Day 23: Graphics that pull you out of the movie
I'll take this as a chance to talk about a classic that a lot of people will know, and those who don't, should get to knowing; Cube. I've been in love with this film ever since I first saw it. Such a simple yet undone idea executed in an intelligent but not inaccessible way, with strong characters, acting and dialogue, but with one horrendously obvious incongruity; the computer generated effects. Now, there are a lot of well executed set pieces and effects in the film, but the moment you see the poorly rendered wire grate that sliced the first victim, you immediately step back and wonder 'Is this film some sort of Doom crossover?'. It really is this bad, too. The effects stand out like a (fake looking) sore thumb. For a film that is executed so well otherwise, the bad CG, such as seeing between the cube walls, are just underwhelming and tragic. Seriously, you'd be tempted to do your own pass at it and send it to Vincenzo Natali and crew, just to help em out. The film was insanely low budget, and the effects house that did the shots for them did it as a deal, so you have to appreciate it from that angle. From another angle, Cube is one of the greatest scifi films ever. Thinking about it, Cube would be one film I would almost encourage a filmmaker to go back and 'George Lucas'. Imagine, a rerelease with better and more realistic CG shots (and possibly some score tweaking. It dates a bit). I know them's fighting words, but have a think about it. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a version of Cube that will hold up 50 years from now?
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