (2009), been introduced to the awe-inspiring Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park (1993) or found ourselves genuinely empathising with an ape called Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).
Yet, not every ambitious sci-fi project is blessed with the sort of stunning visual effects which impressively transport an audience into a bold new world. Some are actually so painfully bad that they instantly drag fans back into reality and leave them storming away from the cinema with a seriously bitter taste in their mouths.
It must be said, nobody sets out to craft terrible CGI moments (you'd like to think) and these sci-fi effects can sometimes take years to bring to the big screen. So, it's just a shame that what we ended up witnessing in these ten movies either made us laugh, wince or cry for all the wrong reasons.
The Xenomorph deserved better, Ridley Scott.
10. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope - Jabba The Hutt Makes A Jarring Appearance
Though George Lucas has received a lot of criticism for his questionable decision to go back and alter certain visuals in his classic Star Wars original trilogy, his tinkering did actually enhance some of the scenes set in a galaxy far, far away.
His decision to insert the prequel version of Emperor Palpatine into the hologram scene in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and the improved lightsaber effects were both welcome updates.
However, reinstating a scene involving everyone's (least) favourite Hutt in the 1997 re-release of A New Hope (1977) proved exactly how distracting bad CGI can be on its day.
Here, the Jabba we remember in all his practical effects glory in Return of the Jedi (1983) is butchered completely and made to look like a ridiculous alien/Cheshire Cat hybrid.
That original version may have been an unquestionable eyesore, but at least the character looked more realistic in the later re-releases, right?
Not exactly.
When the films were tweaked again in 2004, it still felt like you were watching two separate movies going on at the same time and Han Solo walking over Jabba's tail only reminded us just how unnecessary it was to cram this scene back into an already cherished movie.