You can, dear readers, call me “carca”, “stale”, “old man”, or tell me that I smell rancid; but I can categorically assure you that there is no digital effect that manages to impose itself and stand out from a good practical effect; especially if we are referring to a animatronic.
I can admit that the CGIin combination with as many tangible special effects as possible, can enrich to the unsuspected limits any sequence —as Christopher Nolan is showing us well—; but this is a subject on which I could pour rivers of ink, and I am not planning to write a doctoral thesis on the subject.
Instead I’m going to propose a review through some of the aforementioned animatronics that have marked me the mostinspired by a recent discovery that borders the limits of the grotesque and the fascinating with my beloved nic cage as protagonist. As always in these cases, “it is not all who are, nor are all who are”, but the following 19 animatronics have not left, nor will they leave anyone indifferent.
‘The Thing’ (‘The Thing’, 1982)
It is more than understandable that the very young rob bottin who got to captain the special effects team on John Carpenter’s best picture was intimidated by the magnitude of the project.
Luckily for him, for Mr. Carpenter, and for fans of genre cinema, things went well enough for the film to have not aged in the least despite having turned 41 years old. The magic of practical effects pushed to the limit with a human head with spider legs. Masterly.
‘The Thing’ (The Thing’, 2011)
Despite its undeniable flaws, I am a staunch defender of the prequel released in 2011 from John Carpenter’s classic. He I respect shown by the original work when addressing a sort of remake undercover, is up to the task fantastic design of his creatures.
Too bad the producers considered that the animatronics were too realistic and unpleasant for the audience, and smear them with a layer of CGI which wrecked the work of the practical effects team.
‘Face to Face’ (‘Face/Off’, 1997)
Be very careful with these replicas of the bodies of John Travolta and Nicolas Cage used in the great ‘Face to face’ —of Chinese master John Woo, employed at the famous surgery sequence in which both characters exchange their faces. The detail of the breath is, to say the least, disturbing.
‘Shark’ (‘Jaws’, 1975)
What can we add that is not already written about this defective mechanical shark that so many headaches gave Steven Spielberg on the set of ‘Jaws’, and that forced him to hide the creature during most of the footage. Never has a blunder by the special effects team contributed so much to a film that brilliantly exploited the maxim that “suggest is better than show”.
‘Total challenge’ (‘Total Recall’, 1990)
The wildest stage of Paul Verhoeven gave us this classic science fiction and action movie made by arnold schwarzenegger. Among all its sequences and its fantastic repertoire of special effects, this moment stands out in which the infamous Cohagen has the odd little problem with his eyeballs.
‘Starship Troopers’ (1997)
Let’s not abandon the Dutch director to delve into the bowels of another of his classics sci fi crazier and more self-conscious. Despite the enormous effort of the practical effects team, the mechanical orgy of ‘Starship Troopers’ is diluted by the digital flirtations of its time Let’s remember that it dates from 1997. Despite everything, the mechanical work, as we can see, was titanic.
‘Jurassic Park’ (‘Jurassic Park’, 1993)
In a compilation of these characteristics, the genius of the teacher could not be left out Stan Winston and his tyrannosaurus rex created for ‘Jurassic Park’. Once again, it is surprising to face the film, released in 1993, and witness how it remains so fresh and impeccable as almost a quarter of a century ago.
‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’, 1991)
Once again, another impeccable job by Stan Winston, integrated into a pioneering feature film in the use of computer-generated digital effects. The vintage mechanical magic of the T-800 faced with the fate of liquid mercury from the T-1000 in a film by a James Cameron that as soon as the explosion of a bridge built for the occasion shoots you in ‘Risky Lies’, as it signs a film focused on CGI as —the great — ‘Avatars’.
‘Spider-Man’ (2002)
Before he ended up wearing some sort of metallic servo-suit, the Green Goblin of the ‘Spider-Man’ sam raimi It was the animatronic marvel, more faithful to the original design of the character, that we can see on these lines. The effort of the effects team is more than evident judging by the result of the test, but it must be recognized that, perhaps, it was too bad vibes enough to use it in a movie for all audiences.
‘An American Werewolf in London’ (‘An American Werewolf in London’, 1981)
An indisputable classic of horror movies achieves that status on its own merits; and among all the praiseworthy aspects that we can find in ‘An American Werewolf in London’, there is the transformation of its protagonistpractically in its entirety, and with a devastating capacity to impact the viewer, beginner or not. To this day, estimable lycanthropic works such as ‘Dog Soldiers’ either howl have managed to match this genius of John Landis.
‘The fly’ (‘The Fly’, 1986)
We remain in the field of terror, we continue with the transformations, but we change the animal. The final phase of the mutation from human to fly-anthropomorphic of the good of jeff goldblum, shot through the sick vision of David Cronenberg, continues to be one of the most unpleasant and disturbing passages that the genre has given us throughout its history. Pure gold covered with various fluids.
‘Mortal Kombat’ (1995)
Before embracing the dark side of digital effects, my dear Paul W.S. Anderson used in its adaptation of the video game ‘Mortal Kombat’ a gigantic animatronic to give life to the monstrous goro and its four extremities. The result is not as polished as one would expect judging from what has been seen in this article, but, given its size and complexityGoro has earned a place in it.
‘Krampus: Damn Christmas’ (‘Krampus’, 2015)
It is inspiring and, in turn, cause for celebration, to find a feature film like ‘Krampus: Damn Christmas’ at this point in the 21st century. see this ode to the cinema of the 80s in which its director michael dougherty he turns his efforts into the creation of mechanical creatures, and into the use of practical effects to offer a revival In all rulesIt’s a real pleasure.
‘Gremlins’ (1984) and ‘Gremlins 2: The New Generation’ (‘Gremlins 2: The New Batch’, 1990)
One of the more than evident inspirations of the aforementioned ‘Krampus’ is this magnum opus of adventure cinema with hints of horror soft titled ‘Gremlins’. The repertoire of handcrafted animated creatures which the first part of the duo boasts, was considerably enhanced in a ‘Gremlins 2’ that left us monsters as iconic as lenny the goofball.
‘Alien vs. Predator’ (2004)
The impeccable use of animatronics and practical effects throughout the ‘Alien’ saga is as obvious as it is unnecessary to claim. That is why I have decided to include the work —again— of Paul W.S. Anderson and his team in ‘Alien vs. Predator’for the unexpected to find such hard work in making tangible creatures to integrate them into a show that, apparently, screams “digital” from the four winds.
‘The crazy history of galaxies’ (‘Spaceballs’, 1987)
Very sorry, I have not been unable to contain my instinct to include this glorious moment from ‘The crazy story of the galaxies’ of mel brooks. every time i’m chestburster comes out of the chest of the newly ill-fated john hurtputs on his hat, and begins to sing, I am unable to contain the instant laughter. It won’t be the best animatronic in the world, but fulfills its purpose perfectly —and looks better than his counterpart in ‘Alien: Covenant’.
‘Devil Doll’ (‘Child’s Play’, 1988)
if we talk about childhood traumas with celluloid, the good one chucky it holds a wonderful second place on my personal list. To be honest, seeing the ‘Devil Doll’ as god brought into the world, made up of irons and mechanisms to articulate itit has not diminished the index of chills that the simple fact of thinking about him generates in me.
‘The Exorcist’ (‘The Exorcist’, 1973)
How could it be otherwise, if Chucky is the bearer of the silver medal, Regan and her spinning head occupy the place of honor on the podium of animatronics that have put me through the most sleepless nights during my childhood. A snapshot taken by a William Friedkin in a state of grace that even seen out of context manages to shudder, inside of what is considered by many to be scariest movie of all time.
Extra ball: ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ (‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’, 2012)
Let’s leave the best? for the end. If you have already seen the video attached to this section, my apologies for the cold sweats and future night terrors. If you haven’t already, be brave and witness what is likely to be one of the most unintentionally terrifying animtronics in movie history.
The creature, which should give life to the baby renesmeeended up being renamed chuckesmee for his slight resemblance to our good friend Chucky. Obviously and given the gruesome aspect of the animatronic, Chuckesmee was replaced by a digitally generated churumbel after a wise decision by those responsible for the film. We fully agree with Bill Condomdirector of the film, in describing the aberrant puppet as “one of the most grotesque things we have ever seen” but, even so, it still looks better than the baby from ‘The Sniper’ Clint Eastwood.
In Espinof | 16 Movie Classics With Better Special Effects Than Any Modern Movie