It’s safe to say that modern moviegoing audiences are spoiled. The technical theatrics that once dazzled us are now so commonplace that we barely bat an eyelid at their spectacle. We are so used to wall-to-wall scenes of hyper-realistic CGI that it’s not special. Every blockbuster is now shot almost exclusively on green-screen sets, to the point where it’s become something of a joke that many actors in the MCU don’t even know where a scene is taking place when they shoot it.
In the grand scheme of cinematic history, this is a relatively new development, having only unfolded over the past two decades or so. The beginning of the 21st century brought with it new advancements in VFX and a grander scale to the franchise films that dominated theaters. But it’s not Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rings that the current era owes a major debt to for its current state. It’s an oft-forgotten commercial flop by a director with only one feature credit to his name.
