# SDMB Oscar Voting: Best Visual Effects **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641 "2014-02-18T18:46:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/1 "2014-02-18T18:46:53Z")
If you were an Academy member, which film would get your vote? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/2 "2014-02-18T22:26:37Z")
I’m going with _The Hobbit_, mostly on the strength of Smaug, who looked friggin’ amazing. Though _Gravity_ was pretty good, too. And I’m amazed that _Pacific Rim_ didn’t even get nominated. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/3 "2014-02-18T23:58:02Z")
Hey Mods, don’t know why it says the poll will close on 2-20. Certainly not what I intended. Can you change or remove? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/4 "2014-02-19T02:34:02Z")
Going to start with the easy one, eh? ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/5 "2014-02-19T02:50:43Z")
Not picking _Gravity_ is kinda…well, wrong, isn’t it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/6 "2014-02-19T03:06:55Z")
Of these I’ve only seen _Gravity_ and that was very good, so that’s my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/7 "2014-02-19T13:56:58Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > Hey Mods, don’t know why it says the poll will close on 2-20. Certainly not what I intended. Can you change or remove? Thanks. Gotcha covered. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/8 "2014-02-19T14:08:36Z")
Gravity should win, Gravity will win. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/9 "2014-02-19T15:12:37Z")
I saw all but _Lone Ranger_. As much as I think _Gravity_ is overrated as a movie, it was a stunning visual achievement. This is definitely a category it deserves to win. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/10 "2014-02-19T15:34:53Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Gravity will win. Gravity _always_ wins. 😃 And I agree that \*Gravity \*should win in this case. The seamless, understated presentation of micro-g was the real star of the show, the element holding up the rest of the action and story. I know the portrayal was not perfect from a physics standpoint and there were other story shortcuts, but had the basic visual effect slipped at any point, our suspension of disbelief would have popped and it would have become cheesy sf-like cinema. Hobbit? We’ve seen dragons and Middle Earth. Well done, but not prize-worthy. Pacific Rim and Iron Man? We’ve seen roboto-men do their thing. Lone Ranger? I think this is a sop to a very, very expensive movie, a consolation prize from the industry, and if it gets 5% of the vote it will be because it employed 5% of the industry. And we’ve seen Star Trek’s world many times in the last 30 years. _Gravity_. I know the naysaying, but I think it’s a masterpiece and the seamless, believable visuals are a big part of what makes it so. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/11 "2014-02-19T16:53:24Z")
I don’t have as high an opinion of _Gravity_ as many other folks do — to me it was _entirely_ this one special effect, with nothing else really going for it — but yeah, they did that one special effect spectacularly well and it deserves the award for best visuals. Best PICTURE? Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/12 "2014-02-19T23:47:44Z")
See, my feeling is that the effects in _Gravity_, while they accomplished very well what they were supposed to, weren’t all that difficult compared to _The Hobbit_. Those simpler effects were used very well, yes, but I see that as being more a matter of the cinematography (which I can’t imagine _Gravity_ not winning in a landslide). The effects in _The Hobbit_ were more of a technical tour de force. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/13 "2014-03-01T01:39:08Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2014, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-oscar-voting-best-visual-effects/681641/14 "2014-03-01T01:50:37Z")
_Gravity_ – they actually made Sandra Bullock look attractive.