Story is trump, but weak F/X can be distracting. I rated
10
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) despite
Lock Martin was too weak to carry Patricia Neal so had to use wires & a dummy
"Eye of the Beholder"

Agreed, but great special effects can never make a bad film good.

I remember some unimpressive CGI in Python (2000) and Python 2 (2002). Even some in the movie, Hallowed Ground (2007). But they're all still good movies.
Volker Flenske: (While torturing David) I don't know why you're doing this to yourself!

Jack the Giant Killer's stop-motion puppets looked cartoony and lacked textural detail for giant monsters. Since they were so crucial to the story, they brought down the film.

Some of CGI in Flags of Our Fathers looked downright videogamey.
The effects during the final fight in Blade leave a lot to be desired.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4sSuK7iGkE&feature=player_detailpa ge#t=52s

I agree. I'm not usually critical of CGI in a film, but the VFX at the end of X-Men: First Class completely took me out of a movie I was really enjoying. The ships, missiles, water, and island looked like cartoons compared to rest of the film.
The scene with the submarine crashing onto the beach was especially atrocious VFX-wise.
At the beginning, when young Magneto is tossing the lab equipment: that looked pretty bad as well.
My Recent watches
Ice Age 4 - 7/10
Madagascar 3 - 8/10

The new version of The Thing (2011) was mostly watchable until The Thing began showing itself as a monstrously bad CG (excuse the pun) effect. In a derivative horror flick like that, the money shots are creature effects and gore and showcasing lots and lots of what looks like half rendered, pre-viz creature work is enough to make the film useless.
On the other hand, sometimes the absolute worst CG can elevate what would be a forgettable movie into an enjoyable disaster. A Sound of Thunder is ALL unfinished CG and it's amazing to watch. Children with iMovie have put out more competent work.

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Exactly. You'd think they'd catch things like that. Thanks for replying.

I agree. I'm not usually critical of CGI in a film, but the VFX at the end of
X-Men: First Class
completely took me out of a movie I was really enjoying. The ships, missiles, water, and island looked like cartoons compared to rest of the film.
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Originally posted by LumpyGravy2011
Indiana Jones 4 could have been an incredible film if it weren't for the cgi.
I don't think it was the CGI that ruined this film as much as the hackneyed, tired jokes and recycled action scenes, and totally ridiculous plot.

I thought that was still a great film in CGI. Twister was a technical adavancement. I thought the only bad CGI was the 3rd tornado (the black one that happens on the hill) that breifly swoops down. That looked obviously fake.
I have El Sonoma del Torra de Fiero Syndrome. Be happy you don't.
Trust me.

The one and very brief bad visual effect is in Twister. It's when a truck gets picked up and swirls around the tornado and crashes into the ground and explodes. Even though the truck explodes very close to the tornado, the fireball is unaffected by the high winds of the tornado. It just doesn't blend too well into the scene and sticks out as looking fake and not "in the scene".

Yes, Bad CG most of the time will not ruin a movie but if the viewer is distracted by an object or thing that is clearly CG it can be distracting and momentarily take you away from the storyline. Case and point. Who out there has seen the new Pirates? The CG snake in the scene with Penelope Cruz? Uuggghh, Why not use a real one. But, I still enjoyed it.

Dark City's VFX were atrocious (just okay for the time I guess) for an otherwise decent movie.
Mortal Kombat's VFX for the CG animated Reptile was also bad, but this is not an instance of bad VFX ruining a good film, just bad VFX in a bad film.
SEE YOU AT DA PAHTY, RICHTAH!

Wow, never knew that story. Thanks for sharing that MortaVivant.

Well the Langoliers was a made for tv mini-series, so it's very likely was made cheaply. Plus it was only a year after Jurassic Park and that movie had millions to spend on it's visual effects budget. What did The Langoliers have to create it's visual effects?
Sure it may look bad, but I'm willing to give it a pass because of what it is and when it was made. But there are also some good effects shots in the program too such as when the plane takes off and parts of the runway and ground drop into nothingness.

Thank you for responding. I'll have to check out Langoliers, I've never seen it. You'd think the directors would catch this bad CGI. I don't understand it. They invest millions in a project it sould be their very best.

I agree. The Eraser was a good film, but when those alligators attacked, that looked bad. Also, in Air Force 1, when the jumbo jet crashes into the ocean, the CGI looks pretty bad.
But the #1 time bad CGI has completely ruined a good movie is..The Langoliers (1995). The plot was very creative and interesting, and the suspence was extreme; we didnt know what was killing off the main characters and who was going to go insane first. It also had some good acting and diolog for this genre. But then, when we do find out whats killing the people.its the biggest let down ever. They are flying monsters with razor sharp teeth. Thats okay, I was expecting more, but I'm fine with that. But NO, instead it has the WORST CGI AND ANIMATION I HAD EVER SEEN (until I saw the SyFy channel movies)!!!! It looks like it belongs in a Nintendo 64 game! Its so awful. I feel as if The Langoliers would have been an all-time classic, if it werent for the ending with the horrible CGI monster effects.
I have El Sonoma del Torra de Fiero Syndrome. Be happy you don't.
Trust me.