When it comes to creators of great pop cinema, Stan Winston’s is not a household name, unlike those of, say, Steven Spielberg or James Cameron. But without Winston, those two filmmakers–and many more–could have never created the sort of films that they do.
Winston, who won no less than four Oscars over the course of his career, died last night. He’s the guy who brought the T-Rex to life in Jurassic Park, who built the robotic assassins in The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, who made it possible for Sigourney Weaver to fight the Queen in Aliens, and who created Johnny Depp’s creepily beautiful appendages in Edward Scissorhands. With his studio’s work on countless other genre projects–from The Abyss to Iron Man–Winston was one of the biggest behind-the-scenes names in Hollywood, and as a longtime fan of his work, I think it goes without saying that he’ll be missed.
Luckily, the special effects and makeup he created will be around for a long time to come–and since he’s been working on some films that haven’t even come out yet, like James Cameron’s Avatar, in a way, there’ll still be new work from Winston coming for a while yet. All the same, this is really lousy news. Below: three clips showcasing Winston’s groundbreaking work.
More thoughts on Winston’s work and death are over at io9 and AICN.
Oh that fucking sucks. I love Stan Winston.
RIP Stan. You were the last of a dieing breed. We loved you.
Don’t forget Pumpkinhead…which he also directed. CGI for creatures sucks.