Movies That Changed Cinema

Opinion

Movies are made to convey complex ideas to people. The movie is also designed to make us, the watcher, feel a certain way throughout the journey of the characters. Certain films have created different technologies and methods to help us feel and think differently about the world. The following is a list of movies that have some of those technologies and methods that made us anticipate the next big evolution in cinema.

(list is by year not level of importance)

 

1. Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope (1977)

What was unique about this film was at the time the special effects were lacking. The company Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) was born! George Lucas wanted special effects that were not currently available from other production companies to tell his space opera of the age old story of lightness verse darkness. Most films today with amazing special effects have effects from ILM or can trace the roots to the techniques that ILM came up with.

 

2. The Muppet Movie (1979)

While waiting for scene within the ending credits of the latest superhero movie to tease the next upcoming film, did you ever wonder “where did the idea of an ending credit scenes start?” It was the Jim Henson Company. The Muppet Movie was the first movie to have an ending credit scene. It has lead to epic ending scenes like the line of “Go Home” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and all the Marvel MCU ending scenes teasing the next movie.

 

3. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is considered one of the best movies of all time from the storytelling, to visual effects, and to the sense of wonder that it created. It also started the genre of normalizing aliens coming to earth. One controversy surrounding the film was, of the 2020 rerelease, by digitally removing the pistols and shotguns while replacing them with walkie talkies. Steven Spielberg has apologized for this mistake because it took away from the original art and feel of the film.

 

4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1984)

Terminator 2 took storytelling to the next level along with CGI (computer generated images). The scene where the T-1000 robot melted through the bars to continue the chase of the protagonist was one of the first where CGI made something that was impossible to film turn into a reality. Computers in the 1980s were just starting to be seen what could be done in a realistic way compared to the rotoscoping and coloring of each film image.

 

5. Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Disney films have always been fan favorites that have pushed the limits of animation. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated feature to combine 3D CGI with hand drawn graphics. You might say “woah I don’t remember that.” Well you do remember the iconic ballroom scene, which makes most people tear up. The ballroom dancing scene, with the song “tale as old as time” being sung by a tea set, is one of the most beautiful scenes of all of film.

 

6. Jurassic Park (1993)

CGI T-Rex!

I do not think anything more needs to be said. The movie created new physical and digital special effects that made the idea of dinosaurs next to humans believable.  The film brought forth many emotions ranging from wonder at the magnificent beasts, to extreme fright, except for the lawyer that got eaten. The lawyer getting eaten made me silently cheer, “Take that you blood sucking beast of a human being!”

 

7. Schindler’s List (1993)

Schindler’s List was based on a novel Schindler’s Ark which is based on a real member of the Nazi party named Oskar Schindler. The movie portrays the saving of 1,200 Jews by giving them jobs in enamelware and ammunitions factories. Some of the survivors have stated the film portrays the experience of the Jews realistically. This is on the list of essential movies to watch.

 

8. Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story gets to claim to be the first fully 3D animated movie. It has spawned a plethora of 3D animated films for children that make 2D animation almost completely obsolete in 2022. The story was also very well thought out and the world of toys allowed the imagination to run wild. The movie established a brand with many subsequent sequels being the pinnacle that all other 3D animated films attempt to become.

 

9. The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix required new technology and special effects to be built to wow the audience and tell the story properly. That technology is now a standard in action movies that attempt to live up to the initial charm. The Wachowskis’s (directing duo) created the camera technique called “bullet time” or frozen moment time for certain fast moving sequences. Bullet time is when the actor appears frozen in a moment of time by quickly moving the camera around that actor. This technique can give the appearance of a person falling backwards suspended in midair between the moment of being punched then falling on the ground. This technique of cameras has been used in almost all the following action films where one small action needs to be emphasized. A punch to the face now shows the slow motion distorting of the fist through rain, to the skin being pushed in, and the person being thrown far away. It is a wonder of technology that CGI has been able to make complex and better scenes within movies since 1999.

10. Iron Man (2008)

Iron Man was the movie that started an eleven year run of twenty three (23) movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Each movie was building to a larger story progressing to the final fight in Avengers: Endgame. It used elements of storytelling that transcended beyond each movie individually. It will be nearly impossible to make a large story like this be told again by cinema without people expecting only the best. Also the MCU perfected the use of the end credit scenes to show mundane moments that movie goers can relate to (shawarma scene Marvel’s The Avengers) and to tease the next progression of the story.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading about the movies that have changed cinema. Happy movie watching!