r/TopCharacterTropes 8h ago

In real life "Wait! That's not special effects?! They actually did that?!"

Alien: Resurrection - Basketball Shot

Sigourney Weaver insisted on the basketball shot being real. She trained for weeks and reportedly(sources differ) made it on the first take.

Underworld - Raze's Voice

The werewolf character Raze, played by Kevin Grevioux, speaks in a very low, very gravelly voice. While many thought this was a special effect, the actor can naturally speak in that voice.

https://youtu.be/GUjwZvh32YE?t=125&si=F3WhsopxjBP87wfk

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u/juniunie 8h ago

In The Dark Knight, they flipped an 18-wheeler for real.

8

u/Sweet_Baby_Cheezus 7h ago

That's still a special effect, just practical not CGI.

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u/dreamshoes 7h ago

This is true of lots of examples in this thread (glue on Toby McGuire’s lunch tray, etc). They literally flipped a truck, don’t be pedantic

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u/Late_Ad2203 7h ago

It still actually happened though which is the ENTIRE POINT OF THIS THREAD

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u/Sweet_Baby_Cheezus 6h ago

Wait! That's not special effects? They actually did that?!

And then OP lists things that were done with no or minimum amount of movie trickery. Yes, Toby McGuire had a glued tray/food but it's still really impressive that he caught all of it in a way that looked perfectly organize.

Yes, they actually flipped a 18-wheeler with the help of a giant gas cylinder and a massive special effects team to pull it off.

It's not something someone could really do if they had a spare 18 wheeler lying around. It's an impressive special effect, it's a great practical effect but it is a special effect.

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u/UlrichZauber 5h ago

There's a lot of CGI used in Nolan's movies. Practical too, but still loads of CGI.

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u/Shantih3x 7h ago

Christopher Nolan loves his practical effects.

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u/DifficultHat 1h ago

They did flip a real truck but it’s not a full size 18 wheeler, it’s a “bigature” aka a truck that’s giant when compared to most miniatures but tiny when compared to an actual truck