Random Worst CGI Moments In '90s Movies (19 items)

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  (#1) The Langoliers

  • Stephen King

  The flying blobs with teeth in The Langoliers are just flat out unbelievable. They actually make the rest of the scene that is supposed to be ultra suspenseful, not as thrilling as it should be - the characters look stressed, but the monsters don't invoke fear in the audience at all. The monsters just don't appear to play an active part of the set, making it extremely obvious they aren't actually posing a physical threat to the characters. 
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  (#2) Lost in Space

  • Heather Graham, Gary Oldman, Lacey Chabert, Matt LeBlanc, William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Jared Harris, Edward Fox, Lennie James, June Lockhart, Angela Cartwright, Jack Johnson

  The characters in Lost in Space run into a cute little alien creature - described as a "monkey lizard" - Blarp along their travels. The CGI job on the little guy is rough, though, because it's very obvious that Matt LeBlanc isn't holding anything when he's supposed to be holding Blarp. The clear disconnect between the alien and the human characters is obvious throughout, which pulls viewers out of the movie.
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  (#3) Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

  • Talisa Soto, Ray Park, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Sandra Hess, Irina Pantaeva, James Remar, Musetta Vander, Robin Shou, Brian Thompson, Marjean Holden, Chris Conrad, Keith Cooke, Reiner Schöne, Dennis Keiffer, Litefoot, Deron McBee, J.J. Perry, Ridley Tsui, Lynn "Red" Williams

  As Liu Kang finally defeats Shao-Kahn in a battle to determine the fate of Earth - Kahn transforms into a dragon. In this process, the creature emerges from his human body in what almost looks like a pop-up in a paper book or card. The dragon then flips mid-air until going through the bright blue portal that quickly disappears after sucking the creature in. The concept of the movie is obviously sci-fi, but the graphics of this transformation really pull audiences out of the triumph of the moment and Kang finally banishes evil.
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  (#4) Spawn

  • Martin Sheen, John Leguizamo, Melinda Clarke, Frank Welker, Michael Jai White, Nicol Williamson, Jack Coleman, D. B. Sweeney, Michael Papajohn, Miko Hughes, Theresa Randle, Sydni Beaudoin, Laura Stepp

  Spawn uses CGI throughout the film, and even the "realistic" effects like fire don't look real, let alone the blue flame dagger, lava, and Devil. The story is obviously fictional and the effects follow that, but when Cogliostro goes down to battle the Devil, the challenges of CGI become too tough to get past. With the lava rock floor constantly moving in the underworld, Cogliostro doesn't move with it, pulling the audience out of the movie. 
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  (#5) An American Werewolf in Paris

  • Julie Bowen, Julie Delpy, Tom Everett Scott, Thierry Lhermitte, Vince Vieluf, Phil Buckman, Alan McKenna, Tom Novembre, Maria Machado, Pierre Cosso, Jean-Claude Deret, Alain Christie, Christian Magnani, Isabelle Constantini, Serge Basso, Ben Salem Bouabdallah

  The filming team for An American Werewolf in Paris took the subject matter and used it to their advantage - darkness. The fictional creatures are hardly shown in the light, following common lore. Additionally, they're clearly modeled after more human features than wolf-like features, and even when the werewolf attacks in the sewer tunnels, the mouth and teeth look more gorilla-like than anything. It's arguable that the werewolf shadow scenes are even scarier than the werewolf itself.
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  (#6) Air Force One

  • Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Glenn Close, William H. Macy, Dean Stockwell, Philip Baker Hall, Wendy Crewson, Xander Berkeley, Oleg Taktarov, Jürgen Prochnow, Paul Guilfoyle, Elya Baskin, Bill Smitrovich, Liesel Pritzker Simmons, Andrew Divoff, Glenn Morshower, Donna Bullock, Thom Barry, Tom Everett, Robert Peters, Spencer Garrett, Pasha D. Lychnikoff, Don McManus, Dan Shor, Ilia Volok, Diana Bellamy, Timothy Carhart, Mark Thompson, Thomas Crawford, Willard E. Pugh, Alan Migicovski, Alex Veadov, E. E. Bell, Gordon Michaels, David Vadim, Levan Uchaneishvili, Michael Monks, Mario Roberts, David O'Donnell, Paul Bishop, Brian Libby, Boris Lee Krutonog, J. A. Preston, Carl Weintraub, Chris Howell, George Meyers, Harry Hutchinson, Richard Doyle, Ren Hanami, Daniel W. Barringer, Alan Woolf, David Permenter, Tony Boldi, Suzanne Michaels, Bruce Holman, Albert Owens, Werner Sonne, Mike Hambrick, Keith Woulard, Fenton Lawless, Michael Ray Miller, Paul Sklar, Robb Derringer, Kristian Sorensen, Stuart Nixon, J. Mark Donaldson, William Victor Skrabanek, Elester Latham, Marciarose Shestack, Aleks Shaklin, David Gianopoulos, Messiri Freeman, Jim Harley, Catherine T. Yang, Duke Miglin, Marty Rosen, Mark Knutson, Lee Faranda, Igor N. Lobotsky, David MacIsaac, Koko Kiledjian, J. Scott Shonka

  Not only does the Gibbs hanging out the window as the President's plane crashes into the Caspian Sea clearly look like green screen, the plane tumbles on the water unrealistically as well. Because they use the force of the water as reason the plane breaks apart, the damage done isn't even seemingly catastrophic leaving the ending a little flat. Factor in the fact that the water behind the crash doesn't seem phased at all, this CGI is just plain bad.
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  (#7) The Lawnmower Man

  • Pierce Brosnan, Dean Norris, Geoffrey Lewis, Doug Hutchison, Jeff Fahey, Troy Evans, Austin O'Brien, Jeremy Slate, John Laughlin, Michael Gregory, Jenny Wright, Joe Hart, Mark Bringelson, Rosalee Mayeux, Jim Landis, Colleen Coffey

  There's a lot wrong with The Lawnmower Man, but ultimately the VR experience is rough. As far as virtual reality goes in the '90s, it was all a wonder of how good it could get, but the blocky computer graphic hand they show isn't all that creative. Because the graphic was made to manipulate a simplistic man, it didn't necessarily need to be cutting edge apparently. But as an audience, it would have made these mind-training videos more believable.
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  (#8) Deep Blue Sea

  • Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool J, Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Stellan Skarsgård, Frank Welker, Michael Rapaport, Erinn Bartlett, Renny Harlin, Aida Turturro, Ronny Cox, Jacqueline McKenzie, Mary Kay Bergman, Valente Rodriguez, Eyal Podell, Brent Roam, Cristos, Dan Thiel, Daniel Rey, Tajsha Thomas, Sarah Kelly, Sabrina Geerinckx

  Deep Blue Sea is often ridiculed for it's awful CGI sharks - as most shark terror movies are. But a scene of a shark eating a star like Samuel L. Jackson is going to get some additional scrutiny. The shark jumps from the small opening, and with Jackson's back to the pool, the shark snags him in its mouth. The issue comes truly when the "body dummy" they use for Jackson looks like a poorly created video game character. At that moment, everything in the film seems fake or digitally altered which doesn't add any credibility to the terror these sharks are supposed to invoke. 
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  (#9) Blade

  • Kris Kristofferson, Wesley Snipes, Traci Lords, Sanaa Lathan, Stephen Dorff, N'Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Gerald Okamura, Tim Guinee, Arly Jover, Shannon Lee, John Enos III, Ted King, Kenny Johnson, Matt Schulze, Jeff Imada, Sidney S. Liufau, Judson Scott, Frankie Ray, Levan Uchaneishvili, Stephen Norrington, Lennox Brown, Keith Leon Williams, Ryan Glorioso, Marcus Aurelius, Jenya Lano, D.V. DeVincentis, Eric Edwards, Andray Johnson, Carmen Thomas, Kevin Patrick Walls, Clint Curtis, Richard 'Dr.' Baily, Lyle Conway, Irena Stepic, Stephen R. Peluso, Freeman White, Marcus Salgado, Esau McKnight Jr., Nikki DiSanto, Beth Theriac, Erl Van Douglas, Yvette Ocampo, Eboni 'Chrystal' Adams, Elliott James, Carrie Seeley

  Deacon Frost is a vampire being hunted by Blade throughout the movie. When the serum created to overpower Blade's half-vampire blood thirst is injected into Frost - a full vampire - the serum causes Frost to explode. In this process, Frost's body expands and bubbles, but the shadow underneath him doesn't change at all with his increase in size. Looking at the shadow from Blade's arm as he guards himself against the splatter, Frost's shadow doesn't even appear to be in the right position to begin with.
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  (#10) Anaconda

  • Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Jon Voight, Danny Trejo, Kari Wührer, Eric Stoltz, Frank Welker, Jonathan Hyde, Vincent Castellanos

  As the team attempts to escape, Westridge distracts the anaconda by climbing the waterfall. When he's cornered, he tries to jump to safety, only to have the CGI snake swoop in and curl him up - seemingly defying gravity. The whole scene goes about too smoothly to be realistic in any sense. While anacondas are undoubtedly muscular, the fluidity of its motions in this scene are highly unrealistic. 
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  (#11) Double Dragon

  • Alyssa Milano, Andy Dick, Vanna White, Robert Patrick, George Hamilton, Mark Dacascos, Scott Wolf, Al Leong, Michael Berryman, Julia Nickson-Soul, Roger Yuan, John Mallory Asher, Ron Yuan, Leon Russom, Nils Allen Stewart, Jeff Imada, Henry Kingi, Vincent Klyn, David Early, Rio Hackford, Rohn Thomas, Kristina Wagner, Mark Brazill, Garrett Warren, Richard Fike, Ed Feldman, Brian Imada, Stephen R. Campanella, Cory Milano, Sara Fike, Danny Wong, Joe L'Erario, Chuck Gillespie, Ken McLeod, John T. Grantham, Bruce Strickland, Deanthony Langston, Jim Aleck, Donald Nugent, Patrica Cascino, Verle Majied, Irene Tanaka

  When Shadow Warrior Koga Shoku possesses Jimmy's brother Billy, the two face off in a battle. Once the medallion around Jimmy's neck is knocked onto the ground, Shoku's shadow body slithers over and snags the medallion half to take a bodily form - the CGI in the transformation is hilarious. He begins emerging from his shadow form from what looks like a black hole, turning into a holographic type person filled with TV static.  
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  (#12) Jumanji

  • Kirsten Dunst, Robin Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, Frank Welker, Bonnie Hunt, Laura Bell Bundy, Jonathan Hyde, Bradley Pierce, Tom Woodruff Jr., Malcolm Stewart, James Handy, Gillian Barber, Adam Hann-Byrd, Peter James Bryant, Darryl Henriques, Lloyd Berry, Daniel Olsen, Robyn Driscoll, Jaysen Clough, Annabel Kershaw, David Szehi, Cyrus Thiedeke, Gary Joseph Thorup, Brenda Lockmuller, Frederick Richardson, Brandon Obray, Florica Vlad, Leonard Zola, Sarah Gilson, June Lion

  CGI animals are often only under supreme scrutiny when they're common household pets people are used to seeing - their features are more recognizable and thus are more noticable when something's off. But Jumanji recreated lesser known animals like monkeys, elephants, and mosquitos. That doesn't mean these animals get off scott free as realistic, though. The worst of all may even be the monkeys that make a mess of the kitchen - but their scary facial features are just the start of what makes them look unsettling. The unrealistic issues with the CGI monkeys definitely pulls the audience out and makes it more and more obvious these creatures are that of a board game - entirely fictional.
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  (#13) Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

  • Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, Alec Guinness, Billy Dee Williams, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Warwick Davis, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Denis Lawson, Sebastian Shaw, Kenneth Colley, Jeremy Bulloch, Michael Pennington, Mike Quinn, Larry Ward

  The Star Wars films are highly acclaimed and were often applying the top technology of the time - the issue with CGI isn't with the originally released Return of the Jedi, but with the remastered version realeased in 1997. In the original version, the opening sequence at Jabba the Hutt's was done mostly by animatronics with touches of CGI. In the remastered version, the singer of his in-house band was completely redesigned with CGI. While she's able to move about more freely, she also contrasts with the other, non-remastered characters of her band.
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  (#14) Star Wars

  • Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Denis Lawson, Don Henderson, Phil Brown, Richard LeParmentier, Eddie Byrne, Jack Purvis, Alex McCrindle, Shelagh Fraser, Paul Blake, Steve 'Spaz' Williams, Larry Ward

  In a scene not previously released with the 1977 smash hit A New Hope, the 1997 remastered version featured a CGI Jabba the Hutt having a conversation with Han Solo. When both characters are in profile, the CGI effects even make the depth of both of them seem off which almost makes it seem as though they aren't looking eye to eye. Solo even "steps" on Jabba's tail and when he's stepping down he does so in a way that makes him appear to glitch or be blurred, adding another reason this scene doesn't resonate with fans of the franchise. 
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  (#15) Star Trek: Insurrection

  • Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, Abraham Murphy, Donna Murphy, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Armin Shimerman, Anthony Zerbe, Gregg Henry, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Michael Welch, Stephanie Niznik, Michael Horton, Breon Gorman, Mark Deakins

  When Admiral Dougherty attempts to shut down the mission in Star Trek: Insurrection, he gets into a scuffle where he ends up on the table of a machine. That machine alters his face slowly to look as though his face was partially melted rubber. The issue is mostly with the CGI sequence that appears to be both slow moving but also over too quickly. Additionally, it's quite obvious his cheeks are no longer actually a part of his face which doesn't help with the realism.
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  (#16) Dragonheart

  • Dennis Quaid, Julie Christie, Jason Isaacs, John Gielgud, Dina Meyer, Pete Postlethwaite, David Thewlis, Brian Thompson, Terry O'Neill, Lee Oakes, Buddy John Quaid, Peter Hric, Eva Vejmelková, Milan Bahúl, Wolf Christian, Kyle Cohen, Sandra Kovacicova, Thom Baker

  Draco never quite interacts properly with the water - or the water, more so, doesn't ripple the way it should when a dragon of his size touches it. That's made severely obvious in the scene where Draco saves Bowen. As he's standing in the pond, his foot - paw? - is lifted slightly out of the water and put back in without causing any ripples. Yes, the dragon already looks unrealistic - it is a dragon after all - but to really sell it, focusing on something as simple and water movement would be a great step. 
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  (#17) Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace

  • Natalie Portman, Keira Knightley, Ewan McGregor, Liam Neeson, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Armitage, Terence Stamp, Sofia Coppola, Dominic West, Frank Oz, Ian McDiarmid, Warwick Davis, Jake Lloyd, Brian Blessed, Ray Park, Celia Imrie, Greg Proops, Peter Serafinowicz, Bronagh Gallagher, Kenny Baker, Ahmed Best, Oliver Ford Davies, Anthony Daniels, Ralph Brown, Pernilla August, Ben Burtt, Benedict Taylor, Hugh Quarshie, Silas Carson, Lewis MacLeod, Andy Secombe, Jerome Blake, Rick McCallum, Alan Ruscoe, James Taylor, Karol Cristina da Silva

  In the first Star Wars film of the prequel series, Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi find themselves trapped by droids while trying to confront Darth Maul. When they're clearly overpowered, the two jet off down the hallway at essentially light speed which leaves them as virtual blurs onscreen. For a film that had mastered much of the CGI throughout, this blip seems very out of character - and seeing as the speed trick isn't used very often, it leaves fans wondering what the point of it was.
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  (#18) The Frighteners

  • Michael J. Fox, Peter Jackson, R. Lee Ermey, Melanie Lynskey, Dee Wallace, John Astin, Chi McBride, Jeffrey Combs, Jake Busey, Peter Dobson, Troy Evans, Michael Robinson, Trini Alvarado, Elizabeth Hawthorne, John Leigh, John Sumner, Angela Bloomfield, Todd Rippon, Stuart Devenie, Ken Blackburn, Anthony Ray Parker, Julianna McCarthy, Desmond Kelly, Jim Fyfe, Leslie Wing, Matthew Chamberlain, Jim McLarty, Billy Jackson, Genevieve Westcott, Liz Mullane, George Port, Taea Hartwell, Leslie Klein, K.C. Kelly, Jonathan Blick, Vivienne Kaplan, Paul Yates, Frank Edwards, Charlie McClellan, Sophie Watkins, Nicola Cliff, Tony Hopkins, George Grover, Max Grover, Danny Lineham, Grant Aldridge, Lewis Martin, Clay Nelson, William Pomeroy, Alan O'Leary

  While trying to run from the Grim Reaper, Frank and Magda crash their car, and the Reaper catches up to them. As the Reaper takes Magda's life, he propels himself into her and they crash down on the forest ground. When they land, it's obvious neither the Reaper nor Magda is actually hitting the ground - in fact, they almost look as though they've landed on a cushion that bounces back initially. The bad effects take viewers completely out of the movie, even if for that one second.
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  (#19) Event Horizon

  • Laurence Fishburne, Jason Isaacs, Sam Neill, Joely Richardson, Kathleen Quinlan, Sean Pertwee, Emily Booth, Richard T. Jones, Teresa May, Jack Noseworthy, Noah Huntley, Peter Marinker, Robert Jezek, Holley Chant, Barclay Wright

  Dr. Weir destroys the window in the ship in Event Horizon, causing the glass the shatter and items to fly out into space. While the glass appears it's supposed to have some sort of 3D effect - but doesn't - the remainder of the debris comes out in the most unrealistic way. Each piece is sent spinning more calmly into space than it should be as the rest of the scene implies it should. 

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