Pirates of the Caribbean director criticizes Unreal Engine over modern VFX quality

Gore Verbinski, director of Pirates of the Caribbean, has criticized the growing use of Unreal Engine in film production, arguing that it has contributed to a decline in the visual quality of modern CGI.

In a recent interview with But Why Tho?, Verbinski suggested that today’s big-budget films often look less photorealistic than movies released in the late 2000s, despite significant advances in technology.

Verbinski pointed to the increasing adoption of Unreal Engine—originally designed for video games—as a major factor shaping the current visual effects landscape. According to him, the engine introduces a “gaming aesthetic” into cinema that does not always translate well to realistic filmmaking. While Unreal Engine excels at real-time rendering and speed, Verbinski believes it falls short when it comes to subtle lighting behaviors, such as subsurface scattering and natural light interaction, which are critical for believable visual effects.

He contrasted this with older filmmaking techniques, noting that classic directors like Stanley Kubrick relied heavily on miniatures, practical effects, and matte paintings, many of which continue to hold up visually decades later. Verbinski added that Unreal Engine can work effectively in stylized or heightened worlds, such as Marvel films, but struggles when strict photorealism is required.

The director also placed some responsibility on studio executives, suggesting that industry standards have shifted. He argued that visual inaccuracies—such as ships appearing disconnected from the water—are now more readily accepted. Verbinski recalled that the first Pirates of the Caribbean film relied extensively on real ships and on-location ocean shoots, grounding its visuals in reality.

Overall, Verbinski described the replacement of traditional CGI tools like Maya with Unreal Engine as “the greatest slip backwards,” reigniting debate about speed versus realism in modern visual effects.