Winner, 1994 Academy Award / Best Visual Effects

Revolutionizing how effects are used, FORREST GUMP is a pivotal film in the '90s for visual effects. Practically every visual effect in GUMP was something that had never been done before, or done convincingly before. From the CG ping pong ball, to the composite of Forrest running from the napalm blast in Vietnam, to the unbelievably perfect erasure of Lt. Dan's legs, to the great shots of Forrest interacting with Presidents, GUMP represents yet another milestone in ILM's long career. If there is a weak spot of ILM's work on the film, it would have to be the lip manipulations of JFK, Nixon, LBJ and Lennon. The composites were perfect, but their lip movements were not very convincing. Because of the lack of realism, each scene screamed to the audience that it was a visual effect. Besides that small peeve, GUMP was a masterpiece of filmmaking and of film illusion. Check out Cinefex 60 and American Cinematographer October '94.