# CGI haters, what CGI have you liked? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2012, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639 "2012-11-02T06:23:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/21 "2012-11-02T21:33:02Z")
I’ve mentioned this before, but a truly amazing bit of CGI that I never even thought about was in _Forrest Gump_. There’s a scene with Forrest and Lieutenant Dan on the shrimp boat. LD, who lost both legs below the knees in Vietnam, is sitting on the railing, and after talking with Forrest a bit he swings over the railing and jumps into the water. The problem was, Gary Sinise (LD) isn’t legless. In a few scenes, they had planned to remove his lower legs with CGI, but this one was giving them trouble. They couldn’t film him properly swinging his full-grown legs over the railing without it looking weird. So they cut out part of the railing, to allow his legs (below the knee) to swing through the hole. Then they added that section of railing back in post-production with CGI. Really cool use of the technology for a split-second of screen time to make his movements look appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/22 "2012-11-02T22:13:35Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I didn’t think much of the movie, but the plane crash scene in **Knowing** was phenomenal. An amazing scene. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/23 "2012-11-02T22:56:46Z")
I always watch _Pearl Harbor_ if it’s on, mainly because the bombing scenes and sinking ships are so freaking real. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/24 "2012-11-03T02:44:56Z")
At the time I thought Gollum looked good. Repeat viewings show that he looks bad now, but I think that’s because we’ve seen better. It was really good for its time. In fact, I even remember thinking he looked good in the first movie, and then seeing the second movie and realizing how bad he actually looked in the first one. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/25 "2012-11-03T04:36:19Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > At the time I thought Gollum looked good. Repeat viewings show that he looks bad now, but I think that’s because we’ve seen better. It was really good for its time. > > In fact, I even remember thinking he looked good in the first movie, and then seeing the second movie and realizing how bad he actually looked in the first one. I never found Gollum particularly convincing and was surprised at all the praise everyone was giving him. I’m sure they could make a far more convincing one now though. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/26 "2012-11-03T04:56:03Z")
Well then, there’s that pizza box and baseball. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/27 "2012-11-03T15:00:02Z")
As others have said, the best CGI is the CGI I either never notice, or is done so well that I can’t tell the difference. Bad CGI is usually just done badly; A recent movie I watched (I don’t recall which)had an obviously CGId helicopter flying over a cityscape. The lighting, reflections, proportions, and its clarity against a the slightly-out-of-focus cityscape just shouted CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/28 "2012-11-03T19:04:05Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Jurassic Park. It was twenty years ago, and it still looks damn near perfect. You could release that today (with different hairstyles, maybe) and get no complaints. > > Firefly, too, has great-looking CGI. The fact that they use it mostly for exterior shots of the ship in space makes that a lot easier, though. Totally seconded about J.P., also the documentary series "Walking with Dinosaurs " was excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/29 "2012-11-04T07:26:15Z")
Some low-key things like the train in The Matrix, the abovementioned Forrest Gump example. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/30 "2012-11-04T07:43:05Z")
> [@Gukumatz](#): > > Some low-key things like the train in The Matrix, the abovementioned Forrest Gump example. Train? In the first one? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/31 "2012-11-04T09:12:56Z")
Subway train. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639/32 "2012-11-04T17:39:29Z")
The effects in [Heavenly Creatures](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-vUl-1FJ9E) (which happens to my favorite movie of all time) are an integral and necessary part of the movie, not shiny crap stuffed in just because they could. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cgi-haters-what-cgi-have-you-liked/639639.md?page=1)