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You won’t believe that these 10 incredible movie effects didn’t use CGI

Published May 10th, 2016 6:20PM EDT
10 Best Practical Movie Effects
Image: Warner Bros. Pictures

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It’s 2016. We’re accustomed to movies being filled with green screens and CGI. Batman v SupermanStar Wars: The Force AwakensCaptain America: Civil War and virtually every other blockbuster film of the past few decades have relied on special effects that simply can’t be replicated in the real world.

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In fact, CGI has become so prevalent that there are likely times when you can’t even tell the difference between a practical effect and a special effect, which is why you might be surprised to learn these ten movie effects didn’t feature CGI.

In a recent video, Screen Rant has rounded up ten incredible effects from recent and classic movies that only look like they were created on a computer.

One of the most recent examples is BB-8, the ball droid that stole the spotlight in The Force Awakens. Although J.J. Abrams and his crew could have used a digital creation, they decided that it made more sense to have the droid actually rolling around with the actors during the movie, rather than adding him in post.

Another scene that shocked and awed audiences back in 2010 was the hotel fight scene in Inception. As you might remember from around when the movie came out, Joseph Gordon-Levitt was actually running around and fighting in a rotating set. It wasn’t a mere illusion — the hotel was actually flipping over.

Finally, the most impressive stunt of all has to be the opening sequence from The Dark Knight Rises. Rather than try to explain it, I’ll just point you in the direction of the video, which kicks off with the incredible, practical scene:

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.