I recently rewatched Army of Darkness for the first time in forever and I was so charmed by all the practical effects. The eyeball in the shoulder still gets me lol. Practical effects aside, the whole movie was a lot of campy silly fun. It’s just a gem of a movie.
What’s your favorite movie that uses lots of practical effects?
Do you have a favorite practical effect of all time?
Any movies like Army of Darkness you’d recommend?
I haven’t seen it mentioned, but I think Tremors (1990) is very much in the same genre as Army of Darkness, and I’m pretty sure the whole movie is pure practical effects.
Watch the original Gone in 60 Seconds, from 1974. The car stunts are absolutely insane, to the extent that they probably shouldn’t have been allowed to make the movie the way they did, but it happened and I’m glad that cameras were rolling. The Nic Cage remake was trying to make a movie safer, slicker, and more coherently, but there’s no replacement for a bunch of insane stunt drivers risking their lives and the lives of everyone around them.
Literally anything that Stan Winston had a hand in.
John Carpenter’s The Thing is the peak. It does not go higher.
The Terrifier films are unbeatable for practical gore.
David Cronenberg’s The Fly is also a must-watch if you like practical creatures.
Velocipastor. Here a Screenshot from the intro:
The Tree of Life
I love this movie, though not because of the practical effects, but because it is hillarious.
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines
It is a brilliant comedy from 1965, plus the theme music is an unexpected banger that I have on my phone and gladly sing along to when driving.
I don’t know if I’d say favorite exactly, but I’ve always thought it was so cool how for the movie Independence Day they made the models of the Cities they blow up. That’s just neat.
The Princess Bride
Hey, you said favorite, not most dramatic or best use of those effects.
For me, the peak of practical effects is Scanners.
https://www.slashfilm.com/1603402/scanners-head-explosion-why-shotgun-vfx/
That does look pretty amazing lol
Aliens.
Still holds up in 4K nearly 40 years on. The drop ship, the mother alien, the armoured carrier, all incredible looking.
Sigourney Weaver battling the queen alien in that loader is one example that often pops into my head when this sort of question comes up.
Probably watched that movie 100 times. Last year I put it on for my wife, sat and really watched for the first time in ages. My god, came out when I was a child, still a perfect movie.
Yes!!! Me too!!! I recorded it onto a VHS tape off the TV as a kid and I’m probably at a similar watch count to you. It’s my favourite movie of all time.
Good answer!!
Mad God and John Carpenter’s The Thing.
Came here to post The Thing. Glad someone beat me to it.
Mad God the 2021 movie?
Yes, the one by Phil Tippett. It’s a stop motion movie. One of a kind.
The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen.
I’ve been meaning to rewatch this!
The Empire Strikes Back
Yeah all three original Star Wars movies. That was awesome to watch. When I got older and saw the making of movies… holy!
Does Mike Jittlov count? He did a lot of in-camera animation using single frame shots. Set up scene, click shutter, move stuff in the frame slightly, click, etc. He shot mostly 16mm short films but did a feature length “Wizard of Speed and Time” in 35mm.
Here’s the original 3 minute 16mm version to get you started. The feature version is also on youtube it looks like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XReeuhBeiIA
