Academy Award for Visual Effects

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The Academy Award for Visual Effects is an Oscar given to one film each year that shows highest achievement in visual effects.

The category was called Best Special Effects when it was created in 1939. In 1963, the category was split into two: Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound Effects. In 1972, the Academy stopped giving out awards for Visual Effects and instead gave Special Achievement Awards. However, this only happened for a handful of years; the category soon became an annual competitive award. The category was changed again in 1996 when it became simply Best Visual Effects.

For a film to be nominated for this award, the effects artist must have created something not available for filming. For example, an entirely digital Empire State Building could not make a movie eligible, since one can easily film the building; on the other hand, a recreation of ancient Rome could, since it is impossible to film. However, movies are judged on the quality of all of their effects shots, not just one scene.

According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are:

"(a) consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and

(b) the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved."

Below is a list of films that have received an Oscar for Visual Effects (in bold typeface) and the other nominees of the same year.

1 1930s
2 1940s
3 1950s
4 1960s
5 1970s
6 1980s
7 1990s
8 2000s

[edit] 1930s

1939 The Rains Came

[edit] 1940s

1940 The Thief of Bagdad
- The Blue Bird
- Boom Town
- The Boys from Syracuse
- Dr. Cyclops
- Foreign Correspondent
- The Invisible Man Returns
- The Long Voyage Home
- One Million B.C.
- Rebecca
- The Sea Hawk
- Swiss Family Robinson
- Typhoon
- Women in War
1941 I Wanted Wings
1942 Reap the Wild Wind
1943 Crash Dive
- Air Force
- Bombardier
- The North Star
- So Proudly We Hail!
- Stand by for Action
1944 Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
1945 Wonder Man
1946 Blithe Spirit
- A Stolen Life
1947 Green Dolphin Street
- Unconquered
1948 Portrait of Jennie
- Deep Waters
1949 Mighty Joe Young
- Tulsa

[edit] 1950s

1950 Destination Moon
- Samson and Delilah
1951 When Worlds Collide
1952 Plymouth Adventure
1953 The War of the Worlds
1954 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
- Hell and High Water
- Them!
1955 The Bridges at Toko-Ri
- The Dam Busters
- The Rains of Ranchipur
1956 The Ten Commandments
- Forbidden Planet
1957 The Enemy Below
- The Spirit of St. Louis
1958 Tom Thumb
- Torpedo Run
1959 Ben-Hur
- Journey to the Center of the Earth

[edit] 1960s

1960 The Time Machine
- The Last Voyage
1961 The Guns of Navarone
- The Absent Minded Professor
1962 The Longest Day
- Mutiny on the Bounty
1963 Cleopatra
- The Birds
1964 Mary Poppins
- 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
1965 Thunderball
- The Greatest Story Ever Told
1966 Fantastic Voyage
- Hawaii
1967 Doctor Dolittle
- Tobruk
1968 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Ice Station Zebra
1969 Marooned
- Krakatoa, East of Java

[edit] 1970s

1970 Tora! Tora! Tora!
- Patton
1971 Bedknobs and Broomsticks
- When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth
1972 The Poseidon Adventure (Special Achievement Award)
1973 No award given
1974 Earthquake (Special Achievement Award)
1975 The Hindenburg (Special Achievement Award)
1976 King Kong and Logan's Run (Special Achievement Awards)
1977 Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
1978 Superman: The Movie (Special Achievement Award)
1979 Alien
- 1941
- The Black Hole
- Moonraker
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[edit] 1980s

1980 Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Achievement Award)
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark
- Dragonslayer
1982 E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
- Blade Runner
- Poltergeist
1983 Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Special Achievement Award)
1984 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- 2010: The Year We Make Contact
- Ghostbusters
1985 Cocoon
- Return to Oz
- Young Sherlock Holmes
1986 Aliens
- Little Shop of Horrors
- Poltergeist II: The Other Side
1987 Innerspace
- Predator
1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit
- Die Hard
- Willow
1989 The Abyss
- The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
- Back to the Future Part II

[edit] 1990s

1990 Total Recall (Special Achievement Award)
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day
- Hook
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1992 Death Becomes Her
- Alien³
- Batman Returns
1993 Jurassic Park
- Cliffhanger
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
1994 Forrest Gump
- The Mask
- True Lies
1995 Babe
- Apollo 13
1996 Independence Day
- Dragonheart
- Twister
1997 Titanic
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Starship Troopers
1998 What Dreams May Come
- Armageddon
- Mighty Joe Young
1999 The Matrix
- Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace
- Stuart Little

[edit] 2000s

Academy Award
Academy Award of Merit : Current Awards
Best Picture \| Best Leading Actor \| Best Leading Actress \| Best Supporting Actor \| Best Supporting Actress
Best Animated Feature \| Best Art Direction \| Best Cinematography \| Best Costume Design \| Best Director
Best Documentary Feature \| Best Documentary Short Subject \| Best Film Editing \| Best Foreign Language Film \| Best Makeup
Best Original Score \| Best Original Song \| Best Animated Short Film \| Best Live Action Short Film \| Best Sound Mixing
Best Sound Editing \| Best Visual Effects \| Best Adapted Screenplay \| Best Original Screenplay
Academy Award of Merit : Retired awards
Best Assistant Director \| Best Dance Direction \| Best Director of a Comedy Picture
Best Director of a Dramatic Picture \| Best Engineering Effects \| Best Short Film - Color
Best Short Film - Live Action - 2 Reels \| Best Short Film - Novelty \| Best Original Story
Best Title Writing \| Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production
Special Awards : Current Awards
Academy Honorary Award \| Academy Special Achievement Award \| Academy Award, Scientific or Technical
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award \| The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award \| Gordon E. Sawyer Award
Special Awards : Retired Awards
Academy Juvenile Award