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| 1946-2008 |
What a horrible day for horror fans. Stan Winston, a true godfather of movie magic, is dead at 62. He created The Terminator, The Predator, and Pumpkinhead (A film that he also directed), The Alien Queen from Aliens, and made The Monster Squad an instant classic. Oh, and he finally made Dinosaurs look amazing on screen with Jurassic Park. He helped scare the hell out of horror fans by bloodying the screen with effects/make-up work on The Thing (1982), F13 part 3, Pumpkinhead, Interview With the Vampire, Darkness Falls, Wrong Turn, and The Entity. He brought creatures and killers to life in non horror films like Aliens, Predator, The Monster Squad, Edward Scissorhands, Alien Nation, Jurassic Park, Leviathan, A.I., Big Fish, and Constantine, to list only a few. He won 4 Oscars for his work on Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and Jurassic Park. Hell, he even designed the mask for Styx's video/character Mr. Roboto, not to mention making the Wookie costumes for the Star Wars Holiday Special. He was everywhere, and rightfully so.
Even in the modern age of computer effects overshadowing the "old fashioned" ways, he managed to shine with stunning work on Iron Man. Stan Winston didn't just work on movies, he created dreams and fueled imaginations everywhere. I cant imagine my childhood (which was largely in the 80's) without movies like The Terminator or Aliens; with them I saw things I hadn't even began to dream of that have stuck with me, and millions of others, ever since. His work has created icons, ranging from subtle to magnanimous... all of them nothing less than fantastic.
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| So long Stan. Thanks for everything. |
He will be missed, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteI'm down with tasteful CGI, don't get me wrong, but this man was a miracle worker, and good old fashioned costumes and physical special effects still have a very real purpose.