In the modern era of filmmaking, the use of practical effects have taken a back seat to the easier, and often more financially viable option of CGI. When done right, CGI can look great and it allows filmmakers an endless amount of creative direction. When done poorly, however, it can pull audiences out of the narrative, affecting the overall entertainment-factor of a film.

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Practical effects, on the other hand, when done right can draw viewers further into a film's narrative, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the more grounded, yet still fantastical imagery they see before them. Practical effects include (but are not limited to) the use of animatronics, puppetry, makeup, miniatures, stunts, custom rigging, explosions, squibs and more! Often is the case that films with great practical effects will have some CGI added to enhance the overall effect, which is true for most of the films in the list below.

Fast Five (2011) - Vault Theft Car Chase Scene

Two cars dragging a safe in Fast Five

The Fast & Furious films are well known for having awesome practical effects but none more so than the vault theft and follow-up car chase scene from 2011's Fast FiveIn the scene, Vin Diesel's gang of high-octane rebels attach cables to a massive bank vault and literally rip it out of the wall, dragging it in a high-speed chase through the streets of Rio De Janeiro. As they try to outmaneuver the police, the vault drifts and glides across the streets, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

To get the desired effect, the filmmakers built a custom car and then placed a physical vault prop around it. A stunt driver would man the custom vehicle and follow the two cars that were dragging it along the streets, being sure to get all the right swerves and slides that the script called for with precision accuracy.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) - Burj Khalifa Set Piece

Tom Cruise and the Mission: Impossible franchise have become synonymous with death-defying stunt-work in their epic action set-pieces.

One of the most high-risk stunts that Cruise attempted for this franchise saw the action star traipsing around the outside of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - ie. the world's tallest building. This was all filmed practically with Cruise actually hanging on for dear life trying to get the right shot for director Brad Bird. It paid off immensely in the end.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012) - Plane Hijack Scene

Christopher Nolan is one of the few working directors today that puts practical effects first over CGI and the end result always makes for an amazing, visceral scene.

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The Dark Knight Rises features one of the most impressive practical effects out of all his films in the opening scene. The film's lead villain, Bane (Tom Hardy), and his henchmen hijack a plane and then proceed to blow the top of it and board another plane while in mid-air! The scene was all shot in the sky by a team of daredevil stuntmen alongside Nolan's courageous camera crew, with the end result putting audiences at the edge of their seats.

Skyfall (2012) - Train Fight

The James Bond franchise is another that's known for its awe-inspiring set pieces. There are still times when the filmmakers opt for an ultra-realistic visual effect. Such is the case with the train fight in Sam Mendes' Skyfall.

In the scene, we see Daniel Craig's James Bond fight one of his many adversaries in hand-to-hand combat on top of a speeding train. This was all shot on top of an actual moving train, with special wires keeping the actors in place to help them avoid falling off. Fisticuffs are always fun to watch in movies, but they're so much more gratifying when the stakes are this high.

Django Unchained (2012) - Bloodbath Shootout

Another director that enjoys a good, practical action scene is none other than Quentin Tarantino. The epic sword-fight scene from Kill Bill was recently upstaged by the climactic shootout in Django UnchainedIt wasn't the choreography that stood out in this scene, but rather the enormous amount of blood spilled from the unlucky souls that had to cross paths with Jamie Foxx's Django in the film's finale.

The feature of this awesome shootout scene is the humble squib. For the uninitiated, a squib is a small explosive patch that's stuck onto the bodies of actors/stuntmen and is triggered at the point a bullet were to hit a human body, resulting in an explosion of blood. Tarantino takes it to the next level in this scene.

Evil Dead (2013) - All Effects

In what is a rare occurrence these days, director Fede Alvarez used practical effects for all of the high-impact violence in his remake of Sam Raimi's 1981 seminal horror classic, The Evil DeadAlvarez went down this path to pay tribute to Raimi, who himself had to use practical effects due to budget constraints on the original.

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The end result was a lot more horrific than what would have been achieved had he used CGI to create the effects, with the mutilation and gore all feeling a little too real, much to the delight of horror fans. Thousands of gallons of fake blood were used in the film, which should say enough about what to expect from this one if you haven't seen it yet.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) - Mech Combat Suits

Doug Liman's groundhog day-inspired action/sci-fi flick Edge of Tomorrow saw Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt having to gear up in mechanical combat suits to fight aliens. The film did feature a lot of CGI, but the suits were real props and they were no joke, weighing in at anywhere between 85-125 pounds.

The actors would have to wear these suits for months while at times being suspended on wires to create the film's epic action sequences. The mech suits could have easily been added in post-production, however, the practical element allowed the actors to really immerse themselves in their roles and realistically portray what it would have felt like to be a combat warrior in that world.

Hardcore Henry (2015) - POV Action

The action/sci-fi film Hardcore Henry was shot entirely from the first-person view of the titular character, who sets out on a mission to kill a group of mercenaries that have abducted his wife. Being shot in this way meant the audience could jump into the shoes of Henry and experience what it would be like to play a violent action-hero (not unlike playing a first-person video-game shooter, minus the interactivity).

The filmmakers cleverly built a special camera rig that the actor would wear on his head like a helmet, that would shoot footage as he enacted his scenes. Custom-built camera rigs are often required in order to create an illusion of some sort, and it was expertly designed and handled in this film.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Vehicle Chase Scenes

Another film that predominantly used practical effects to create its post-apocalyptic world was George Miller's Mad Max: Fury RoadMuch like his past entries in the franchise, Miller and his team went all out on designing custom weaponized vehicles to create some of the most exciting action sequences in recent memory.

With some excellent stunt choreography and intricate costume and prop designs, the intense vehicle chase scenes had audiences on the edge of their seats and would go on to become legendary (especially that custom flame-throwing guitar). Miller's desire to go practical for these scenes intensified them even further, making for some splendidly riveting action.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) - Animatronic/Puppet Dinosaurs

Both Jurassic World and its sequel, Fallen Kingdom, were heavily filled with CGI, so it's easy to forget that they used some stunning, practical creature designs in the making of the films. Fallen Kingdom featured practically-designed dinosaurs for some close-up scenes for some additional authenticity, as well as suspense.

It's virtually impossible to create a modern-day film where the subjects are ancient reptilian creatures, so the filmmakers must be forgiven for recreating them with some computer wizardry where necessary. It's a testament to the filmmakers that they decided to use any practical effects at all, and they nailed the aesthetic of the hand-made dinosaurs in the end.

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