I hadn’t really begun to think about the Best Visual Effects category for the 2014 Oscars so when three visual effects featurettes rolled in for The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby and Fast & Furious 6 I figured now was just as good a time as ever to put together an introductory list and I came up with a total of 27 contenders, all of which you can see right here.
As of now my top five are:
My reasoning behind these five begins with Gravity and the fact two green screen-heavy releases from auteur directors have won the past two years with Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo and Ang Lee‘s Life of Pi. Considering Alfonso Cuaron is himself an auteur and the film seems to be extraordinarily effects-heavy I have to start there.
Last year’s installment of The Hobbit was nominated so I’m continuing the streak. There is always room for a gritty, down in the dirt effects nominee and with Neill Blomkamp‘s District 9 earning one and Elysium looking like an even more effects driven feature I’ve made it an early top contender.
I’ve gone with Man of Steel thanks to the fact not only does it have solid effects, but it runs the gamut of real world effects and alien world effects, but more on that this evening once my official review is published at 8 PM PST.
And finally I’ve gone with Guillermo del Toro‘s Pacific Rim thanks in large part to the fact two of the three Transformers movies and Real Steel were previously nominated. Considering this film seems to be a mash-up of those two movies in the effects department it stands to reason it too would be a strong contender for a nomination.
Like always, you can see my full chart of 27 ranked contenders right here. You will need to be a logged in member of RopeofSilicon to view any rankings beyond the top five, but registration is free so that shouldn’t be too much trouble.
Now check out some visual effects featurettes for The Grandmaster, The Great Gatsby and Fast & Furious 6.
