I think there is also an element of how we watch movie scenes today, compared with how it was done in the past. For instance, if you want to see the ending of

I think there is also an element of how we watch movie scenes today, compared with how it was done in the past. For instance, if you want to see the ending of Terminator with the stop-motion animation, today you'd just go to youtube and watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KeniFoiT-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KeniFoiT-0 It looks pretty decent, but that's not really terrifying anymore like people remember it. In the past though, if you wanted to see that scene, you probably sat through the entire movie. When you do that, I think the effects in that scene work much better. That is because the rest of the movie was conditioning you, getting you excited. Setting the stage for how things in that universe work and look. Seen within the full context of their movies, old special effects hold up much better IMHO. Another movie where I think this is in strong effect is the original Robocop. ED-209 in the boardroom is much more effective after sitting through the opening of the film.