Best CGI Movies

[cthellis42]

The world doesn't need another Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Screw you, hippie!

FF:tSW was an exercise in crappy marketing, and--of course--quite early in the line for seeing how people would react to "realistic CG" and it being "not a kids movie." The biggest mistake about the film was actually sticking that "Final Fantasy" in the title and marketing it as such.

 

[London Geezer]

Screw you, hippie!

FF:tSW was an exercise in crappy marketing, and--of course--quite early in the line for seeing how people would react to "realistic CG" and it being "not a kids movie." The biggest mistake about the film was actually sticking that "Final Fantasy" in the title and marketing it as such.

I'm sure a few people lots their job. It really was a mess, from a marketing/business point of view. It was almost like a couple of execs had the brilliant idea to "make the most realistic CGI movie ever" whatever the cost, without worrying that they would have to make that money back somehow...

Anyway, FF:AC was cooler than TSW, the fights were just unbelievable at times. Personally my favourite was the one in the church. The other big ones, especially the main one against the Bahamut (is that the name? wow... i can't actually remember the name of the summon... after about 200hrs spent on FFX...), was just big, whereas the one in the church was just awesomely cool, it felt like those hits really hurt, and it didn't need to be "big" to be impressive.

 

[ban25]

Me and my friend are big fans of the intro to Warhammer 40k. Too bad that's the only one in the game. I love CG. I've always liked Final Fantasy CG because of how it's interspersed throughout the gameplay instead of just getting one CG intro.

That was also Blur, if I recall correctly. Those guys do great work.

 

[scooby_dooby]

Lost Odyssey intro I think was my favourite.

 

[101998]

While it was not on any console, I'd add the Warhammer 40K Dawn of War intro to that list.

 

[macabre]

My fave is the original Onimusha intro with the big army fight.

 

[cthellis42]

I'm sure a few people lots their job. It really was a mess, from a marketing/business point of view. It was almost like a couple of execs had the brilliant idea to "make the most realistic CGI movie ever" whatever the cost, without worrying that they would have to make that money back somehow...

I rather forgot how excessive the development cost of that film was. 'twas indeed risky, and of course the problem is they attached it all to the brand-naming of FF (not just "from the creators of"), so 90% of people instantly thought it was a "video game movie" (which for the large part all sucked), which made the people not caring about the game avoid it immediately, and the fans themselves rebel because it is not REMOTELY like any of the games. It still wouldn't likely have made money (at the box office, at least) if it was just identified as "a 'B' sci-fi movie by the creators of Final Fantasy" it wouldn't have alienated so many so fast, and would have just gone as far as any B-grade film of its' type would.

Of course there are things about Advent Children I like better (5 more years helps a lot in the computer world ), but I still like the overall look of the characters and the imaginative worldscape of TSW better. And it's not built around any convoluted, personal fighting scenes, so you don't get the same sort of adrenaline rush. (More the "Starship Troopers" kind than the "ending of The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" kind. Hehe...)

Sadly, the mismanagement basically scared any other movie house from going in that direction for a good long time, so we are going to get 99.5% cartoony CGI movies for the next decade, damn near. 8-P

 

[Kaotik]

The world doesn't need another Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

Hell, Blizzards WC3 movies were already better quality than FF movie was, and I have no doubt Blizzard has the guts for a proper story, too.

 

[Inane_Dork]

Making a good 2-5 minute trailer is a far cry from making a good 90-120 minute movie. I sincerely doubt either Blur or Blizzard have enough experience in doing the latter. Most of these trailer borrow heavily on plot defined elsewhere or simply have nondescript characters anyway.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Warcraft 3 may be a beautiful piece of work, but at some 800*400 resolution it had nowhere hear the complexity and detail of FF:TSW. That movie was a very large step forward in many areas and especially today, with many years of CG experience, I can't help but wonder that they were able to pull it off at that time. It's a big and memorable milestone, and despite some probelms with the characters, it is still looking quite good.

 

[archie4oz]

Well you shoulda seen the staff that was assembled... Hell I almost ended up on it (too bad I pissed off my manager by claiming the whole project was a bad idea several months before ).

 

[Kaotik]

It is a big step, but they have the technology for it, and I'm sure they have the money to hire proper people to do the story.
WoW videos were again a step forward in quality, and I think the resolution was higher too?

Though, since they're planning to release / working on Warcraft movie, acted one, already, I doubt it would happen. Unless it's all rumors and it will end up being CGI movie instead.

 

[Powderkeg]

Can we count LOTR as a CGI movie? I mean yeah, it used real actors, but Elijah Woods isn't really 3 feet tall you know.

 

[Kaotik]

Can we count LOTR as a CGI movie? I mean yeah, it used real actors, but Elijah Woods isn't really 3 feet tall you know.

LIES! BLASPHEMY! Elijah Wood is a hobbit and you know it! Go spread your senseless propaganda elsewhere!

 

[Iron Tiger]

It is a big step, but they have the technology for it, and I'm sure they have the money to hire proper people to do the story.
WoW videos were again a step forward in quality, and I think the resolution was higher too?

Though, since they're planning to release / working on Warcraft movie, acted one, already, I doubt it would happen. Unless it's all rumors and it will end up being CGI movie instead.

They really have their work cut out for them. I saw FF:TSW in the theater, but on even film I had no clue it was packing the kind of detail it was. And the DVD certainly gives no indication (with some horrifically bad compression artifacts).
FF: The Spirits Within HD frame grabs:
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[cthellis42]

Can we count LOTR as a CGI movie? I mean yeah, it used real actors, but Elijah Woods isn't really 3 feet tall you know.

You can certainly grab impressive parts from the LotR movies if you want. After all, we weren't only talking about full-length features here...

I think the spirit was supposed to basically be "game CG," though. In which case the Warcraft videos are certainly in play (my vote quality-wise would be for the WoW intro, however. It was shorter, but the animation was much better, the environments were MUCH more complex, and things like complex fur and hair/cloth physics much more evident). But my ultimate vote has to go to the Onimusha 3 intro, because... well... holy crap! (And the Dawn of Dreams one ain't half bad, either. )

 

[Rolf N]

They really have their work cut out for them. I saw FF:TSW in the theater, but on even film I had no clue it was packing the kind of detail it was. And the DVD certainly gives no indication (with some horrifically bad compression artifacts).
FF: The Spirits Within HD frame grabs:
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Not all links are created equal, but these two are

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Not all links are created equal, but these two are

LOL I was thinking the same when I first saw them. I opened the first one and was like cool a hawk, eagle or whatever, then opened the second, and at first I though I accidentaly opened the first one again...
Next time I wan't three of the same!

 

[Iron Tiger]

Not all links are created equal, but these two are

Aw crap! Fixed and here.

 

[inefficient]

Finally saw Advent Children in its entirety yesterday and it was fantastic.

It's shockingly good animation and rendering quailty wise. Plot wise, you probably have to already be a FF fan to really like it. But still just for the extremely well coriagraphed action sequences it's worth watching.

This is something that is going to look amazing rendered at 1080 on a BR disc. It will probably be one of the first BR discs I pick up.