Craig Barron
Encyclopedia
Craig Barron is an American visual-effects supervisor who specializes in seamless matte painting
effects. He is also a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and film historian who is co-founder and head of the visual effects
company, Matte World Digital
. Barron is a member of the Academy Board of Governors, representing the visual effects branch.
, the Gotham City skyline of Batman Returns
, the approach to Dracula's castle in Bram Stoker's Dracula, the 1970s-era Las Vegas strip in Casino
, the Carpathia rescue ship at the end of Titanic
, and 1970s-era San Francisco in Zodiac
. In 2009, Barron won Academy and BAFTA Awards for achievement in visual effects for the work his company Matte World Digital did on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
.
' Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
. At ILM Barron would continue to composite matte-painting scenes on such landmark productions as Raiders of the Lost Ark
and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
. From 1984 to 1988 he was supervisor of photography at ILM’s matte department.
Barron’s mentors include matte-painting masters and visual-effects artists, Peter Ellenshaw
and Albert Whitlock
. His career has been shaped by many of the past masters he has met, and he gained particular inspiration from the late Linwood G. Dunn
, the opticals genius behind such classics as King Kong
and Citizen Kane
. Dunn once told him there were two kinds of visual effects shots: obvious fantasy, and realism that doesn’t draw attention to itself. Dunn believed that realistic effects, which have to blend perfectly, are the greatest challenge and ironically, that work is often unsung, because it should be invisible to the audience.
with matte painter Michael Pangrazio and executive producer Krystyna Demkowicz. The company formed to provide realistic matte-painting effects to clients throughout the entertainment industry. Barron re-named the company Matte World Digital in 1992 to reflect the new technological tools available to matte painters. MWD creates digital-matte environments for feature film
s, television
, electronic game
s, and IMAX
large-format productions.
Craig Barron and the staff of MWD have received awards and nominations for excellence from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
and BAFTA. In 1990, Barron and key members of the MWD crew won an Emmy
for Outstanding Visual Effects for the HBO production By Dawn’s Early Light. The company has served the visions of such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese
, Francis Ford Coppola
, James Cameron
, and David Fincher
. Its feature film work ranges from Academy Award-nominated effects for Batman Returns, to recent productions, Zodiac
, The Golden Compass, Oscar-winning The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
(achievement in visual effects), Terminator Salvation
, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine
.
rendering to film in Martin Scorsese’s Casino
. Barron's visual-effects crew collaborated with software company, LightScape, to simulate the indirect bounce-light effect of millions of neon lights of the 1970s-era Las Vegas strip. Significantly, radiosity rendering provided a true simulation of bounce-light in a computer-generated environment. Barron's cinematographic work would be honored in 2002 when he was named associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers
.
To recreate 1970s-era San Francisco in David Fincher's Zodiac, MWD shot digital images of existing city-building textures, then added painted period details for establishing shots. One such shot includes the Embarcadero Freeway alongside the Ferry Building and San Francisco Bay. The freeway had been demolished after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
but was digitally "rebuilt" to visually set the time-frame for the film. To show time passing within the era, CG lighting techniques were applied for an animated sequence showing the Transamerica Pyramid
being built. The shot was based on research Barron had done using historical photographs and architectural drawings.
Barron independently directed the science-fiction short, The Utilizer and a companion “making of” documentary, both of which were broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel
in 1996. The Utilizer won a number of film-festival awards, including best special effects at the Chicago International Film Festival
. Barron is a founding member of the Visual Effects Society
, begun in 1997 to represent visual effects creators in film, television and video games.
In 2008, Barron celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Matte World Digital and a personal milestone of having worked on one hundred films. His current projects include an IMAX production about the origin of the universe, developed with theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking. Barron lives in Marin County, California.
Barron is an ongoing lecturer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Theater Programs. Since 2006, he has presented public screenings, often partnering with sound designer Ben Burtt
, demonstrating the art of matte painting and visual effects techniques of classic films such as Modern Times
, The Rains Came
, The Adventures of Robin Hood
, and Gunga Din
. In the 2010 Academy screening of "Me Tarzan, You Technology," Barron demonstrated how the MGM visual effects crews of the 1930s Tarzan
films used rear-projection and matte paintings to create what film critic Leonard Maltin
describes as a vivid atmosphere with majestic settings. Burtt's sound demonstration was capped by a recreation of the famous "Tarzan yell."
Barron and Burtt teamed up again in 2011 to demonstrate the groundbreaking visual effects and sound design for Forbidden Planet
, the classic 1956 science-fiction film. For this Academy screening, Mysteries of the Krell, presented in Los Angeles, Barron and Burtt researched and rediscovered rare miniatures, production designs, props and analog source tapes from the electronic soundtrack of the film. The screening was in conjunction with an Academy gallery show featuring artifacts from the movie, including the original Robby the Robot
prop.
Publications
Honors
Matte painting
A matte painting is a painted representation of a landscape, set, or distant location that allows filmmakers to create the illusion of an environment that would otherwise be too expensive or impossible to build or visit. Historically, matte painters and film technicians have used various techniques...
effects. He is also a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and film historian who is co-founder and head of the visual effects
Visual effects
Visual effects are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or...
company, Matte World Digital
Matte World Digital
Matte World Digital is a visual effects company based in Novato, California that specializes in realistic matte painting effects and digital environments for feature films, television, electronic games and IMAX large-format productions.-History:...
. Barron is a member of the Academy Board of Governors, representing the visual effects branch.
Biography
Craig Barron has worked on many notable shots in feature films, including the secret government warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, the Gotham City skyline of Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
, the approach to Dracula's castle in Bram Stoker's Dracula, the 1970s-era Las Vegas strip in Casino
Casino (film)
Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
, the Carpathia rescue ship at the end of Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, and 1970s-era San Francisco in Zodiac
Zodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
. In 2009, Barron won Academy and BAFTA Awards for achievement in visual effects for the work his company Matte World Digital did on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
.
Early career
Barron was born in Berkeley, California in 1961. He started working at Industrial Light & Magic at age 18, then the youngest person at ILM, to work on the matte-effects photography for George LucasGeorge Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
' Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
. At ILM Barron would continue to composite matte-painting scenes on such landmark productions as Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
. From 1984 to 1988 he was supervisor of photography at ILM’s matte department.
Barron’s mentors include matte-painting masters and visual-effects artists, Peter Ellenshaw
Peter Ellenshaw
William "Peter" Ellenshaw was an Anglo-American matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features....
and Albert Whitlock
Albert Whitlock
Albert J. Whitlock was a British-born motion picture matte artist best known for his work with Disney and Universal Studios.-Life and career:...
. His career has been shaped by many of the past masters he has met, and he gained particular inspiration from the late Linwood G. Dunn
Linwood G. Dunn
Linwood G. Dunn, A.S.C. was a pioneer of visual special effects in motion pictures and inventor of related technology...
, the opticals genius behind such classics as King Kong
King Kong (1933 film)
King Kong is a Pre-Code 1933 fantasy monster adventure film co-directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, and written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman after a story by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. The film tells of a gigantic island-dwelling apeman creature called Kong who dies in...
and Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane
Citizen Kane is a 1941 American drama film, directed by and starring Orson Welles. Many critics consider it the greatest American film of all time, especially for its innovative cinematography, music and narrative structure. Citizen Kane was Welles' first feature film...
. Dunn once told him there were two kinds of visual effects shots: obvious fantasy, and realism that doesn’t draw attention to itself. Dunn believed that realistic effects, which have to blend perfectly, are the greatest challenge and ironically, that work is often unsung, because it should be invisible to the audience.
Matte World Digital
In 1988, Barron co-founded Matte WorldMatte World Digital
Matte World Digital is a visual effects company based in Novato, California that specializes in realistic matte painting effects and digital environments for feature films, television, electronic games and IMAX large-format productions.-History:...
with matte painter Michael Pangrazio and executive producer Krystyna Demkowicz. The company formed to provide realistic matte-painting effects to clients throughout the entertainment industry. Barron re-named the company Matte World Digital in 1992 to reflect the new technological tools available to matte painters. MWD creates digital-matte environments for feature film
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
s, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, electronic game
Electronic game
An electronic game is a game that employs electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. The most common form of electronic game today is the video game, and for this reason the terms are often mistakenly used synonymously. Other common forms of electronic game include...
s, and IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
large-format productions.
Craig Barron and the staff of MWD have received awards and nominations for excellence from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
and BAFTA. In 1990, Barron and key members of the MWD crew won an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Visual Effects for the HBO production By Dawn’s Early Light. The company has served the visions of such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
, and David Fincher
David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher is an American film and music video director. Known for his dark and stylish thrillers, such as Seven , The Game , Fight Club , Panic Room , and Zodiac , Fincher received Academy Award nominations for Best Director for his 2008 film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and...
. Its feature film work ranges from Academy Award-nominated effects for Batman Returns, to recent productions, Zodiac
Zodiac (film)
Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
, The Golden Compass, Oscar-winning The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
(achievement in visual effects), Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American action film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009...
.
Innovations
Matte World Digital was the first in the industry to apply radiosityRadiosity
Radiosity is a global illumination algorithm used in 3D computer graphics rendering. Radiosity is an application of the finite element method to solving the rendering equation for scenes with purely diffuse surfaces...
rendering to film in Martin Scorsese’s Casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
. Barron's visual-effects crew collaborated with software company, LightScape, to simulate the indirect bounce-light effect of millions of neon lights of the 1970s-era Las Vegas strip. Significantly, radiosity rendering provided a true simulation of bounce-light in a computer-generated environment. Barron's cinematographic work would be honored in 2002 when he was named associate member of the American Society of Cinematographers
American Society of Cinematographers
The American Society of Cinematographers is an educational, cultural, and professional organization. It is not a labor union, and it is not a guild. Membership is by invitation and is extended only to directors of photography and special effects experts with distinguished credits in the film...
.
To recreate 1970s-era San Francisco in David Fincher's Zodiac, MWD shot digital images of existing city-building textures, then added painted period details for establishing shots. One such shot includes the Embarcadero Freeway alongside the Ferry Building and San Francisco Bay. The freeway had been demolished after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake
Loma Prieta earthquake
The Loma Prieta earthquake, also known as the Quake of '89 and the World Series Earthquake, was a major earthquake that struck the San Francisco Bay Area of California on October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. local time...
but was digitally "rebuilt" to visually set the time-frame for the film. To show time passing within the era, CG lighting techniques were applied for an animated sequence showing the Transamerica Pyramid
Transamerica Pyramid
The Transamerica Pyramid is the tallest skyscraper in the San Francisco skyline and one of its most iconic. Although the building no longer houses the headquarters of the Transamerica Corporation, it is still strongly associated with the company and is depicted in the company's logo...
being built. The shot was based on research Barron had done using historical photographs and architectural drawings.
Independent work and authorship
Earlier in his career, Barron conducted interviews with traditional matte painters and matte-painting technicians, many who revealed the secrets of their techniques for the first time. This oral history of movie-making, along with an extensive collection of visual-effects film clips, movie stills and behind-the-scenes photographs, led to the first comprehensive book about the history of matte painting, The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting, co-written with Mark Cotta Vaz and published by Chronicle Books in 2002.Barron independently directed the science-fiction short, The Utilizer and a companion “making of” documentary, both of which were broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
in 1996. The Utilizer won a number of film-festival awards, including best special effects at the Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
. Barron is a founding member of the Visual Effects Society
Visual Effects Society
The Visual Effects Society is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of...
, begun in 1997 to represent visual effects creators in film, television and video games.
In 2008, Barron celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Matte World Digital and a personal milestone of having worked on one hundred films. His current projects include an IMAX production about the origin of the universe, developed with theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking. Barron lives in Marin County, California.
Barron is an ongoing lecturer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Theater Programs. Since 2006, he has presented public screenings, often partnering with sound designer Ben Burtt
Ben Burtt
Benjamin "Ben" Burtt, Jr. is an American sound designer who has worked on various films including: the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film series, Invasion of the Body Snatchers , E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , and WALL-E...
, demonstrating the art of matte painting and visual effects techniques of classic films such as Modern Times
Modern Times (film)
Modern Times is a 1936 comedy film by Charlie Chaplin that has his iconic Little Tramp character struggling to survive in the modern, industrialized world. The film is a comment on the desperate employment and fiscal conditions many people faced during the Great Depression, conditions created, in...
, The Rains Came
The Rains Came
The Rains Came is the title of a novel by Louis Bromfield, published in 1937, as well as the 1939 20th Century Fox film version which followed it...
, The Adventures of Robin Hood
The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)
The Adventures of Robin Hood is a 1938 American swashbuckler film directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley. Filmed in Technicolor, the picture stars Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Claude Rains.-Plot:...
, and Gunga Din
Gunga Din (film)
Gunga Din is a 1939 RKO adventure film directed by George Stevens, loosely based on the poem of the same name by Rudyard Kipling, combined with elements of his novel Soldiers Three...
. In the 2010 Academy screening of "Me Tarzan, You Technology," Barron demonstrated how the MGM visual effects crews of the 1930s Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
films used rear-projection and matte paintings to create what film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
describes as a vivid atmosphere with majestic settings. Burtt's sound demonstration was capped by a recreation of the famous "Tarzan yell."
Barron and Burtt teamed up again in 2011 to demonstrate the groundbreaking visual effects and sound design for Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet
Forbidden Planet is a 1956 science fiction film directed by Fred M. Wilcox, with a screenplay by Cyril Hume. It stars Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, and Anne Francis. The characters and its setting have been compared to those in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and its plot contains certain...
, the classic 1956 science-fiction film. For this Academy screening, Mysteries of the Krell, presented in Los Angeles, Barron and Burtt researched and rediscovered rare miniatures, production designs, props and analog source tapes from the electronic soundtrack of the film. The screening was in conjunction with an Academy gallery show featuring artifacts from the movie, including the original Robby the Robot
Robby the Robot
Robby the Robot is a fictional character who has made a number of appearances in science fiction movies and television programs after his first appearance in the 1956 MGM science fiction film Forbidden Planet.-Overview:...
prop.
Awards and honors
Film and television awards- Emmy for outstanding visual effects - By Dawn’s Early Light, 1990.
- Nominated for Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and BAFTA Awards for achievement in visual effects - Batman ReturnsBatman ReturnsBatman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
, 1992. - Gold Plaque for best special effects, Chicago International Film Festival - The Utilizer, 1996.
- Nominated for BAFTA for achievement in special visual effects for The Truman ShowThe Truman ShowThe Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...
, 1999. - Nominated for VES Award for outstanding visual effects in a special venue project for Greece: Secrets of the Past, 2006.
- Nominated for VES Award for outstanding visual effects in a motion picture for ZodiacZodiac (film)Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
, 2007. - Oscar and BAFTA Awards for achievement in visual effects - The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
, 2009.
Publications
- Outstanding Book on Film award from the Theatre Library Association of New York - The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting, co-authored with Mark Cotta Vaz, 2002.
- Golden Pen book award from Theatre Technology - The Invisible Art, 2002.
Honors
- Academy Board of Governors member representing the visual effects branch.
- Member of the American Society of Cinematographers.
- Founding member of the Visual Effects Society.
Publications
- The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting by Craig Barron and Mark Cotta Vaz, Chronicle Books, 2002; ISBN 081184515X
- SIGGRAPH 1998 - Matte Painting in the Digital Age | Speech from the "Invisible Effects" series | Craig Barron | 1998
Selected filmography
- Hugo, 2011
- Captain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First AvengerCaptain America: The First Avenger is a 2011 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Captain America. It is the fifth installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe...
, 2011 - Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland (2010 film)Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
, 2010 - My Sister's KeeperMy Sister's Keeper (film)My Sister's Keeper is a 2009 American drama film directed by Nick Cassavetes and starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Sofia Vassilieva, and Alec Baldwin...
, 2009 - Terminator SalvationTerminator SalvationTerminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
, 2009 - X-Men Origins: WolverineX-Men Origins: WolverineX-Men Origins: Wolverine is a 2009 American action film based on the Marvel Comics' fictional character Wolverine. The fourth installment in the X-Men film series, it was released worldwide on May 1, 2009...
, 2009 - The Curious Case of Benjamin ButtonThe Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a 2008 American fantasy-drama film directed by David Fincher. The screenplay by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord is loosely based on the 1922 short story of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald...
, 2008 - The Golden Compass, 2007
- ZodiacZodiac (film)Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros...
, 2007 - The Last SamuraiThe Last SamuraiThe Last Samurai is a 2003 American epic drama film directed and co-produced by Edward Zwick, who also co-wrote the screenplay based on a story by John Logan. The film was inspired by a project developed by writer and director Vincent Ward, who had previously filmed the movie in 1990, starring...
, 2003 - Jurassic Park IIIJurassic Park IIIJurassic Park III is a 2001 American science fiction film and the third of the Jurassic Park franchise. It is the only film in the series that is neither directed by Steven Spielberg nor based on a book by Michael Crichton, though numerous scenes in the movie were taken from Crichton's two books,...
, 2001 - X-MenX-Men (film)X-Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics characters of the same name. Directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Anna Paquin, Famke Janssen, Bruce Davison, James Marsden, Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park and Tyler Mane...
, 2000 - Mission: Impossible IIMission: Impossible IIMission: Impossible II is a 2000 action film directed by John Woo, and starring Tom Cruise, who also served as the film's producer...
, 2000 - The Green MileThe Green Mile (film)The Green Mile is a 1999 American drama film directed by Frank Darabont and adapted by him from the 1996 Stephen King novel of the same name...
, 1999 - The Truman ShowThe Truman ShowThe Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...
, 1998 - TitanicTitanic (1997 film)Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, 1997 - Star Trek: First ContactStar Trek: First ContactStar Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
, 1996 - Independence DayIndependence Day (film)Independence Day is a 1996 science fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth, focusing on a disparate group of individuals and families as they converge in the Nevada desert and, along with the rest of the human population, participate in a last-chance counterattack on July 4 – the same...
, 1996 - CasinoCasino (film)Casino is a 1995 crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Nicholas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Scorsese...
, 1995 - Clear and Present DangerClear and Present Danger (film)Clear and Present Danger is a 1994 film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the book of the same name by Tom Clancy. It is a subsequent release to the 1992 film Patriot Games, which in itself is a subsequent release to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October.It is the last film to feature Harrison...
, 1994 - Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 1992
- Batman ReturnsBatman ReturnsBatman Returns is a 1992 American superhero film directed by Tim Burton. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the sequel to Burton's Batman , and features Michael Keaton reprising the title role, with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.Burton originally did not...
, 1992 - Terminator 2: Judgment DayTerminator 2: Judgment DayTerminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, 1991 - ArachnophobiaArachnophobia (film)Arachnophobia is a 1990 American comedy horror film directed by Frank Marshall and starring Jeff Daniels and John Goodman. It was the first film released by Hollywood Pictures....
, 1990 - By Dawn's Early LightBy Dawn's Early LightBy Dawn’s Early Light is an HBO Original Movie, aired in 1990 and set in 1991. It is based on the 1983 novel Trinity's Child, written by William Prochnau. The film is one of the last films to depict the events of a fictional World War III before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the...
(television), 1990 - The Last Temptation of ChristThe Last Temptation of Christ (film)The Last Temptation of Christ is a 1988 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the controversial 1953 novel of the same name by Nikos Kazantzakis. It stars Willem Dafoe as Jesus Christ, Harvey Keitel as Judas Iscariot, Barbara Hershey as Mary Magdalene, David Bowie as...
, 1988 - WillowWillow (film)Willow is a 1988 American fantasy film directed by Ron Howard and produced/co-written by George Lucas. Warwick Davis stars in the film, as well as Val Kilmer, Joanne Whalley, Jean Marsh, and Patricia Hayes...
, 1988 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeStar Trek IV: The Voyage HomeStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series and completes the story arc begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The...
, 1986 - LabyrinthLabyrinth (film)Labyrinth is a 1986 British/American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson, produced by George Lucas, and designed by Brian Froud. Henson collaborated on the screenwriting with children's author Dennis Lee, Terry Jones from Monty Python, and Elaine May .The film stars David Bowie as Jareth the Goblin...
, 1986 - The GooniesThe GooniesThe Goonies is a 1985 American adventure-comedy film directed by Richard Donner. The screenplay was written by Chris Columbus from a story by executive producer Steven Spielberg. The premise surrounds a band of pre-teens who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astoria, Oregon hoping to save...
, 1985 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the JediStar Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
, 1983 - Poltergeist, 1982
- Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, 1982
- E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialE.T. the Extra-TerrestrialE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...
, 1982 - Raiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost ArkRaiders of the Lost Ark is a 1981 American action-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, produced by George Lucas, and starring Harrison Ford. It is the first film in the Indiana Jones franchise...
, 1981 - Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes BackStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes BackStar Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is a 1980 American epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner. The screenplay, based on a story by George Lucas, was written by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan...
, 1980