5. The Burning Oil Wells (Jarhead) Easily Jarhead's most impressive scene is where Jake Gyllenhaal and his comrades arrive at the torched oil fields, the sky a roiling black soup, with the only light cast by terrifying flames. And it was all done in a computer, don'cha know.

4. The Mutant-Tadpole-Monster (The Host) While it ain't quite photo-real, that hardly matters - The Host's rampaging creature is crammed with personality, showing an almost likeable clumy exuberance as it lumbers after its human prey.

3. Atomising The House (X-Men 3) As Jean Grey telekinetically dismantles her childhood home molecule by molecule, the level of detail is simply astonishing.

2. The Bullet In The Eye (Superman Returns) His pupil is like a shield of steel… Watch this without squinting. Go on. Try.

1. Davy Jones (Pirates 2) As we've said in the mag, Bill Nighy's octopus-faced monster-pirate is one of the best examples yet of photo-realistic CG, in that it never really registers as an effect at all, despite its grotesque outlandishness.