Terminator 3
The CGI Moment: The Terminatrix inflates her boobs to Victoria's Secret proportions to get out of a parking ticket.
Why It’s So Strange: We'll sidestep the sexism debate in favour of simply pointing out that it unrealistic that the T-X would pull over in the first place... and she ends up killing the cop anyway. Why go to all that titillating effort, eh?
Hollow Man
The CGI Moment: Moments, actually. At several points Paul Verhoeven treats us to an eyeful of Kevin Bacon's manhood. An entire CG Kevin Bacon was built for shots in which he's underwater, or, uh, swinging through smoke.
Why It’s So Strange: Aside from the fact we see it via heat vision and when he's sans skin (ick), Verhoeven's seeming obsession with it is baffling.
Bacon's desire for a 'touch up' here and there, however, is entirely understandable.
Ghost Rider
The CGI Moment: Concerned about the whole flaming demon issue, a ridiculously ripped Johnny Blaze scrutinises himself in the mirror.
Why It’s So Strange: The issue could have been fixed without the need for CGI - with a T-shirt for example, or, you know, simply not casting Cage in the first place.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2
The CGI Moment: Bella and Edward's human/vampire hybrid child is born, but because she grows fast, for some reason that means using real babies is out of the question.
Why It's So Strange: Look at it! It's terrifying. Stupid scary-ass CGI baby.
Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
The CGI Moment: Anakin Skywalker’s ghostly form appears alongside Obi-Wan and Yoda at the end of the film. In the original, Sebastian Shaw stood, looking regal and paternal. But Lucas tinkered, replacing Shaw's head with Hayden Christensen's mug.
Why It's So Strange: Firstly, we see the others as they were in death, rather than young and pretty and whole.
Secondly, that Christensen looks so much younger than Mark Hamill just doesn't sit right.
Thirdly, and most importantly, look at the smarmy expression on his face - is that supposed to be pride?
Star Wars Episode III: A New Hope
The CGI Moment: In a scene removed from the original cut, Han meets Jabba the Hutt, has the same conversation he does in the cantina with Greedo and then 'hilariously' treads on his tail.
Why It's So Strange: It just doesn't make sense. It's an entirely unnecessary piece of exposition and a waste of screen time. And CGI Jabba looks awful to boot.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The CGI Moment: The music swells, the Paramount logo fades and we see a CGI gopher pop his little CGI head out of a CGI gopher hill.
Why It's So Strange: The gopher doesn't do anything. It doesn't talk or breathe fire or perform amazing acrobatic feats. It just does... gophery things. Why not use a real gopher?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
The CGI Moment: Tobey Maguire's hair isn't Tobey Maguire's hair. His luscious locks have been painstakingly computer generated.
Why It's So Strange: It would've only cost director Terry Gillam an extra $15,000 to get Mr Maguire to shave his head - a cheaper and far easier solution, one would assume.
Waterworld
The CGI Moment: Apparently the water-filled set of Waterworld didn't have enough water in it, so backdrops were filled in and splashes improved with CGI.
Why It's So Strange: The very idea of artificially making a real think look more real is baffling.
Your Highness
The CGI Moment: Natalie Portman was given a pair of digital pants in a trailer for Your Highness after a scene in which she bares her backside in a tiny thong was deemed too risqué for appropriate audiences.
Why It's So Strange: The original, bare-bottomed shot was used in the movie, so why not just re-cut the trailer rather than going to the expense of covering up Portman's posterior digitally?
Blood Diamond
The CGI Moment: During an emotional telephone call scene, director Edward Zwick decided to enhance Jennifer Connelly's performance with a a single, CGI tear rolling down her cheek.
Why It's So Strange: Other than the fact it's unnecessary? How about simply asking accomplished actress Ms Connelly to blub a bit during the take?
Superman Returns
The CGI Moment: Rumour has it that due to Brandon Routh being well blessed in the trouser area his, erm, 'package' was digitally reduced in post-production. After all, it's a family film.
Why It's So Strange: It's not strange at all really, but it is pretty funny. Childish? Us? Never.
E.T the Extra-Terrestrial
The CGI Moment: When E.T and the kids soar into the sky, the original film showed cops brandishing shotguns. But for the 2002 re-release, it was decided they should be brandishing walkie-talkies instead.
Why It's So Strange: Put simply, it's political correctness gone mad.
The Mummy Returns
The CGI Moment: In the film’s climax, Brendan Fraser’s dashing explorer faces off with the evil mummy Imhotep.
But they're interrupted by The Scorpion King, allegedly played by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.
Why It's So Strange: WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO HIS FACE?
The Matrix Reloaded
The CGI Moment: Neo faces off against about a million Agent Smiths.
Why It's So Strange: After the amazingness of The Matrix , the Wachowskis seemed to get carried away with themselves and forget about the details... like making characters look real.
What was so wrong with wires and choreography, eh?
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
The CGI Moment: In 1999, George Lucas released the first of three prequel films to his epic space opera trilogy, the Star Wars saga. And lo, Jar Jar Binks was born.
Why It's So Strange: Justa becausea you cana, doesn'ta meana you shoulda.
Spider-Man
The CGI Moment: Spider-man, Spider-man, does whatever a spider can. Right? Except that he can't - not when it comes to swinging from that thread, anyway.
Why It's So Strange: Given that the film was made in 2002, and by Sam Raimi no less, it just should've been better.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
The CGI Moment: During a romantic date with Padme, Anakin decides to climb aboard some cow-like creatures and go for a ride.
Why It's So Strange: The whole moment is entirely odd. Who surfs a cow?
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
The CGI Moment: In a film full of CGI, the final battle between the autobots and The Fallen's crew sticks out the most.
Why It's So Strange: It's clearly not finished - the visual effects are incomplete, meaning that at times it's impossible to discern what's going on.
The Polar Express
The CGI Moment: Robert Zemeckis' 2004 motion capture movie features loads of different digital versions of Tom Hanks. It's like he's taking over the digital world. But his face looks a bit freaky.
Why It's So Strange: We never thought we'd have nightmares about Tom Hanks. We were wrong.
And while we're on the subject...
A Christmas Carol
The CGI Moment: See the previous entry, but this time it's Jim Carrey's face freaking us out.
Why It's So Strange: Ok, so the nightmares about Carrey aren't so surprising, but the whole film is weird.
But wait, we're not done with Zemeckis yet...
Beowulf
The CGI Moment: All previous points about creepy mo-cap stand, but this time we're concentrating on Angelina Jolie.
Why It's So Strange: That weird hair tail... thingy. Ugh. Why?
Van Helsing
The CGI Moment: An attack on a village by Dracula's brides shows the vixens for what they really are - hellish half-human, half-bat harlots.
Why It's So Strange: Just because they're undead, doesn't mean Drac's lady friends don't deserve to be played by real-life actors.
Die Another Day
The CGI Moment: Villain Gustav Graves causes a small avalanche, forcing Pierce Brosnan to kite-surf his way through a tsunami.
Why It's So Strange: Strange? Sorry. We meant bad. It's so, so bad.
Piranha 3D
The CGI Moment: When coke-snorting pornographer Derrick Jones (Jerry O'Connell) falls in the piranha-infested Lake Victoria, his favorite body part (not his nose) becomes fish food.
In fact, two piranha fight over it - and then one of the fish burps out the remains.
Why It's So Strange: Read that again. To be honest, we don't really feel the need to explain the weirdness here.
Green Lantern
The CGI Moment: Martin Campbell decided that traditional lycra wasn't good enough for his hero and decided to cover Ryan Reynolds in CGI instead.
Why It's So Strange: It was a nice idea but it just looked... wonky.
Especially that mask.
I Am Legend
The CGI Moment: Ostensibly the last human on Earth, Will Smith's hero repeatedly battles the vampiric Darkseekers, whose faces don't seem to work properly. Their bodies don't either, for that matter.
Why It's So Strange: Francis Lawrence's decision not to use actors, albeit potentially digitally enhanced actors, is the strange thing here. In trying to make the monsters more frightening, they simply lose all realism, having entirely the opposite effect.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
The CGI Moment: Han Solo bites of more than he can chew when he rounds a corner only to be confronted by a group of Imperial Stormtroopers... in the original film at least.
In the Special Edition release, the handful of Stormtroopers has become a hanger full, all seemingly just standing around waiting for Han to appear.
Why It's So Strange: The original moment was a nice one, it's funny. It didn't need changing. Also, that the hanger magically appears is a bit odd.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
The CGI Moment: Shia LaBeouf's disappointing, pseudo-biker Indy-wannabe swings through the jungle on CGI vines surrounded by CGI monkeys.
Why It's So Strange: What we see during this amateurish, clumsy scene is the combined work and effort of two of cinema's greatest - Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. We guess they were having an off day.
Catwoman
The CGI Moment: Halle Berry dies and is brought back to life by a CGI cat who breathes in her face, imbuing her with super-special cat powers.
Why It's So Strange: For crying out loud! GET A REAL CAT!
Herbie: Fully Loaded
The CGI Moment: Worried about the impression Lindsay Lohan's chesticles might make on their young audience, rumour has it that Disney spent a lot of dollars having them digitally reduced.
Why It's So Strange: Presumably nobody in the costume department had heard of the minimiser bra.
Either way, can you imaging being the unfortunate soul (or perhaps not, depending on your point of view) who had to re-render her boobs?
The Change-Up
The CGI Moment: At one point, we're lucky enough to see Olivia Wilde topless. But unfortunately the movie Gods weren't kind enough to give us the real deal. Her nipples are CGI.
Why It's So Strange: Are nipples the new mirrors of the soul? We can see the boobs, why hide the nips?
The Social Network
The CGI Moment: Outside a party on a freezing cold Massechussets evening, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg comes up with the concept of Facebook, breathing some heavy steam while he's at it.
Why It's So Strange: It looks like they're smoking. David Fincher may as well have stuck a big, fat, Harvard-worthy spliff in Jesse Eisenberg's hand.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The CGI Moment: As the movie opens, a baby is born with Brad Pitt's old man face stuck on it. It then becomes a toddler with Brad Pitt's old man's face, until, at some point, real-life Brad Pitt actually appears on screen.
Why It's So Strange: It's a baby. With an old man's face. What could it possibly be other than weird?
Tron: Legacy
The CGI Moment: Kevin Flynn's evil digital doppleganger Clu 2 is a weird hybrid of Jeff Bridges and his own '80s Madame Tussaud mannequin post-Botox tragedy.
Why It's So Strange: It's Jeff Bridges... but it's not. It's all rubbery and waxen and weird.
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
The CGI Moment: The film's opening titles see being Rooney Mara drenched in oil to a rocking cover of Led Zeppelin classic, Immigrant Song.
Why It's So Strange: It's cool and everything, but why is it happening? Why?
Die Hard: With A Vengeance
The CGI Moment: The dastardly Simon Gruber forces invincible cop John McClane to wander around Harlem wearing a sandwich board which reads "I hate n*****s".
Why It's So Strange: You might think that this is a thing no sane person, much less a film crew, would ever do in real life. And you'd be right. In reality, Willis wore a blank board, with the offensive words being added later.
Gladiator
The CGI Moment: When Oliver Reed sadly passed away mid-production, a 3D CGI mask of the late thespian was placed on a stand-in to complete his scenes.
Why It's So Strange: Really? You need us to explain this? It's an amazing feat of technology, yes. But nonetheless weird, no?
Meet Joe Black
The CGI Moment: Brad Pitt's titular character (though he's not named at this point in the movie), gets hit by a car and flies up into the air - rather too much like a ragdoll.
Why It's So Strange: Stuntmen have been pulling off feats like this for years. Why eschew their craft for an inferior result?
King Kong
The CGI Moment: Jack Black, Adrien Brody and Jamie Bell flee as a herd of dinosaurs stampede behind them.
Why It's So Strange: It would be terrifying, if it weren't so obvious the actors and dinos were in different worlds. What's weird about it, is this is a Weta movie. These are the people who did Lord of The Rings and Avatar .
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
The CGI Moment: Joe, Polly and Franky finally track down the mysterious Dr Totenkopf and have a chat with him by way of sketchy hologram.
Why It's So Strange: The mysterious Dr Totenkopf is played by Lord Laurence Olivier, who at the time of filming had been dead for roughly 15 years. Nuff said.
Watchmen
The CGI Moment: In a film full of CGI wizardry, the biggest (ahem) bone of contention has to be Billy Cruddup's Dr. Manhattan.
Why It's So Strange: Yes, the lighting's as impressive as the man's anatomy, but with all these feats of technical trickery, why-oh-why doesn't his mouth work properly? Perhaps Zack Snyder simply assumed nobody would be looking at it...
Machete
The CGI Moment: Jessica Alba's character Sartana does some stuff and then strips off to get in the shower. But Alba was actually covered up throughout the scene. Her underwear was removed in post-production.
Why It's So Strange: Whatever happened to body doubles? Surely it's a more simple, less expensive option?
Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes
The CGI Moment: In order to make the CGI Caesar look as realistic as possible, Weta hired a computer graphic hair expert, Eitan Grinspun to create individual strands of hair for the chimpanzee.
Why It's So Strange: It works! There's nowt so strange as really real looking fakery.
Looper
The CGI Moment: Joseph Gordon-Levitt magically morphs into a young version of Bruce Willis, looking eerily like his counterpart - with the help of some pretty good acting, of course.
Why It's So Strange: Partly because it works. But also partly because it's simply unnecessary. Two quality actors, 30 years apart - we would've bought it without the effects.
Enthiran
The CGI Moment: In this impressive big-budget Bollywood action movie, scientist Dr. Vaseekaran loses control of his Terminator-like android robot Chitti, which subsequently decides to bring about the end of the world, causing mayhem across Chennai.
Why It's So Strange: Strange? It's absolutely insane from beginning to end.
Captain America: The First Avenger
The CGI Moment: Before be becomes Captain America, Steve Rogers is just a wee skinny guy who desperately wants to serve his country.
Why It's So Strange: Skinny Steve still has Chris Evans' deep, gruff, hero-type voice. It just doesn't fit the physique.
Sucker Punch
The CGI Moment: The entire film could be a candidate for this feature, but the fight between Baby Doll and the three Samurai giants is probably the best example of our point.
Why It's So Strange: The action is so unrealistic and impossible it's like watching a game.
The whole film is one, so-long-it's-seemingly-endless game trailer. Which at least explains the lack of storyline.
Hulk
The CGI Moment: Poor Hulk. Forced to wear ill-fitting, painted on purple pants. No wonder he's so bloody angry.
Why It's So Strange: Aside from the fact it's a VFX abomination? The shorts are just a bit, erm... clingy, rather than ragged and, well, realistic looking.
How the hell did this not get fixed?
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone
The CGI Moment: Harry Potter plays Quidditch for the first time, which should be a proud moment for all Pottheads. Unfortunately we were all then forced to sit through a two minute animated intermission before the movie continued.
Why It's So Strange: Wait... what do you mean it was supposed to look like that?
