Hollywood
Back in the "good old days" SGI has been very popular in Hollywood. SGI computers were used in many studios for the development of the special effects. Also, there were quite a number of movies where SGI computers did appear on screen. This page tries to give an overview of both. The Special Feature section offers some in depth coverage of specific movies.
Made on SGI
The following table contains movies that feature special effects made on SGI computers. Wherever possible the equipment that was used is also listed, this information is often taken out of interviews or special features like "making of" features included on DVDs.
Movie | Year | Equipment |
---|---|---|
Abyss | 1989 | early IRIS 4D (supposedly including 4D/120) |
Antz | 1998 | O2 (166), Origin 2000 (270) |
Casper | unknown | |
Cats & Dogs | 2001 | O2, Octane 2, Origin 200, VW 230, VW 320 |
Disclosure | 1994 | Indy |
Evolution | 2001 | O2, Octane 2, Origin 200, VW 230, VW 320 |
Final Fantasy | 2001 | unknown |
Forrest Gump | unknown | |
Frighteners | 1996 | Indy, Indigo 2 |
Gladiator | O2, Indigo 2 Extreme, Origin 200, Octane, Onyx, Dual Pentium | |
Hollow Man | O2, Octane, Onyx, Origin 2000, Power Challenge | |
Ice Age | Octane, Octane 2 | |
Lord of the Rings | 2000 | Octane, Origin 2000, VW 230, VW 320 |
Jumanji | unknown | |
Jurassic Park | 1993 | PowerSeries Twin Tower |
Jurassic Park 2 | 1997 | unknown |
Jurassic Park 3 | 2001 | unknown (O2 workstations) |
Shrek | 2001 | unknown |
Star Wars Episode 1 | Indy, Indigo 2 (possibly O2, Origin 2000) | |
Starship Troopers | unknown | |
Terminator 2 | 1991 | unknown (4D-era) |
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle | Onyx 2 | |
The Crow | unknown | |
The Hunt for Red October | unknown | |
The Mask | unknown | |
The Matrix | 1999 | Octane, Onyx 2, Origin 200 |
The Mummy | unknown | |
The Perfect Storm | O2, Origin 2000 | |
The Rugrats Movie | 1998 | O2, Origin 200 |
Titanic | unknown | |
Toy Story | unknown | |
Twister | 1996 | Challenge, Power Challenge |
What Dreams May Come | Octane |
SGI on Screen
This list includes the on screen appearances of SGI gear. An interesting website about computers in movies is www.starringthecomputer.com links to this page are included in the following list.
Movie | SGI items on Screen |
---|---|
Chain Reaction | monitors with IRIX running on them |
Congo | Indy, Indy "laptop", Onyx, SGI monitors (see here) |
Disclosure | Indy (see here) |
First Kid | Indy, Indigo 2 (see here) |
Lawnmower Man | PowerSeries deskside (see here) |
Jerry McGuire | SGI monitors and Indy (see here) |
Junior | SGI Indy |
Jurassic Park | Crimson, Indigo/Elan, SGI monitors (see here) |
Kill La Kill (anime) | Personal Iris (look alike labelled "InamutaGraphics") |
Lost in Space | fake SGI commercial, SGI gear |
Men in Black | 4Dwm window manager / screen |
Password Swordfish | LCD panels with SGI logo |
Scream 3 | SGI O2 boxes |
Sliver | 4Dwm window manager |
Sphere | 4Dwm window manager |
The Billion Dollar Code (Netflix) | Indy, Onyx Deskside and Rackmount |
The Peacemaker | Indy, Indigo 2 |
The Relic | 4Dwm window manager (possibly also SGI monitors) |
TPB AFK | SGI 1200 |
Twister | SGI Indy laptop, SGI displays (see also here and here) |
Viper (TV-series) | Challenge rack, PowerSeries rack |
X Files (TV-series) | 4DWm window manager |
Computer Games
While SGIs aren't exactly the systems that come to your mind when you think of computer games, they have been occasionally used in the development of entertainment software. The most important and well documented example is the Nintendo N64 development system which is an SGI Indy that is equipped with an addon board, that contains a full Nintendo N64 system.
Little commercial attempts have been made to use SGI machines as game systems, which isn't surprising considering their cost. There was the "Magic Edge / Namco Flight Simulator" which was a large scale arcade application of an R4400 Onyx system with Reality Engine Graphics. Another arcade game based on Onyx Reality Engine systems was called "Canyon Runner" and producedby GreyStone technologies.
Special Features
The following pages include special featurs on specific movies including screenshots and where possible some detailed info on the systems that are shown or were used:
Jurassic Park (SGI on the screen and behind the scenes)
Lord of the Rings (Weta Digital)
Frighteners (Weta Digital)