CGI (or Computer Generated Imagery) has come a long way since Westworld first used the effect back in 1972. However, while CGI has created far away worlds, giant monsters, and epic natural disasters, it's also created some laughable, cringe-worthy, and downright embarrassing effects that have ruined numerous films.
There seemed to be a peak period for this in the late 90s-early 2000s. Studios thought they could save money on FX teams, makeup artists, actors, and stunt doubles by simply getting rid of them and replacing it all with CGI. Worst yet, many audiences were enamored by the new techniques and didn't even realize how bad they really were. These 10 movies feature graphics way worse than you probably remember, but are still pretty great to watch.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
When the popular kid's show was turned into a high-budget Hollywood blockbuster, kids everywhere flocked to theaters. While the movie was a box-office success and still lives in the memories of 90s kids everywhere, many probably don't remember that the film's graphics were absolutely tragic.
Weird, glossy, bulky monsters "rampaged" through a city that they were very clearly pasted onto. Despite this egregious sin in special effects, the movie was still a fun and exciting addition to the Power Rangers universe.
Spawn (1997)
Spawn was a giant leap forward in filmmaking. It was one of the first films to feature a Black lead superhero, it was a high-budget blockbuster directed by someone of Asian heritage, and the movie's supporting cast was incredibly diverse.
Upon its release, the film developed a cult following, which grew into wider acclaim as the years have gone on. However, one disastrous element of the film becomes ever more obvious as time goes on: it's pitifully bad CGI. In his '97 review, Roger Ebert himself even praised the movie's effects, but in retrospect, it just doesn't hold up.
The Thing (2011)
The 2011 prequel to The Thing made the same mistake many fans raised regarding the Star Wars prequels. Despite supposedly taking place before the original film, the graphics set out to be shiny, perfect, groundbreaking, and very much everything the original was not.
Furthermore, the 2011 movie tried to be body horror at its best, hoping to make audiences squirm at the sight of the body-absorbing alien monstrosity. Sadly, many felt that the graphics were also a monstrosity, and rather than being gross and horrifying like the original, it just looked like Pixar made a horror movie.
Sleepy Hollow (1999)
Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow is a great film. It was creepy, suspenseful, mysterious, and kept you guessing. However, certain scenes in this otherwise great film were destroyed by pathetic CGI.
Most notable is what was supposed to be one of the movie's scariest scenes, when Ichabod visits a witch who lives in a cave. In the scene, the witch's eyes and tongue pop out of her face like some tragic Looney Tunes ripoff gone wrong. At the time, audiences wouldn't have expected anything more from CGI, but looking back, it almost ruins the movie.
Godzilla (1998)
1998's Godzilla was a fun movie. It was a huge blockbuster that had massive cross-marketing campaigns with brands like Taco Bell and it captured the imagination of audiences everywhere who were craving a good monster flick.
The film opened to mixed reviews but ultimately became a massive financial success, and "Zilla," the film's version of Godzilla, has become a popular character, with a TV series and comics that followed the release of the '98 movie. However, while reviews of the movie have gotten better over the years, the critiques of the movie's effects have gotten worse.
Signs (2002)
Signs was a massive success upon release and remains one of M. Night Shyamalan's highest-grossing and highest-rated films. The plot centers around a global alien invasion, but many claim the movie is actually about religion and having faith in God. Regardless of the endless conversations about the movie's meaning, one this for sure - the aliens were almost laughably bad.
In what's supposed to be the big terrifying reveal, a news segment shows a home video taken of one of the aliens, which looks like a zombie from the N64 Resident Evil 2 game.
Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
The first Harry Potter film was a raging success. It grossed over $1 billion dollars and paved the way for seven sequels, which totaled a whopping gross of over $9 billion.
Unfortunately, Harry Potter's world of wizards, magic, and monsters required a lot of CGI in a time when CGI wasn't yet up to the task. The result is a movie that's sometimes hard to rewatch because of its rampant overuse of agonizingly dated CGI.
Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005)
In 2005, King Kong was groundbreaking. The film was directed by Peter Jackson at the height of his fame, and the movie combined King Kong with dinosaurs and other monsters. However, looking back, there are noticeable errors in the scenes where King Kong is interacting with human actors.
Fortunately, audiences will be able to see a new King Kong with top-end, modern CGI in the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong film.
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
In the years since the film's release, Deep Blue Sea has started getting the recognition it deserves as an excellent shark movie. And while some of the movie used fantastic, full-size shark animatronics, other scenes used CGI that most viewers felt was of very poor quality.
In particular, the CGI in the infamous scene where Samuel L. Jackson dies looks quite bad when rewatched nowadays. But despite the terrible effects, the movie continues to gain new fans.
Scooby-Doo (2002)
Two things can be said about 2002's Scooby-Doo movie. First, the casting was impeccable and worthy of Oscar nominations. To this day, audiences still remember Matthew Lillard for his hilarious and spot-on role as Shaggy. However, the movie is now also remembered for its terrible CGI.
It was one of Hollywood's first attempts at creating a fully-CGI main character that wasn't supposed to look like a cartoon. However, looking back, Scooby still looks very much not real and the monsters look even worse.