# When did the violent CGI pyrotechnic film craze start? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 27, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170 "2017-03-27T21:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/41 "2017-03-28T23:40:49Z")
Every time some new film, employing some new technique or technology, makes an extra large amount of money (or at least gets a lot of hyper attention), the following year sees a relative explosion of films trying to capitalize on what they THINK the new craze is. CGI was really a subset or a side issue for the film makers. It allowed them to make more films with lots of damage being done, for a lot less cost, but the reason why they used it to do exactly that, was because some big damage-filled movies made a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/42 "2017-03-29T02:45:47Z")
I think what the OP means is action or sci fi or fantasy films with heavy use of CGI. And not just to enhance scenes, which was done pretty early, but where CGI actually substitutes almost completely for using models or stuntmen. In other words, when Spiderman is dodging between falling buildings while being chased by Megatron, that scene is 99% CGI, and that kind of moviemaking didn’t really get started until Independence Day in 1996. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/43 "2017-03-29T03:10:06Z")
Looking back at Cinefex covers, the magazine for visual effects fans, the 90s had _Starship Troopers_ and _Godzilla_ that both used extensive CGI for their destructive action scenes. Whereas _Independence Day_ and _True Lies_ were still using models and practical pyrotechnics. Then after them came _The Matrix_, the _Star Wars_ prequels, and _Lord of the Rings_, which ushered in a new era of extensive CGI for synthetic people and environments. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/44 "2017-03-29T03:15:27Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I think what the OP means is action or sci fi or fantasy films with heavy use of CGI. And not just to enhance scenes, which was done pretty early, but where CGI actually substitutes almost completely for using models or stuntmen. > > In other words, when Spiderman is dodging between falling buildings while being chased by Megatron, that scene is 99% CGI, and that kind of moviemaking didn’t really get started until Independence Day in 1996. That is one interpretation but I still don’t think the question is clear. I think he is asking about a style shift that emphasizes ridiculous explosions and really fast camera cutaways. That is the signature of a Michael Bay style of movie-making and I do not approve. I have tried to watch those styles of movies but inevitably just fell asleep just because it seemed epilepsy was setting in even though I don’t have it myself. Fast cuts just bore the shit out of me. I very literally fell asleep during Spiderman II in the theater because of sensory overload and haven’t watched a superhero movie since and have no intention to. I think that is what the OP is talking about but it has more to do with editing than pure CGI. People like me don’t need every movie to be like Out of Africa or even Casablanca. All you have to do is not actively irritate the viewers with cinematic gimmicks (I am looking at you Blair Witch Project). If I never see another shaky cam or an unrealistic explosion in my life, it will be too soon. The original Charlie’s Angels movie was really good at parodying that style before it became a constant theme. Before that, there was the Arnold Schwarzenegger Commando that was absolutely beautiful in its earnest absurdity. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/45 "2017-03-29T11:03:49Z")
Picking 2015 as a year surely deep within the “violent cgi pyrotechnic” age, I count 10 films in [the Wikipedia list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_in_film) that are closest to being likely to meet OP’s criteria, out of 329 films listed (plus or minus a couple, my counting may not have been perfect.) That is 3 percent of the films listed. 8 of those fall within the blockbuster season of March through July (I’m making an executive decision to place “FANT 4 STIC”, released August 4th, in that block.) leaving only 2 for the rest of the year, such as [Oscar season](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_season) and the [dump months](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dump_months). So it is very serious confirmation bias to get the impression that 75% of new movies fit that criteria. (Though those movies do get a large percentage of the press and the box office returns.) ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/46 "2017-03-29T13:13:47Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Disaster movies were a huge deal in the 1970’s. [The Towering Inferno](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072308/) was released in 1974 and it was a big-budget blockbuster at the time (it is about a skyscraper being destroyed by fire with people trapped inside) and uses many over the top effects including huge water tanks being destroyed and and some unlikely elevator shaft+fire stunts. I think the difference there is that the film was ABOUT a singular building fire. The sort of films you’re talking about with _Independence Day_ or _2012_ or _San Andreas_ or _The Avengers_ have buildings getting knocked down or blown up just as a matter of course. The story of a skyscraper and the people within it in those movies is irrelevant – it’s just another thing to get 'sploded. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/47 "2017-03-29T18:20:13Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Or is it like porn, which as long as there are young men, it will keep getting churned out. Ewww! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/48 "2017-03-31T12:34:42Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > You aren’t being nearly as logical as you think you are. People are reframing your original question because it is ambiguous and even self-contradictory with many different interpretations. That is your fault not theirs. > > You are trying to ask about a certain movie style and a definition of what role CGI plays in it in one question which can’t be answered coherently because they are two very different and independent questions. If you don’t like the answers you are getting, learn to ask coherent questions. > > I think the origin of this particular blockbuster style is even older than some people have claimed. Disaster movies were a huge deal in the 1970’s. [The Towering Inferno](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072308/) was released in 1974 and it was a big-budget blockbuster at the time (it is about a skyscraper being destroyed by fire with people trapped inside) and uses many over the top effects including huge water tanks being destroyed and and some unlikely elevator shaft+fire stunts. But those were done with practical effects and frankly, while I enjoy the movies, they don’t hold up well. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/49 "2017-03-31T13:00:50Z")
Guys, it’s easy to do this scientifically: 1991 James Cameron directs Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Already known for action films like Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss, he makes use of groundbreaking CGI technology first used in The Abyss to create the “liquid metal” effect of the T1000. 1994 Roland Emmerich directs Stargate, his first film to crack the $100 million mark. Mostly practical effects, but with some use of CGI for the alien’s head pieces and the Stargate’s event horizon. 1995 Michael Bay directs Bad Boys starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. It is the first of a series of films including The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys II, The Island and Transformers 1 through 7 that share his trademark style - kinetic action scenes, loud music, people staring at American flags while planes fly overhead and lots of explosions. 1996 Roland Emmerich directs Independence Day, cementing his place in history as the father of the big-budget CGI disaster movie. He will follow up with several more films including 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, and Independence Day 2 (and the upcoming 3). So the specific answer IMHO is the violent CGI pyrotechnic film craze started around 1995, 1996 with the films mentioned above. While there have always been violent action films, and decent CGI has been used in film since the late 80s, it was in the mid 90s where the technology had reached a point where it could be added to films on a scale and level of realism that enabled big budget action directors like Bay, Cameron and Emmerich to create the loud, crazy pyrotechnic explosion-fests they always dreamed of. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2017, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170/50 "2017-03-31T13:18:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Guys, it’s easy to do this scientifically: > 1994 Roland Emmerich directs Stargate, his first film to crack the $100 million mark. Mostly practical effects, but with some use of CGI for the alien’s head pieces and the Stargate’s event horizon. Yes, but _Stargate_ would only count if Daniel Jackson jumped 50 feet in the air, spun and fired bolts from his wrists as he translated hieroglyphics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-the-violent-cgi-pyrotechnic-film-craze-start/783170.md?page=2)