With the release of the new “IT” movie that came out recently, I thought about how back in the 80’s the Tim Curry version scared the hell out of all who watched it. But looking back that movie doesn’t seems as scary with goofy acting and noticeably bad special effects. A few weeks ago I talked about special effects from Star Trek TNG that seem outdated. Including that awful shuttle sequence from Star Trek V. But there are other 80’s effects which have not aged well. And it’s not the fault of anyone who made the movie, they were great at the time, and it sure doesn’t make the movie bad now. But it’s still fun to look at these today and say “Wait, that’s not real!”
A classic example is Jaws, which scared people in its day but most
everyone things the shark looks damn fake now. Of course it makes
sense-when we first see a movie we are engrossed and don’t stop to
examine the effect. After years of re watching these movies, the seams
show a bit in some of these scenes especially when held up to modern
standards. Here are five effects, from make-up to green screens, that
fooled me thirty years ago but today I look at and say “Yeah, I see how
they did that now!”
Back to the Future
When I first saw this movie I had no idea that it was Crispin Glover and Lea Thompson under a ton of make up when we first meet George and Lorraine. But the more I see that movie…over and over…yeah it’s much more obvious now. The same goes for Biff, the make-up is a little to unrealistic. They did a better job in the final scene, where the makeup was toned down, and the old age makeup in the sequel still holds up.
Star Trek II
That ear slug scene in Star Trek II was one of the scariest things ever. It was very well done and it still make me jump. In order to film the scene the creators made ear replica’s that the little animals (or whatever they really were) actually crawled into. And if you take yourself out of the scene and look…yeah it’s obvious the little creatures aren’t crawling into a real ear. Does that ruin the scene? Oh heck no. I still can’t watch it.
Ghostbusters
I am well aware that saying anything bad about this movie is sacrilege, but let’s be honest. The shots of the terror dogs running around New York City look awful today. Some of the effects in the movie are still good, but that one is not. It’s just real bad green screen and the last few times I saw this movie I knew they weren’t really there.
Superman
Horrible green screens abound in these movies too. For instance, that scene in the first movie where Lois is killed and Superman gets there to late is really powerful. Then he screams and flies into the sky…in an awful green shot. Take yourself out of the moment and watch that sometime you’ll see what I mean. I get that one being poor but there are others to where it just doesn’t look real. Though the romantic one at night is pretty flawless. Also everyone loves to pick on the Hoover Dam scene in the first movie as it looks its washing away small miniatures not real homes. And yeah…it kind of does.
Raiders of the Lost Ark
A long time ago I told the story about how when I saw this movie as a little kid and when we got to the face melting scene my father covered my eyes very fast. But looking back, it looks so fake. The one guy is obviously fake and the other looks better but it’s still not as scary as I remember. I guess the creators used melting jello for the effect and it shows, and the stop motion is very obvious. A great effect 35 years ago, but it’s not as effective today. Does that hurt the scene or the movie? Oh heck no! But the one in Robocop, to be fair made years later, was a lot better. Although even that looks more like a lame practical effect than it did when it scared the hell out of me as a kid.
Maybe CGI has spoiled us to practical effects (not that CGI can’t be awful of course) but since there wasn’t any in the 80’s I can’t really cite examples. Or maybe I am seeing these scenes from a different perspective thirty years later. Seeing the movie hundreds of times doesn’t help. Bottom line, while we love to nitpick the plot holes, watch for the mistakes, and chuckle at the effects that didn’t work it’s all about story and character at the end of the day which is why all of these movies are iconic and will be around forever.
So are there any effects from old movies you look back and say, that scared me? really? Comment and let me know
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