5 Times Practical Effects In Movies Blew Our Minds!

One of the main talking points surrounding the newly-released film Oppenheimer is the movie’s use of (and director Christopher Nolan's insistance on) practical effects as opposed to CGI, even for scenes portraying nuclear explosions. To achieve this, his special effects team utilized old tried and true methods of using miniatures along with forced perspective, chemical reactions, and clip layering. (You can read more about the process here.)

Here are 5 other movies with mind-blowing practical effects to add to your watch list! 

1. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, and Nick Lathouris.

Director George Miller has claimed that 90% of the effects in Mad Max: Fury Road are practical, a statistic that doesn’t seem far off when watching raw footage of the hit action film. The deserts of Africa and Australia where filming took place were the backdrop for actors pole-vaulting between vehicles, riding on the back of a truck weilding a guitar that doubled as a flame thrower, and a huge explosion that was pulled off using 3 fuel tankers pulled along by a tractor trailer. (Rent on Prime Video and Apple TV.)

For more on the making of Mad Max, check out the book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road.

2. Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark (2019)

Written by Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Guillermo del Toro, Patrick Melton, and Marcus Dunstan.

It should come as no surprise that Guillermo del Toro is a fan of using practical effects to achieve his artistic vision. To bring the eerie characters from the beloved book by by Alvin Schwartz that the film is based on to life, molds based on the actors' body measurements were created. By crafting molds and full body costumes specific to each cast member's measurements, the fx artists created a hyperrealistic series of looks. This realism was a contributing factor in making Scary Stories so... well, scary! (Stream on Prime Video and Hulu.)

3. Jaws (1975)

Written by Carl Gottlieb and Peter Benchley.

Did you know that the menacing shark named Bruce from Jaws is real? Well he is -- kinda! Now showcased as the largest object in the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the animatronic is held in reverence as one of the best practical effects of all time. Built by artist Bob Mattey, the prop was controlled by a team of "Bruce operators" using cable wires and hydraulic pumps. (Stream on fuboTV.)

4. The Thing (1982)

Written by Bill Lancaster and John W. Campbell Jr.

For a 1980s horror hit that used loads of practical effects, check out John Carpenter's classic The Thing! Special effects master Rob Bottin used everything from KY Jelly to strawberry jam and mayo to create the sickening monster from another world that the film is centered around. The unfurling of the monster was achieved using reverse shots. Special effects coordinators pulled hose-like tentacles through the back of the model, and after that, when the shot was reversed, it created the gruesome effect of appendages sprouting out of the creature. (Rent on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.)

5. Inception (2010)

Written by Christopher Nolan.

Oppenheimer isn’t the only Christopher Nolan film lauded for its use of practical effects. Inception utilized them as well, specifically for the hallway fight scene that’s referenced as one of best action scenes in cinema history! The fight takes place in a spinning hallway, and in place of CGI, a large hallway that actually spun was built to film the sequence. The actors in the scene were strapped into the contraption with wires, which allowed them to perform the stunt choreography inside of the moving prop piece. (Rent on Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.)

Oppenheimer is now in theatres!