The Worst Special Effects Of All-Time

I remember seeing "The Abyss" for the first time like it was yesterday. A highly underrated movie, James Cameron's "The Abyss" should be considered a landmark in special effects since it was one of the first movies to make widespread use of photo-realistic computer-generated imagery (CGI). The water tentacle, created by Industrial Light & Magic for just one scene in the film, was nothing short of breathtaking. Such effects would later take center stage in blockbuster films like "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park," but it was "The Abyss" that showed us what CGI was really capable of in the span of just a few minutes.

Seventeen years later CGI is a dirty word - and perhaps rightfully so. Such computer-generated effects have become so overused and so muddled in many big Hollywood movies that film fans have revolted against the technology. Jon Favreau, who will direct the forthcoming "Iron Man" adaptation, sounded apologetic when he told fans at Comic-Con this year that the film would rely on CGI. Even when movies need special effects, such as "Iron Man," there is an apprehension today for many movie-goers when those three little letters come together. How did we arrive it this point, nearly 20 years after the revolutionary filmmaking technique was perfected? A lot of bad movies and bad effects paved the way. The list is long and distinguished, so let's get to it.

But first, some ground rules for the list. First, B-movies do not qualify because they're B-movies. Second, there has to be a certain level of expected quality from the film (i.e., no one expected the remake of "The Fog" to be good, so how can we complain that the effects were terrible?). Third, the filmmakers must obviously have been aiming for good effects but failed, so intentionally bad effects don't count (i.e., the cheetah from "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle"). Fourth, good films with otherwise great effects can be included if they have even a single instance of bad effects. Special effects need not be central to the film; again, there only needs to be one instance of wretched effects that are so bad it distracts you from the rest of the movie and makes a lasting negative impression.

Without any further ado, here are the worst special effects of the CGI era according to the following categories:

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