- - 20 Movie Special Effects That Are Not CGI Somehow

Amanda MannenDecember 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM

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These days, it seems like 90% of every movie was made inside a computer. Actors will train for years and ruthlessly compete for the opportunity to give a dramatic speech to a tennis ball on a stick. Time was that a movie's setting and action was limited to what the art department could build with their own two hands, but now, even two people talking in their “living room” is just as likely a green screen.

That's not to say no one is doing special effects the old-fashioned way. In fact, if it's good enough, you probably just assumed it was CGI. For uAgentx6021, that was true about Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. They were impressed that “they used Q-tips for spectators at the pod race and poured salt to mimic waterfalls in Naboo,” as they told r/AskReddit.

They asked, “Movie buffs of Reddit, what special effect totally looks like CGI but was actually done practically?”

20 Bram Stoker's Dracula

19 Underworld

18 Who Framed Roger Rabbit

17 The Abyss

16 Escape From New York

15 Terminator 2: Judgment Day

14 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

13 Independence Day

12 Halloween Kills

11 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

10 Interview With the Vampire

9 Inception

8 Interstellar

7 The Spy Who Loved Me

6 Dune

5 Hellboy

4 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

3 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

2 Sh! The Octopus

1 Ghost Rider

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”