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Curated category

Films that won the Best Visual Effects Academy Award

  • Aliens (film)Aliens, the 1986 science fiction-action film written and directed by James Cameron, opens with a woman who has been asleep for 57 years.
  • Alien (film)Dan O'Bannon sat on Ronald Shusett's couch in Los Angeles during the early 1970s, broke and homeless after a failed project.
  • First Man (film)In early 2003, actor-director Clint Eastwood and production people at the Warner Bros. studio bought the film rights to James R.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingIn the Second Age of Middle-earth, the Dark Lord Sauron forges the One Ring in Mount Doom. This single act imbues the object with power to control other…
  • Star Wars (film)George Lucas conceived a space opera in 1971, shortly after finishing his first feature film THX 1138. He initially planned to adapt the Flash Gordon serials…
  • 2001: A Space OdysseyStanley Kubrick told a publicist from Columbia Pictures in 1964 that his next project would be about extraterrestrial life.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the KingIn the shadow of Mount Doom, a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins clings to a crumbling ledge while his loyal companion Samwise Gamgee pulls him upward.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Two TowersFrodo Baggins awakens from a dream of Gandalf fighting the Balrog in Moria, finding himself and Samwise Gamgee lost in the Emyn Muil near Mordor.
  • Ben-Hur (1959 film)Ben-Hur, the 1959 epic directed by William Wyler, arrived at a moment when Hollywood was fighting for its life. Television had eaten into ticket sales, and…
  • Return of the JediLuke Skywalker stands before the massive jaws of a rancor, his lightsaber glowing green in the dim light of Jabba the Hutt's palace.
  • Mary Poppins (film)Walt Disney first asked to buy the film rights to Mary Poppins in 1938. He traveled to London to meet author P.L. Travers at her home in Chelsea.
  • InceptionChristopher Nolan first wrote an 80-page treatment about dream stealers in the early 2000s. He originally envisioned Inception as a horror film before…
  • The Empire Strikes BackGeorge Lucas stood at a crossroads in 1978. The unexpected success of Star Wars had made him wealthy, but it also brought threats and unwelcome requests for…
  • Titanic (1997 film)James Cameron stared into the dark Atlantic in 1985 and saw a ghost. He had spent years studying shipwrecks, but the Titanic felt like Mount Everest to him.
  • Ex Machina (film)Alex Garland held a computer in his hands when he was eleven years old. That machine felt like it had its own mind to the young boy.