OVP: Best Visual Effects (1999)
The Nominees Were...
John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, & Jon Thum, The Matrix
John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires, & Rob Coleman, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace
John Dykstra, Jerome Chen, Henry F. Anderson III, & Eric Allard, Stuart Little
My Thoughts: In 1999, the Visual Effects category was still in its "influx" years where it generally got 3 nominations, and that was the case in 1999. The category, for me, features not just one of the tougher competitions of 1999, but in the history of the category. Two of these films do very different things with the concept of visual effects, but they also inspired a generation of young filmmakers, one big, one hip, and they'd both be hugely influential on the future of the movies (including their own franchises).
The Matrix cost half as much as the first of the George Lucas sequels (to be fair, it also earned half as much...both of these movies were mammoth hits), and it's not groundbreaking in the way that Phantom Menace is. What it does do, though, is take its effects with a signature flare. Borrowing from the John Woo action films, the movie's stunt coordination combined with a signature use of green for much of the actual CGI really works. This became iconic for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they made each action sequence increasingly more intense and fantastic, a glowing crescendo until the final face-off.
The Matrix is more stylish, but it's hard not to marvel at the sheer magnitude of The Phantom Menace. The movie, with over 2000 individual effects shots, is a wonder to behold. Growing from Lucas' original trilogy, they give us high-intensity lightsaber duels, and actual cities spun from the background with the melding of matte painting and CGI coming together in a really impressive combination. The film also features Jar Jar Binks, which while the most polarizing (and offensive) character in the Star Wars catalog, he also is a really spectacular example of CGI (Dobby, Gollum, and Caesar that followed would not be possible without Jar Jar).
Stuart Little also features a major character that is completely drawn from animation, and while the film itself is not in the same league visually as the other two, that should count for something. Stuart's fur is the real calling card here. A few years before Monsters Inc would break ground for VFX, this film was doing similar work on a similar caliber. I don't love the way that they handle the non-title characters, particularly the way the cats are handled (their speaking patterns are a bit cartoonish), but I totally get what Oscar was attempting here.
Other Precursor Contenders: We are in the era before the Visual Effects Society, so our only precursor to look at is BAFTA, which was five-wide, but also had one 1998 title. They gave the statue to The Matrix against The Mummy, Sleepy Hollow, The Phantom Menace, and A Bug's Life, which was eligible for Oscar the previous year. The Oscar shortlist in 1999 was The Mummy, Sleepy Hollow, The World is Not Enough, and Wild Wild West, and given that it made it for Sound (and was the kind of blockbuster that normally made a list like this), I have to assume that The Mummy was the fourth place finisher.
Films I Would Have Nominated: It certainly would've made my list. The use of sand in this film, with the mummy's face coming out of the the desert floor, is really something, combined with the growing evolution of the title character. What could've been cheesy was in fact a really well-crafted picture.
Oscar’s Choice: Oscar will frequently go for the biggest and the gaudiest...but what he really wants is to be cool. And in 1999, there was nothing cooler than The Matrix, which ended up taking this statue over Star Wars.
My Choice: No one has ever accused me of being cool, and when it comes down to it-I was more impressed by what Phantom Menace did than what The Matrix did, even if both of them will make my ballot at the end of this season. I'll give it to George Lucas, therefore, over Neo (Stuart Little gets the bronze).
And those are my thoughts-what are yours? Are you going to stand behind me with Darth Vader's origins or do you want to take the red pill with Keanu? Do you ever marvel at races like this, that feel like they're preordained now but were actually quite competitive at the time? And why do you think that The Mummy couldn't make the cut here (I'm pulling out the "horror bias" card myself)? Share below!
2 comments:
First of all, you are definitely cool. And second, I do agree that The Mummy should have been in the mix. But I disagree that Phantom Menace should have won - in my opinion, The Matrix used its effects in a way that not just enhanced the visuals, but also enhanced the storytelling (along with the editing and sound effects). There's a reason why that bullet time effect was copied by some many others for years after.
Ha-I am decidedly not cool, I can assure you of that. And I agree-let's not forget that these are both close (they're going to both get medals from me with My Ballot later this season, I promise), but I just left more amazed by Star Wars. Keep in mind in some ways I'm looking this both as a man in his late 30's, but also as a teenage boy who sat in awe of that film the first time I went in. Not all awards voting can (or should) be objective. I think what Lucas does with some of the background work here is just undeniable.
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