What was your favorite SF special effects of all time?

[SpaceKiwi]

Contact was indeed a fantastic movie, Sagan was a truely gifted man and communicator.<br /><br />Anything from Space 1999, that was a combination of cool and cheesy. But, I particularly liked the Eagles launching.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em><font size="2" color="#ff0000">Who is this superhero?  Henry, the mild-mannered janitor ... could be!</font></em></p><p><em><font size="2">-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</font></em></p><p><font size="5">Bring Back The Black!</font></p> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

Exactly right.

 

[junkheap]

The scene in the beginning of "Contact" where Elly opens up the medicine cabinet after running up the stairs to get her father's heart medicine. <br /><br />If you ask, "How is that a special effect?", then you haven't been paying attention. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[spacefire]

I thought 'Aliens' as a whole had some really good SFX, the monsters looked real enough to me! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[Leovinus]

I thought the rotating space station under construction in 2001 Space Odyssey was spectacular. <br /><br />photo <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[flynn]

I think the thing about Aliens and infact Alien and Alien3 is that the hardware does for the most part look functional.<br /><br />I know that doesn't really cover the Special Effects but being as spacefire mentions Alien.<br /><br />Actually this probably deserves a topic of its own. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#800080">"All God does is watch us and kill us when we get boring. We must never, ever be boring" - <strong>Chuck Palahniuk</strong>.</font> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow">When I started the thread, I should have asked that, when nominating an effect, everyone change the title of the post to include the effect and show. However, I did not, and now I don't know which effects got that 3rd nomination. I know some got two, but I still need help finding the ones with 3.</font><br /><br />Just switch to flat mode -- then scroll through, and talley 'em. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[lampblack]

The only SF effect ever to make me clutch both arm rests in a movie theater: the star field when the Millenium Falcon jumped into hyper drive.<br /><br />That first time that it happened in the first Star Wars movie, I almost jumped out of my skin. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[yevaud]

I will freely admit I, and a group of my HS buddies, got very high in the parking garage of the theatre, before watching it for the first time. When that effect, the jump to lightspeed, occurred, I fell backwards over my chair.<br /><br />And then promptly watched the movie six more times in a single week. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

Yeah... I watched the movie seven times, too... although I spread 'em out over that summer. A couple of times, I sat through it twice in a row on a single ticket. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[yevaud]

That, Blade Runner, Terminator, Alien, and Mad Max. Certainly typified the movies we watched then, eh?" <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

A 'gross' favorite special effect would have to be the inside out rhesus monkey in Cronenberg's remake of The Fly.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

Due to the lack of bandwidth here, I have to be careful about the pages I load. Flat mode is bandwidth hungry. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[etavaunt]

What I loved was how she just kept saying "I'm good to go".<br /><br />Come on, if her legs dropped off, she was still going to say so, just as long as she could. <br /><br />She is one of the best characters in SCi FI, in my opinion. In the book, especially.<br /><br />I hate how the movie wimped out vis the religion question.<br /><br />Love that movie so much. But the book is ten times better.

 

[chyten]

IIRC, "The Phantom Menace" has only one take with <b>no</b> CGI, and George Lucas had challenged the viewers to identify it.

 

[willpittenger]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>has only one take<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br />You mean one "scene". One "take" would be one attempt to shoot the scene. Only one take per scene would make it into the movie. The rest would be either tossed and never ever seen outside the studio or relegated to the outtake archives. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bobw]

The laser defense chamber in front of the computer core door in <i>Resident Evil</i> looked pretty realistic to me. Total giblets. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

WTH ??????????????????<br /><br />What post did you reply to ??<br /><br /><br />{seriously, did Uplink vaporize a post ??}<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

I suspect the poster replied to a post that was deleted. If you click the link that lists the post they replied to, you get a "We cannot proceed" error. As a former mod, "Who you gonna call?" Sorry, the Ghostbusters can't help. We need a mod or admin to fix the problem. As is, threaded mode doesn't show any replies to the deleted post -- including ours. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bobw]

I think F___H's post said he liked the mirror scene in <i>Contact</i>. He must have deleted it just before I hit the continue button for mine because instead of showing my post it did the cannot continue thing.<br /><br />He deserves the <i>Resident Evil</i> slice-o-matic treatment himself, for messing up the threaded post list <img src="/images/icons/crazy.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

Just ensuring that future posts are visible to those viewing the thread in threaded mode. Previously, several posts have vanished and been visible only in flat mode. Some people were ignoring the reply links next to each post. If those links had been used instead of simply going to the last post, we wouldn't have this problem. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[bobw]

I liked <i>The Abyss</i> too. The water creature was good. Is that the first movie where somebody died with the intention of coming back to life? I've seen a few like that but I think <i>The Abyss</i> was first. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[etavaunt]

"The greatest story ever told" ?.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[bobw]

I could have phrased that better, for sure <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> I'm thinking "Romeo and Juliet you doofus" about three seconds after I pushed the button. <br /><br />Edit: I had in mind the first time when it was likely to work. That gal in <i>Count of Monte Cristo</i> who had a funeral and was sealed in a lead coffin until Edmond came to rescue her doesn't count! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[qzzq]

The alien in Alien. The (space) battles in Star Wars. Jodie Foster's interstellar ride in Contact. The huge mothership hovering in front of the mountain in Close Encounters. When the star disappears behind the ringed gas giant in Pitch Black. The 'cars' taking off in Bladerunner. Well, and of course everything in 2001. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>***</p> </div>