Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
by vaneheraz | created - 18 Jun 2017 | updated - 02 Jan 2020 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Wings (1927)
PG-13 | 144 min | Drama, Romance, War
Two young men, one rich, one middle class, who are in love with the same woman, become fighter pilots in World War I.
Directors: William A. Wellman, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast | Stars: Clara Bow, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, Richard Arlen, Jobyna Ralston
Votes: 13,887 | Gross: $6.59M
2. Spawn of the North (1938)
Approved | 110 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Friends since childhood, two men are on opposite sides in a salmon fishing conflict.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: George Raft, Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff
Votes: 549
3. The Rains Came (1939)
Approved | 103 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
In India, a married British aristocrat is reunited with an old flame, but she truly has her sights set on a handsome surgeon.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Myrna Loy, Tyrone Power, George Brent, Brenda Joyce
Votes: 2,194
4. The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
Not Rated | 106 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
After being tricked and cast out of Bagdad by the evil Jaffar, King Ahmad joins forces with a thief named Abu to reclaim his throne, the city, and the Princess he loves.
Directors: Ludwig Berger, Michael Powell, Tim Whelan, Alexander Korda, Zoltan Korda, William Cameron Menzies | Stars: Conrad Veidt, Sabu, June Duprez, John Justin
Votes: 13,999 | Gross: $0.27M
5. I Wanted Wings (1941)
Approved | 135 min | Drama, War
The personal and professional lives of three men from different walks of life who join the U.S. Army Air Corps are depicted.
Director: Mitchell Leisen | Stars: Ray Milland, William Holden, Wayne Morris, Brian Donlevy
Votes: 527
6. Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Passed | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Florida ship salvager Loxi falls for Jack, captain of a ship wrecked on the Key West shore. However, their romance is complicated by the arrival of another suitor.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Ray Milland, John Wayne, Paulette Goddard, Raymond Massey
Votes: 3,432
7. Crash Dive (1943)
Approved | 106 min | Drama, Romance, War
A submarine lieutenant and his commander fall in love with the same girl.
Director: Archie Mayo | Stars: Tyrone Power, Anne Baxter, Dana Andrews, James Gleason
Votes: 1,665
8. Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)
Passed | 138 min | Drama, History, War
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a young lieutenant leaves his expectant wife to volunteer for a secret bombing mission which will take the war to the Japanese homeland.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Robert Walker, Tim Murdock
Votes: 6,255
9. Blithe Spirit (1945)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy
A man and his second wife are haunted by the ghost of his first wife.
Director: David Lean | Stars: Rex Harrison, Constance Cummings, Kay Hammond, Margaret Rutherford
Votes: 7,552
10. Wonder Man (1945)
Approved | 98 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Musical
After being murdered by gangsters, an exuberant nightclub entertainer returns as a ghost to persuade his meek twin brother to help bring his killers to justice.
Director: H. Bruce Humberstone | Stars: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Donald Woods
Votes: 2,411
11. Green Dolphin Street (1947)
Approved | 141 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A young man loved by two sisters becomes a naval officer and sails to New Zealand, where he drunkenly writes a marriage proposal to the wrong sister, profoundly affecting the life of the other.
Director: Victor Saville | Stars: Van Heflin, Lana Turner, Donna Reed, Richard Hart
Votes: 1,726
12. Portrait of Jennie (1948)
Approved | 86 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Eben is a talented but struggling artist in Depression era NY. One day, after he finally finds someone to buy a painting from him, a pretty but odd young girl named Jennie Appleton appears and strikes up an unusual friendship with Eben.
Director: William Dieterle | Stars: Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Lillian Gish
Votes: 7,292
13. Mighty Joe Young (1949)
Approved | 94 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young woman who has raised a giant gorilla from an infant brings him to Hollywood years later seeking her fortune.
Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack | Stars: Terry Moore, Ben Johnson, Robert Armstrong, Mr. Joseph Young
Votes: 5,544
14. Destination Moon (1950)
Not Rated | 92 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
After their latest rocket fails, Dr. Charles Cargraves and retired General Thayer have to start over again. This time, Gen. Thayer approaches Jim Barnes, the head of his own aviation ... See full summary »
Director: Irving Pichel | Stars: John Archer, Warner Anderson, Tom Powers, Dick Wesson
Votes: 4,494 | Gross: $5.00M
15. When Worlds Collide (1951)
Approved | 83 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
As a new star and planet hurtle toward a doomed Earth, a small group of survivalists frantically work to complete the rocket which will take them to their new home.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt
Votes: 8,677
16. Plymouth Adventure (1952)
Passed | 105 min | Adventure, Drama, History
Trials and tribulations beset the one hundred odd settlers that journey to Virginia in 1620 including unexpectedly arriving in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Director: Clarence Brown | Stars: Spencer Tracy, Gene Tierney, Van Johnson, Leo Genn
Votes: 1,593
17. The War of the Worlds (1953)
G | 85 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A small town in California is attacked by Martians, beginning a worldwide invasion.
Director: Byron Haskin | Stars: Gene Barry, Ann Robinson, Les Tremayne, Robert Cornthwaite
Votes: 37,462 | Gross: $4.36M
18. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
G | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
A ship sent to investigate a wave of mysterious sinkings encounters the advanced submarine, the Nautilus, commanded by Captain Nemo.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas, Peter Lorre
Votes: 35,882 | Gross: $28.20M
19. The Bridges at Toko-Ri (1954)
Approved | 102 min | Drama, Romance, War
Set during the Korean War, a Navy fighter pilot must come to terms with with his own ambivalence towards the war and the fear of having to bomb a set of highly defended bridges. The ending of this grim war drama is all tension.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney
Votes: 6,158
20. The Ten Commandments (1956)
G | 220 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Moses, raised as a prince of Egypt in the Pharaoh's household, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people from slavery.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille | Stars: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson
Votes: 74,865 | Gross: $93.74M
21. The Enemy Below (1957)
Approved | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
During WWII an American destroyer discovers a German U-boat, and in the ensuing duel the American captain must draw upon all his experience to defeat the equally experienced German commander.
Director: Dick Powell | Stars: Robert Mitchum, Curd Jürgens, David Hedison, Theodore Bikel
Votes: 11,794
22. Tom Thumb (1958)
Approved | 98 min | Family, Fantasy, Musical
A boy (Russ Tamblyn), no bigger than a thumb, manages to outwit two thieves (Terry-Thomas and Peter Sellers) determined to make a fortune from him.
Director: George Pal | Stars: Russ Tamblyn, June Thorburn, Peter Sellers, Alan Young
Votes: 2,747
23. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 247,166 | Gross: $74.70M
24. The Time Machine (1960)
G | 103 min | Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi
A man's vision for a utopian society is disillusioned when travelling forward into time reveals a dark and dangerous society.
Director: George Pal | Stars: Rod Taylor, Alan Young, Yvette Mimieux, Sebastian Cabot
Votes: 43,379
25. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Not Rated | 158 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A team of Allied saboteurs are assigned an impossible mission: infiltrate an impregnable Nazi-held Greek island and destroy the two enormous long-range field guns that prevent the rescue of 2,000 trapped British soldiers.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: David Niven, Gregory Peck, Anthony Quinn, Anthony Quayle
Votes: 53,704 | Gross: $28.90M
26. The Longest Day (1962)
G | 178 min | Action, Drama, History
The events of D-Day, told on a grand scale from both the Allied and German points of view.
Directors: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, Bernhard Wicki, Darryl F. Zanuck | Stars: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda
Votes: 57,887 | Gross: $39.10M
27. Cleopatra (1963)
G | 192 min | Biography, Drama, History
Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt experiences both triumph and tragedy as she attempts to resist the imperial ambitions of Rome.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Rex Harrison, Pamela Brown
Votes: 36,034 | Gross: $57.78M
28. Mary Poppins (1964)
G | 139 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy
In turn of the century London, a magical nanny employs music and adventure to help two neglected children become closer to their father.
Director: Robert Stevenson | Stars: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns
Votes: 180,040 | Gross: $102.27M
29. Thunderball (1965)
PG | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
James Bond heads to the Bahamas to recover two nuclear warheads stolen by S.P.E.C.T.R.E. Agent Emilio Largo in an international extortion scheme.
Director: Terence Young | Stars: Sean Connery, Claudine Auger, Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi
Votes: 123,557 | Gross: $63.60M
30. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
PG | 100 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
When a blood clot renders a scientist comatose, a submarine and its crew are shrunk and injected into his bloodstream in order to save him.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence
Votes: 20,174
31. Doctor Dolittle (1967)
Approved | 152 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family
After the animal communicating veterinarian goes too far for his clientele, he and his friends escape their hometown to the sea in search of the Great Pink Sea Snail.
Director: Richard Fleischer | Stars: Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar, Anthony Newley, Richard Attenborough
Votes: 9,989 | Gross: $13.52M
32. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 694,357 | Gross: $56.95M
33. Marooned (1969)
G | 134 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Three American astronauts are stranded in space when their retros won't fire. Can they be rescued before their oxygen runs out?
Director: John Sturges | Stars: Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna, David Janssen, James Franciscus
Votes: 5,541 | Gross: $8.94M
34. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
G | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda, Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 36,094 | Gross: $29.55M
35. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)
G | 117 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
An apprentice witch, three kids and a cynical magician conman search for the missing component to a magic spell to be used in the defense of Britain in World War II.
Directors: Robert Stevenson, Ward Kimball | Stars: Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall, Sam Jaffe
Votes: 39,632 | Gross: $18.53M
36. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons
Votes: 47,678 | Gross: $84.56M
37. Earthquake (1974)
PG | 122 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
Votes: 17,261 | Gross: $79.70M
38. The Hindenburg (1975)
Approved | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A film that chronicles the events of the Hindenburg disaster in which a zeppelin burst into flames.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes
Votes: 6,382 | Gross: $27.95M
39. King Kong (1976)
PG | 134 min | Adventure, Horror
A petroleum exploration expedition comes to an isolated island and encounters a colossal giant gorilla.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, Jessica Lange, John Randolph
Votes: 34,325 | Gross: $52.61M
40. Logan's Run (1976)
PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.
Director: Michael Anderson | Stars: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne
Votes: 59,342 | Gross: $25.00M
41. Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
PG | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee and two droids to save the galaxy from the Empire's world-destroying battle station, while also attempting to rescue Princess Leia from the mysterious Darth Vader.
Director: George Lucas | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness
Votes: 1,408,302 | Gross: $322.74M
42. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 182,707 | Gross: $134.22M
43. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating an unknown transmission.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 914,701 | Gross: $78.90M
44. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy