The Matrix – 1999 (WINNER)
The Matrix was an incredible movie! It was amazingly original, and spectacularly innovative in just about every way possible. The special effects they invented were phenomenal, giving audiences images that they had never seen before, effects that have been copied over and over in numerous movies that came after. This was really one of the major landmarks in the category, forever changing the nature of what was possible for cinematic visuals effects.
This was both a science fiction film and an action film, and both aspects were handled with incredible realism and exciting flare. I think the effect that this movie is really remembered for, the one that really left its mark on the visual effects industry was what is now known as the Bullet Time Effect. In this effect, time slows down or freezes for the actors, and the camera can rotate around them a full three hundred sixty degrees, showing them from every angle in one continuous shot.
This effect is used several times in the Matrix. For example, there is the scene where an agent tries to shoot Neo on a rooftop, and Neo bends over backwards to dodge the bullets. Here is how that scene was constructed. First, Keanu Reeves, who was strung up on wires, threw himself back and appeared to float at an impossible angle. Around thirty still cameras had been positioned around the actor, all set up into a green-screen background. Each camera fired, not at the same time, but in sequence. After that, a software similar to morphing software interpolated between the images, giving the action a slow-motion feel. Finally, a CGI background was inserted in place of the green-screen. The result was a fantastic display of movie-making genius that ultimately impressed audiences, critics, and movie-makers alike.
Now, being a sci-fi/action film, there were lots of explosions, flying hover-craft ships, killer robots, guns, lasers, incredible stunts and set pieces, and lots of fast-paced, thrilling action. This movie also had a lot of martial-arts fighting and exciting chase scenes. The sequence in which Trinity crashes a helicopter into a sky-scraper while jumping out of the exploding vehicle, only to be caught on a cable by Neo, was really awesome! I also liked the scene where the robot Sentinels attacked the Nebuchadnezzar, ripping it open like a tin can and trying to kill the people inside. There was also a great effect where a bomb went off in the lobby of an office building, and the slow-motion fire that flooded the room like a flowing liquid conflagration was amazing.
If I had any complaint about the effects, it would be a minor one. Every now and then there would be a shot in which a green-screened actor didn’t quite look like he belonged with the background. The environment might have looked real and amazing, but sometimes the lighting on the character or object in the foreground didn’t seem to work properly. But these occurrences were very few and far between. For the most part, the effects were seamless, realistic, and stunning!