I was just thinking about old school effects and CGI (computer generated imagery) in film. First off, CGI is certainly an advancement in technology, in what can or can't be portrayed on screen.
My knowledge of films and film-making is by no means extensive. It's just I feel that sometimes film-makers rely too much on CGI, assume that more CGI = better film, or assume it's better to use CGI in every instance.
Take A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). There's a scene where Nancy is dozing in Tina's bed and Freddy pushes against the wall, as if he's after her. This was created in the original film by stretching a sheet of Spandex across a rectangular-shaped hole in the bedroom wall. It looked great, the way the director lit the shot as Freddy pushed against the 'wall', then the Spandex sprang back smooth as Freddy withdrew. And it cost about 10 cents. The ANOES (2010) reboot had the same scene but with CGI, costing thousands of dollars. And it looked crap. Although the original film's budget was only $1.8 million, it was a much better movie than the reboot (budget: $33 million).
Consider the Star Wars franchise. The prequel trilogy had huge budgets and lots of CGI. They did look good but the dialogue and plots were worse than in the original Star Wars films, IMO. Even though technology was limited in 1980, The Empire Strikes Back is, for me, the stand-out film in that franchise.
On the plus side, CGI has often been used to great effect, but I can't think of many films that used it moderately and intelligently to great effect - one exception being Jurassic Park (1993). This classic had a great mix of effects. The T-rex was a life-sized physical model, as was the sick Triceratops, whereas the flock of Gallimimus was CGI. I think they got the balance right and it worked really well.
Are there any other great films with a decent balance of CGI and other effects?