The envelope was seriously pushed in Pirates of the Caribbean 3.
That scene was probably the biggest cinematic event that's happened to date. Up until about 20 years ago there was only one side, and that was us, and now there's two sides. and uh it's made movies better.
John Frazier - Effects Specialist, of the physical/mechanical variety.
Wired Article: How Physics and Computers bring an Ocean to Life for the Movies