# what are the best "non-CGI" movies with the most CGI? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 30, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469 "2009-11-30T15:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/1 "2009-11-30T15:26:28Z")
bad title eh? i mean, which movies without apparent Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI), where one wouldn’t even think had CGI, were actually mostly made out of CGI? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/2 "2009-11-30T15:37:35Z")
_Forrest Gump_ had tons of digital effects, from adding Tom Hanks into archival footage, to erasing Gary Sinese’s legs. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/3 "2009-11-30T15:41:48Z")
Stranger than Fiction Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/4 "2009-11-30T15:44:57Z")
The HBO series **John Adams** used a _lot_ of CGI backgrounds that weren’t obviously CGI. They could have been shot at actual locations that looked like that, but weren’t, presumably for cost reasons. You’re going to be seeing a lot more of this. When a film like **Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow** can be almost completely shot on CGI sets, you can see how pervasive this is going to be. The film **The 13th Floor** had a lot of such CGI as well (pretty ironic, considering the film’s theme), mostly to add in lots of elements for 1930’s LA. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/5 "2009-11-30T15:57:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Are you sure? I’m pretty certain that virtually all the effects were “in camera”. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/6 "2009-11-30T16:04:49Z")
For me, “Pleasantville” is the epitome of the non-special-effects special effects movie. I believe at the time of its release it set the record for scenes with SFX. The trick is that the movie was filmed in color and changed to black and white, not the other way around. All the scenes that are half and half involved some painstaking work. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/7 "2009-11-30T16:08:47Z")
I’m not sure if this one fits with what you are asking, but **Let the Right One In** has a lot of CGI, but to the casual viewer would appear to have no CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/8 "2009-11-30T16:30:40Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Are you sure? I’m pretty certain that virtually all the effects were “in camera”. Huh - you’re right. From IMDB: > [@](#): > > Virtually all of the most bizarre and fascinating scenes in this movie were created with old fashioned camera, editing, lighting and prop/set tricks. The use of digital effects was very limited. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/9 "2009-11-30T16:56:49Z")
[The Others](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0230600/) is a good example. It’s a classic style ghost story, and doesn’t appear to use any technology that wouldn’t have been available to Alfred Hitchcock or Robert Wise. But most of the outdoor scenes are in dense fog, which would have required either waiting for fog (people waiting around - expensive) or using a huge number of fog machines (unreliable and difficult to control). Instead, they shot the scenes on a clear day and added the fog digitally. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/10 "2009-12-01T00:23:31Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Stranger than Fiction This was the one I was going to mention. FWIW, I own that watch, and it doesn’t do 1/10 of what the movie shows it doing. ---
**Author:** ![drillrod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@drillrod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drillrod)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/11 "2009-12-01T03:03:45Z")
\*\*Titanic \*\*won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects due, in part, to extensive use of CGI. Many viewers were surprised at the win, not realizing that they had seen lots and lots of well-done CGI… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@The\_Cleveland\_Steamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cleveland_Steamer)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/12 "2009-12-01T03:06:29Z")
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/13 "2009-12-01T03:42:33Z")
[_Stay_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0371257/) is a great movie in which reality slowly unravels. Much of this is accomplished with digital effects (more editing and compositing than CGI elements, if you want to be strict about it) that are often so subtle (especially early on) that a lot of viewers probably won’t even notice them, on the first go-round. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/14 "2009-12-01T05:05:51Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Stranger than Fiction Really? Like what? ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/15 "2009-12-01T06:52:30Z")
> [@drillrod](#): > > \*\*Titanic \*\*won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects due, in part, to extensive use of CGI. > > Many viewers were surprised at the win, not realizing that they had seen lots and lots of well-done CGI.. Eh? I find it hard to believe that people were surprised Titanic won an award for visual effects. I would hardly describe it as a “non-CGI”-looking film. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/16 "2009-12-01T07:07:32Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Eh? I find it hard to believe that people were surprised Titanic won an award for visual effects. I would hardly describe it as a “non-CGI”-looking film. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, but I seem to remember the effects looking more “real” than other CGI-films of the day. I think the only reason it really sticks out as a huge special-effects extravaganza is because all the press it received for spending so much on the special effects (if I recall correctly, it had the largest budget of all time at release, and kept the record for some time). I think if you watched the movie without knowing that, it wouldn’t stick out as much. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/17 "2009-12-01T07:10:39Z")
> [@Electronic\_Chaos](#): > > It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it, but I seem to remember the effects looking more “real” than other CGI-films of the day. I think the only reason it really sticks out as a huge special-effects extravaganza is because all the press it received for spending so much on the special effects (if I recall correctly, it had the largest budget of all time at release, and kept the record for some time). I think if you watched the movie without knowing that, it wouldn’t stick out as much. I didn’t really pay much attention to the pre-release hype, and also thought it looked pretty CGIish. Not that the CGI was bad for the time, but it was certainly noticable for what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/18 "2009-12-01T07:53:46Z")
A Very Long Engagement You’d swear they traveled in time back to Paris in the 19-teens and 20s. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/19 "2009-12-01T08:16:33Z")
> [@drillrod](#): > > \*\*Titanic \*\*won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects due, in part, to extensive use of CGI. > > Many viewers were surprised at the win, not realizing that they had seen lots and lots of well-done CGI.. What, they weren’t tipped off by the sweeping, bow-to-stern helicopter shots of a full-sized Titanic chugging across the Atlantic? Because that was\* my\* “Wow, nice effects” moment. But yea, I hear ya. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469/20 "2009-12-01T19:36:28Z")
Spiderman seemed to have extensive CGI; I would assume the in-costume Spiderman swinging through the streets was entirely CGI. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-non-cgi-movies-with-the-most-cgi/519469.md?page=2)