15 FX wizards pick their fave special effect moment. (Add yours!)

[Morris Schæffer]

http://www.empireonline.com/features...t-vfx-shots/p1

Some interesting choices.

[Dukefrukem]

All worthy nominations IMO.

I would have thought the Matrix Burly Brawl would make the cut though.

[amberlita]

Nice list. I would have chosen the scene in 2001 when Dave explosive-bolts his way into the airlock without a helmet.

Appreciate the love for miniatures and models on this list. Seems like a dying art form.

[Fezzik]

I cant view empire's site at work, so I cant comment on the list yet, but...

The one VFX shot that always takes my breath away is the sweeping camera shot during The Battle of Pelennor Fields in RotK that tracks behind the Rohirrim as they plow over a line of orcs.

Just blows my mind every time I see it.

[Spun Lepton]

The Norris monster from The Thing is probably my favorite effect.

[Morris Schæffer]

All worthy nominations IMO.

I would have thought the Matrix Burly Brawl would make the cut though.

That trilogy has plenty of jawdropping moments, most in the 1999 flick, but with only fifteen guys speaking out, the burly brawl was a real long shot. I always think the best FX moments have some restrain, some build-up so that even during a moment as huge as the T-Rex attack, there's a careful and meticulous rhythm behind it all. The burly brawl was so ridiculous it was hard to take seriously. It felt like the filmmakers just lost control and went utterly bananas, wondering whether they could do something, but never stopping to think if they should. Plus, it's the 2nd best Matrix movie and I suppose FX sequences that really hit a chord are those found in a movie that's all round great. And that, to me, is The Matrix.

Gee, it's so hard to think about what choice I'd pick, but one of the first times I was really blown away, and I remember because I was mortified when I saw it, was the squid attack in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.

More recently, but still a whopping, oh, 20 odd years ago, was Ripley coming face to face with the Queen in Aliens. I couldn't believe that. And yet again I was horrified...but in a good way.