> Massive real sets with CGI enhancements; sometimes green screens
This is the definition of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and they're still some of the best-looking films I've ever seen, far surpassing the modern UE slop.
The Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy is well-known for being peak CGI Artist overtime and burnout. Don't have the source handy right now, but At World's End in particular was allegedly an absolute meat grinder for the CG folks for years.
That said, I do agree, they made something truly incredible that has stood the test of time. And I wish we could have more of it (but I'll also take better working conditions every day until we figure out how to have both.)
Oh yeah yeah, I'm a massive fan of the trilogy so I've gone through all the BTS and staff interviews and whatnot. The consensus among the vfx artists is that yeah, while Davy Jones looks great due to its mix of procedural + handmade animation, it's also completely impractical to do; it was hundreds and hundreds of hours for each few seconds of Davy Jones' tentacles to be perfect.
We watched the original trilogy a couple months back with our kids and we were all so impressed by how they looked. And it wasn’t an “impressive for their age” but legitimately looked better than modern day films.
This is the definition of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, and they're still some of the best-looking films I've ever seen, far surpassing the modern UE slop.