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From the prequel trilogy's over-reliance on digital effects to questionable edits in the originals, this is a countdown of the most jarring and poorly-aged CGI moments in the history of the Star Wars franchise.
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00:00So, as much as this Star Wars franchise is full of fantastic arguments for the versatile utility
00:06of visual effects, the series also frequently offers up cautionary lessons for what can happen
00:10when filmmakers become overly reliant on VFX tech. Now, it won't surprise anyone that most of the
00:16entries on the list that we're talking about today are taken from the Star Wars prequels,
00:19where undisciplined use of the state-of-the-art CGI led to some audiences rejecting much of the
00:24aesthetic vision. So let's take a look at them then, as I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com,
00:28and these are the nine worst CGI moments in Star Wars.
00:339. Anakin Rides a Shark
00:35Episode 2, Attack of the Clones
00:37Now, Attack of the Clones is undoubtedly the most poorly aged of all of the Star Wars films
00:43from a visual effects perspective, due to its set pieces being more reliant on pure CGI elements
00:48rather than a combination of digital and practical effects, as were shown in The Phantom Menace and
00:53Revenge of the Sith. And so, the awkward middle chapter of the prequel trilogy is awash with
00:57janky, unconvincing CGI, not least in this wildly unnecessary aside, where Anakin and Padme go for
01:03a frolic through the fields of Naboo. In one moment, Anakin is seen balancing on top of a large
01:08pig-like creature, before it then dumps him on his arse. Between the shiny, video-gamey appearance of
01:14the animal itself and the laughably off-kilter physics as Anakin surfboards atop it, nothing here
01:19looks remotely believable. It may only be for a brief moment, but it makes an already-trying scene
01:24even more cringeworthy. 8. Greedo Shoots First
01:28Star Wars A New Hope Special Edition
01:31Though it's a comparatively simple visual effect compared to pretty much every other entry on this
01:36list, the Greedo Shoots First debacle has nevertheless plagued fans for about 25 years.
01:41Now, in the original version of A New Hope, Han Solo preemptively shoots Greedo dead, Han being
01:46ruthless enough to gun the bounty hunter down before he can open fire himself. But in the 1997 Special
01:52Edition, Lucas used computer trickery to edit the scene so that Greedo actually fires first. Han then
01:57dodges the blast, which is achieved by clumsily shifting his head to the side digitally, and then
02:02fires back. Even ignoring how needlessly it softens Han as a character and how terrible a shot it makes
02:07Greedo look, it's simply a hideously ugly CGI edit that nobody but Lucas asked for. Subsequent revisions
02:13have since been varying degrees of terrible by altering the speed with which Han fires back, while the
02:192019 Disney Plus version basically re-edits the exchange into scarcely comprehensible oblivion.
02:257. Yoda vs. Dooku Episode 2 Attack of the Clones
02:30The prequel trilogy made excessive overuse of CGI in many, many areas, but its digital recreation of
02:37Yoda absolutely wasn't one of them. You need only compare The Phantom Menace's original 1997 puppet
02:43version of Yoda with the 2011 CGI version to see the benefits of using digital iteration,
02:49allowing a far greater spectrum of expressiveness. It is, without question, one of Lucas's few
02:53canny post-release changes, but even CGI Yoda has its limitations, as was made painfully clear in
02:59Attack of the Clones, where the little green guy here takes up arms to do battle with Count Dooku.
03:04Now bless Christopher Lee, who at the age of 78 partook in a lightsaber fight against an invisible
03:09enemy, which was shot against a largely blue-screen backdrop that was to be keyed in later. Yet,
03:13the real issue with this scene is the laughably animated Yoda, who flips around with no sense of
03:19weight or impact whatsoever. As such, the audience loses their tangible connection to him as a
03:24character, and for the duration of this fight, he basically just becomes a lifeless prop forced
03:28into motion through soulless keyframe animation.
03:316. The Faith Here Chase
03:33Star Wars The Last Jedi
03:35Though the sequel trilogy clearly learned hard lessons from the failures of the prequels,
03:40The Last Jedi did nevertheless feature one hideously botched CGI-soaked set piece that
03:45would have felt entirely at home in one of the prequels. Finn and Rose's trip to the casino planet
03:50is divisive enough, before we even get to the climactic chase sequence where the pair makes their
03:55escape by riding away on a faither. Despite the director's attempts to make the scene kinetic fun,
03:59the visual fidelity of these dog-horse creatures just isn't persuasive enough to make the scene
04:04work. Blurry composites of the pair riding atop the creature look hilariously rough,
04:08which proves all the more baffling given some of The Last Jedi's stunning digital effects,
04:12such as the photoreal presence of Supreme Leader Snoke. Thankfully, though, this is really the only
04:17truly embarrassing visual effects gaffe in the sequel trilogy, no matter what you think of the
04:21films as pieces of storytelling.
04:235. The Trade Federation's Forces
04:26Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace
04:28Now, love it or hate it, The Phantom Menace broke new grounds for visual effects in cinema.
04:33And loathe Jar Jar Binks? Though you might, it's impossible to deny the character's rather
04:37fluid expressiveness. But not all of the effects are created equal, as is made painfully clear
04:42in the film's iffy Battle of Naboo sequence. Though much of the battle actually looks pretty good,
04:47despite how utterly bland the setting and colour palette are, there are some truly ghastly shots
04:51that are peppered throughout. Easily the most ridiculed of these images appears almost immediately
04:55after the Gungan's shield is destroyed and the Trade Federation's forces make a hasty pursuit.
05:00The Federation's armoured assault tanks look like incomplete renders that an intern accidentally
05:04approved for the final cut on the lazy Friday afternoon. Even for 1999, this wouldn't pass
05:09muster in a PC FMV game, let alone a $115 million blockbuster. I mean, just look at these clips.
05:15Woof.
05:164. Cy Snootles
05:17Star Wars Return of the Jedi Special Edition
05:20If Greedo's shooting first was a rather minor, if infuriating, revision of the grand scheme of
05:26things, George Lucas radically reworked a scene from Return of the Jedi for its 1997 Special Edition
05:31release. Originally, the scene in Jabba's palace saw the Max Rebo band and its lead singer Cy Snootles
05:36play a mischievous tune with the band realised through state-of-the-art practical puppetry.
05:41But Lucas' revised scene made numerous unnecessary changes, worst of all replacing the practical Cy with a
05:47glossy, cartoonish, bug-eyed version, which clearly belonged in the prequels, while also adding more
05:51members to the band. As awful as all of this is, though, perhaps the worst change of it all was
05:56replacing the original song with Jedi Rocks, an ear-splittingly grating excuse for music which
06:02underlines just how tasteless and pointless all of these alterations were.
06:063. The Droid Factory
06:07Episode 2, Attack of the Clones
06:10Now, the Droid Factory sequence in Attack of the Clones certainly has its defenders, though it is also
06:15entirely emblematic of the movie's biggest problem, creating set pieces around emerging,
06:20largely untested visual effects technology. Though from a design perspective the factory is actually
06:24a pretty neat locale, it falls into the basic VFX pitfall of failing to be convincing. We're always
06:29acutely aware that they're almost performing against a single colour backdrop, and so when Padme and
06:34Anakin are apparently almost squished by a giant mechanical stamp, we're not remotely sold on the
06:39threat. But surely the most objectionable part of the entire sequence occurs when C-3PO takes a clumsy
06:44tumble through the factory, ending up with his head removed and swapped out for one belonging to a
06:48B-1 battle droid. At this point, Attack of the Clones basically becomes an animated film, or if we
06:53want to be really harsh here, a mid-budget video game cutscene. It hasn't aged well at all, but those
06:59who saw the film in the cinema might recall that it didn't look particularly convincing even then.
07:03It's ambitious, for sure, but CGI just wasn't far enough along in 2002 to support Lucas' vision for
07:08the scene, or indeed several others. 2. The Cursed Jabba the Hutt
07:13Star Wars A New Hope Special Edition
07:16Though Jabba the Hutt doesn't appear in the original cut of A New Hope, footage was shot
07:20featuring the character interacting with Han Solo. Lucas planned to have a stop-motion Jabba inserted
07:26into the scene during post-production, but due to time and budgetary constraints, the scene was cut.
07:30But the 1997 Special Edition allowed Lucas to restore that scene with a CGI Jabba, the result of
07:36which is, even for the standards of 1997, absolutely abominable. Jabba is supposed to
07:41be disgusting, but the renderings here are low-res nightmare fuel, to say nothing of the fact that
07:46keen-eyed viewers might also notice Han's hand clipping through his body a fair few times.
07:51Thankfully, Lucas had the good sense to have the CGI Jabba redone for the 2004 DVD release,
07:56where he looks far more like an actual living thing as opposed to a cursed digital golem.
08:011. Mos Eisley Gets a Facelift
08:03Star Wars A New Hope Special Edition
08:06Arguably the most extensive and egregious CGI moment in the entire Star Wars franchise is
08:12the reworked special edition version of A New Hope's iconic Mos Eisley introduction.
08:16Now, George Lucas, for some strange reason, gave entire shots icky CGI remakes, as well
08:21as inserting VFX shots that weren't even in the original, and worst of all, aggressively
08:25integrated jarring CGI elements into existing shots. These additions gave Mos Eisley an almost
08:30plasticky aesthetic, which feels a million miles away from the wretched hive of scum and villainy,
08:35that Obi-Wan famously describes it as. The relentless inclusion of distracting CGI beasts culminates in
08:41what is easily the scene's most complained-about moment. A dinosaur-like Ronto pointlessly walks in
08:46front of the camera for a few seconds, totally obscuring the audience's view of our heroes.
08:50Even if these embellishments actually matched the practical grit of the 1977 shoot, they'd still
08:55make Mos Eisley seem more bustling and even welcoming than it ever, ever should.
09:00The Star Wars franchise will always be one that looks to push the limits of what is possible with
09:05movie-making technology. But as already shown in the previous version of this list, relying on the
09:11tool known as CGI in some situations has occasionally led to, well, some quite dreadful visuals in this
09:19galaxy far, far away. So I'm Gareth, this is WhatCultureStarWars, and here are 10 more of the
09:25worst CGI moments in Star Wars.
09:2810. A LOT DURING THE ARENA BATTLE
09:31Episode 2, Attack of the Clones
09:33George Lucas evidently wanted to test what CGI was capable of when creating this second prequel,
09:40opting to rely on it even more than he did in Episode 1, The Phantom Menace. But it was that
09:44gamble
09:45which ultimately resulted in some of the film's visuals aging like a pint of blue milk. Not very
09:50well. The climactic battle within the Petronachia arena is a prime example of Lucas perhaps getting
09:56a little too carried away with his new favourite toy. With so many moving digital parts to keep
10:01track of as the Jedi start slicing their way through droids, creatures sprint around the sand,
10:07and a bounty hunter tries to pick off a few targets, a number of poorly executed CGI moments derail the
10:13otherwise thrilling sequence. You have the sight of a number of extras hilariously swiping their
10:18lightsabers at nothing in the background, as the VFX team likely hoped that no one would notice a
10:23lack of droid or blaster shot around them. Then you also have the comically weightless Geonosians,
10:28and Jango Fett looking like a video game character as he dodged the reek.
10:32Also, try not to let out a giggle at the jarring composite of Padme atop a cartoonish beast,
10:38as she picks up her beloved Anakin mid-fight. It does not look great.
10:42There's obviously a lot to love about this part of the gripping skirmish too,
10:46with close-ups of the aforementioned reek and many a droid standing the test of time.
10:52They actually look really good, but this ambitious battle of Geonosis is still a scene that highlights
10:57the very worst of the prequels, that being an over-reliance on this shiny but inconsistent
11:02new digital tool.
11:049. Bouncing Ahsoka
11:07Even with CGI technology hugely improving over the last two decades, the minds behind the more
11:13recent Star Wars projects still haven't been able to completely nail each and every digital
11:19moment they've chucked on screen. Take the first season of Ahsoka, for example. While the CGI is
11:24generally of a high standard throughout this search for Ezra Bridger and Grand Admiral Thrawn,
11:28the space battles in particular do not disappoint here, that generally impressive digital work made
11:34one dodgy moment stick out like a sore thumb, sadly. Watch closely as Ahsoka dives out of her
11:40T6-1974 to take on Balen's skull on Peridia, and well, something seems a little off. The VFX team
11:47have seemingly swapped Rosario Dawson out for a CG Ahsoka as her character hits the ground,
11:53before swapping the actor back in again as she rolls. But the digital assistant just leaves
11:58Anakin Skywalker's one-time Padawan oddly bouncing off the surface in a way that makes her look like
12:04an animated Force user for a moment or two. It's like we were right back in the middle of the
12:08Clone
12:09Wars series. As YouTube user Bombastic Clips pointed out, perhaps cutting between the moment the actor
12:15or their stunt person hopped out of the ship and them landing would have been the wiser, though perhaps
12:21more time-consuming move here. Instead, the creators went the digital route, and fans got a rare case
12:27of poor CGI in the otherwise well-made show. What do you want to see in Ahsoka Season 2, folks?
12:33You let me know in the comments section down below.
12:35Number 8, Here Come The Rattars, Episode 7, The Force Awakens
12:39Fans rejoiced as the early stages of J.J. Abrams' first sequel picture looked to be embracing the
12:46more practical side of special effects, just like the good old days. Along with a ton of beautifully
12:52crafted alien inhabitants on the desert world of Jakku, real, practical sets were masterfully
12:58combined with certain digital elements to create a galaxy that felt far more tangible than the
13:03prequels often did. Then they arrived. After Finn and Rey bump into Han Solo and Chewbacca in Episode
13:107, The Force Awakens, it soon revealed that the latter duo had been hauling raptars across the galaxy.
13:17Instead of unleashing a terrifying, tentacled creature controlled by talented puppeteers, however,
13:23Abrams opted to just lazily have our heroes chased by some rolling balls of crap rubbery and blurry fury.
13:30Now look, they're not the absolute worst CGI monsters ever to try and chow down on one of our heroes,
13:35but the many-eyed carnivore still felt like something ripped out of another franchise altogether,
13:41like, I don't know, the MCU, and cheaply dropped into this Skywalker saga tale.
13:45This return to far less compelling CGI aliens after seeing some wonderful practical creations in the
13:52opening stages, like the Hap-A-Bo, I love that guy, was also a major reason this first action
13:58sequence involving Chewie and Han in decades felt like a bit of a letdown in the end too.
14:02Number 7, The Sarlacc Beak, Episode 6, Return of the Jedi
14:07Speaking of unwelcome digitally created monstrosities, George Lucas' special edition tinkering led to an
14:14old favourite getting an unnecessary upgrade. After attempting to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the
14:21Hutt in Episode 6, Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker and pals found themselves on the verge of being fed
14:27to
14:27the almighty Sarlacc found within the Great Pit of Karkoon. The sight of all those sharp, deadly teeth and
14:34tentacles was already enough to leave folks worried about the Jedi and his mates' chances of surviving the
14:40deep and dangerous pit of doom. But Lucas did not think that was frightening enough, so he decided to add
14:46some additional CG terror. Would George throw in some more jagged teeth, some claws or possibly even a set of
14:54menacing eyes to further spook our heroes? No, not quite. Instead, Lucas gave his Sarlacc a silly-looking
15:01digital beak, which was actually its tongue apparently, and some additional tentacles, transforming
15:07this somewhat hidden and disturbing monster into something that instantly felt a bit less intimidating. The CGI itself also doesn't
15:15quite mesh with the rest of the
15:16practical creation either, with the end results just largely distracting from the rest of the rousing sequence.
15:23You probably should have just left this one alone.
15:25Number 6, The Floating Pair, Episode 2, Attack of the Clones
15:28Oh, you knew it was coming. Returning to the Star Wars project that opted to boldly and sometimes ill-advisedly
15:35depend on CG
15:36wherever possible, Episode 2, Attack of the Clones saw a young chosen one show off his strength with the Force
15:43to his future wife,
15:44Somehow, being more excruciating than the sound of Anakin Skywalker attempting to flirt with Padme Amidala,
15:50this Jedi Padawan floats the weirdest-looking pair you have ever seen across a table in front of her whilst
15:56they're enjoying some grub on Naboo.
15:58The act itself is sweet enough, pun intended. However, there is never a point there when this clearly CG fruit
16:05doesn't feel like the fakest object in the room,
16:08with everything from the way it's chopped up by Annie to how Padme picked it out of the sky like
16:13a snowflake with her fork,
16:15just feeling seriously uncanny. It's a bit uncomfortable, it's weird.
16:18Now, the attempt was admirable, sure, but the odd finished effect just didn't pass muster.
16:24Would it really have been that hard to just use wires to move a far less weirdly shiny piece of
16:29prop food over to the eventual Mrs. Skywalker?
16:32Apparently so. And that is why fans were forced to endure another example of George Lucas,
16:38not knowing when to put the digital wand, or should that be fork, down.
16:42Cheers for checking out this list today, you lovely person you.
16:45And if you're enjoying this WhatCultureStarWars stuff in your life, then hit that subscribe button right now,
16:50and you're gonna get more of it popping up all over your screen. Good stuff.
16:53Number 5. Layers Training Episode 9 The Rise of Skywalker
16:57With consent from the late, great Carrie Fisher's family,
17:01J.J. Abrams and co. were able to use unused footage from Episode 7 The Force Awakens
17:06to bring Leia Organa's story to an emotional end in Episode 9 The Rise of Skywalker.
17:12Now, considering the circumstances, the team did a pretty impressive job
17:15when it came to keeping Leia involved in the action set in the present day.
17:20However, the same could not be said for her flashback appearance in the film.
17:23During a moment which showed Leia training with her brother Luke many years earlier,
17:28younger versions of both Mark Hamill and Fisher eventually revealed their faces from underneath their blaster helmets.
17:34While Hamill's younger mug actually looked quite convincing as it was lit up by his green lightsaber at night, though,
17:41Fisher's face wandered into Rogue One as Star Wars story territory again, sadly.
17:46Despite using dailies from Episode 6 Return of the Jedi and Fisher's own daughter Billy Lord as a stand-in
17:52body double,
17:52there was still no getting away from the fact Leia's CG face looked like it belonged in a Star Wars
17:58video game here.
17:59Number 4 The CG Backgrounds Episode 2 Attack of the Clones
18:03I promise this would be the last time that this list dunks on Attack of the Clones.
18:07Scout's honor. Or Padawan's honor. I don't know.
18:09Again, while you definitely have to salute George Lucas and his team for the way they experimented with fully CGI
18:15backgrounds
18:16throughout this second prequel, their boldness wasn't always rewarded with stunning results.
18:21Perhaps the most glaring example of a digital background that has aged appallingly
18:25can be found during the moments involving Obi-Wan Kenobi, Mace Windu, and Yoda
18:30going for a wander through the Jedi Temple within the opening 30 minutes.
18:34The scene felt like the actors had been dropped into an animated movie for a few minutes,
18:38with the compositing and lighting during the conversation not quite being up to scratch.
18:42Everything from the colors of the carpet to the gigantic pillars just felt incredibly artificial,
18:47especially when compared to the far more detailed and impressive miniatures and practical sets
18:53used to create Star Wars locations at various points in both the prequel and original trilogies.
18:58Spare a thought for the poor performers who spent hours having to pretend they were walking
19:02and talking with little green aliens in grand structures too,
19:06with nothing but green or blue screens and the odd prop to react to.
19:10I'd go mad.
19:11Number 3 The Creepy Clones Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith
19:14It's well documented that George Lucas oddly decided to have every single fully-suited clone
19:20that appeared in the prequels be an entirely digital creation.
19:24But while the call was a questionable one, the effect itself was decent enough in Attack of the Clones
19:29and improved further by the time of the final prequel.
19:32But then, Commander Cody opted to take his helmet off in Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith
19:37and things got a bit weird.
19:38With not a single piece of practical armor being made for this film,
19:42Lucas instead chose to slap a digital suit onto Mira Morrison
19:46for the moment he hands Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi his lightsaber back.
19:50This was unquestionably a tough effect to pull off in the early to mid-2000s.
19:55And while the effort was definitely commendable,
19:57it ultimately just felt all kinds of unnatural as Cody's head weirdly floated around the armor.
20:03Similarly to Bruce Banner's floating head in Avengers Infinity War.
20:06Maybe they should have just left the mask on and saved viewers from being forever haunted
20:10by this levitating clone skull, yeah?
20:142. De-Aging Anakin and Obi-Wan
20:16Obi-Wan Kenobi
20:17Now here's something a little bit different.
20:19While many of the other entries on this list focus on moments where overindulging in CGI
20:25led to cartoonish or jarring visuals,
20:28this one will look at a sequence that suffered somewhat due to the opposite.
20:31Hopping back in time for a spot of lightsaber training with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi,
20:37the latter's Disney Plus series saw the return of both Hayden Christensen and Ewan McGregor
20:42in the famous roles they played throughout the prequels.
20:45Both actors were seemingly adjusted slightly via de-aging tech for the engaging back and forth,
20:51but just not quite enough in the end, particularly in the case of Christensen.
20:55For the most part, this wasn't exactly a big issue,
20:58especially as most of the scene involved them swinging lightsabers.
21:02You're not really looking at their faces when they're doing that.
21:04In those few moments when the camera captures Christensen's face in close-up, though,
21:09the CG tinkering can't quite mask the fact the actor is noticeably a fair bit older
21:14than he was when he shot Episode 2, Attack of the Clones,
21:17which was set at a similar time as this scene.
21:19Clearly realizing they needed to up their game,
21:22the folks working on Ahsoka definitely made Christensen look far more convincing
21:26as a younger version of himself during the World Between Worlds sequence.
21:31In Obi-Wan Kenobi, though, the force was definitely not strong
21:33with the digital de-aging of this actor.
21:36Number 1, The Blurgh, The Mandalorian
21:39Trying to make a real person sitting on top of a fully digital animal look convincing
21:44can be a tough nut to crack,
21:47something that was evident during the first season of The Mandalorian.
21:49Now, it must be said that the majority of the digital effects
21:52present in these first few episodes of Mando fun are solid to tremendous,
21:58especially for a TV show.
21:59A show with a $100 million budget, admittedly,
22:02but that's still smaller than your average modern-day Star Wars blockbuster.
22:05Though that smaller budget wasn't really felt all that much
22:09when Din Djarin was interacting with a cute little puppet Grogu
22:12or fighting off Stormtroopers,
22:14it sadly was during the moment when the titular Mandalorian
22:18hopped on the aforementioned Blurgh.
22:20Feeling like one of the many pointless creatures George Lucas
22:24stuffed into his original trilogy over the years,
22:26this alien, first seen in Ewoks' The Battle of Endor,
22:30was one of the few low points in an otherwise strong first season.
22:33Now, the VFX team evidently went to great lengths
22:36to bring the Blurghs back into the galaxy far, far away,
22:39even throwing Pedro Pascal and Stuntables onto a book for the moment
22:43when he tries to hop onto one.
22:45The digital Blurgh was then added in later, you see.
22:47It's a shame, then, that outside of the odd, impressive close-up,
22:51admittedly, the CGI Blurghs dragged down the majority of the scenes they're in,
22:55especially the ones where they're seen going for a weightless run.
22:58Oh my god.
22:59Yep, was not pretty, but we still got Grogu, so everything's fine.
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