FX before CGI

[Tawodi Osdi]

I just re-watched 2001 A Space Odyssey for the first time in years.  Even thought the movie was made in the mid-1960's it has aged well and is still visually stunning and the special effects is as good if not better than modern films.  I think it is the best FX movie ever made.  It would be interesting what I director like Kubrick could do with modern technology.

The question is, what other pre-CGI movies would you name as having FX that is as good or better than modern FX?

[President Raygun]

I have yet to see a better futuristic city than the Los Angeles of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, almost every futuristic city I've seen in films made afterwards all seem to want to emulate it. I think Tron and The Last Starfighter deserve honorable mention as movies that really stand out in my memory as well.

[Talavar]

CGI ages horribly - I mean, the CGI work for the Special Editions of Star Wars from the late '90s looks worse than the model and miniatures work of the '70s and early '80s now.

[Glitch Girl]

I agree with Raygun - Blade Runner still looks amazing.  I also agree about 2001 - it holds up quite well.
For me, Ray Harryhausen's stop motion may not be as "realistic" as CGI, but it's got such life to it.  The skill it took to animate it still floors me. 

Sample Clip of a scene that scared the hell out of me when I was a little kid.  This clip has had motion blur added but I had a hard time finding it on YouTube (I kept finding the remake clips)

Sample Clip 2.  Trivia note - there was only one skeleton model, according to Mr Harryhausen.  He'd animate the sequence with one of them, then go back and do it with a second, and so on.   

Wow. 

And speaking of monsters... this is a favorite.  The creature was created by one of the Disney animators who worked on Fantasia's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence. (what can I say, I love me some Forbidden Planet )

[Tawodi Osdi]

Those are all good choices. 

[lugaru]

I love mild uses of CGI, where you cant tell what is being done.

That said... JACOBS LADDER is an alltime favorite. It came before CGI and the subtle but scary effects are amazing.

[yell0w_lantern]

Well, I think one of the main problems with CGI is what has plagued other types of special efects, that is, done for their own sake and not necessarily to advance the plot or the characters. Good special effects should be seemless with the rest of the film and in most cases should not catch your eye at all.