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RIP Stan Winston


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These topics always make me so sad...

 

RIP Stan Winston

1946 - 2008

 

StanWinston_lg.jpg

 

Stan Winston, the man behind some of Hollywood's most amazing monsters, has died after losing his battle with cancer.

 

The Oscar-winning visual effects artist died on Sunday at his home in Malibu, California, aged 62.

 

Winston won Oscars for his work in Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Jurassic Park.

 

He also created notable visual effects for hit films like Predator, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns.

 

His most recent work can be seen in summer blockbusters Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

 

In a statement released on Monday, Terminator star and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called Winston a "genius" and "one of my best friends".

 

The action man-turned-politician added, "Stan's work and four Oscars speak for themselves and will live on forever. What will live forever in my heart is the way that Stan loved everyone and treated each of his friends like they were family... I will miss him greatly and am honoured to have worked with him."

 

A partial list of Winston's credits include:

 

The Terminator

T2 - Judgment Day

Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines

Starman

The Thing

Edward Scissorhands

Batman Returns

The Monster Squad

Leviathan

Predator

Predator 2

Jurassic Park

The Lost World

Jurassic Park III

The Ghost and the Darkness

Mousehunt

End of Days

Aliens

Congo

Small Soldiers

Inspector Gadget

Galaxy Quest

Artificial Intelligence: AI

Big Fish

Constantine

 

He most recently led the design team on the suits in Iron Man, and was currently working on the fourth Terminator film: Terminator Salvation - The Future Begins. Truly a Hollywood legend.

 

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Man, and seeing Small Soldiers on that resume just reminds me of how that was Phil Hartman's last film. I know movies are a tad trivial next to the tragedy of a life cut to short, but when a great talent's last project was not a high point, it just makes me even sadder (Heath Ledger going out with his Joker performance being his last made me a little less sad). At least Stan Winston went out with Iron Man and the new Indy.

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After re-reading it I've realized that the little piece on Winston didn't really tell anyone what he actually did. This guy was the creature fx designer of the past two decades. He and his studio not only designed the look of these characters, but they made them work. When you saw animatronic raptors stalking a kitchen or a t-rex head peeping in a car window in Jurassic Park, that was his design from the look to the advanced robotics and the latex skin. When you saw the T-800 exoskeleton walk for the first time in the Terminator movies, that was his design. The alien queen in Aliens was him. All the horrific makeup in The Thing, that was all him too. He's the reason the Predator is an ugly motherfucker when he takes off his mask. He put the scissors on Johnny Depp's hands in Edward Scissorhands and the scary nose on Danny DeVito's face in Batman Returns. Some of the greatest special effects moments in history owe their existence to him.

 

Incidentally, he also directed Pumpkinhead, the 3D Terminator show at Universal Orlando and Michael Jackson's Ghosts video...you know, just for kicks.

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