Remembering Stan Winston

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The Aliens in Aliens …

The Terminators in the Terminator movies …

The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park …

The monsters in Monster Squad …

The scissor hands in Edward Scissorshands …

The amazing armor suits in Iron Man …

My favorite movie monster of all time, the Predator …

… and so many, many other memorable creature characters were created by Stan Winston, who lost his battle with cancer on Sunday. He was only 62.

I go to the movies to be entertained and to be taken away, and guys like Stan Winston are a big part of why I love movies so much.

He was a master craftsman who still believed in doing things the old-fashioned way at a time when too much of Hollywood is relying far too heavily on shoddy computer effects. Stan built his special effects from the ground up, and they never looked anything less than entirely real (and often flat-out terrifying).

Please check out this massive tribute to Stan on Ain’t It Cool, and thanks to our friend, fellow blogger and one-time house guest Kyle for sharing the sad news with me yesterday.

We’ll miss you as much as we’ll miss your work, good sir, and I’m so glad we had you for as long as we did. Like a true legend, you will live on forever through your work.

  • Bree

    I don’t think my dad ever worked with him, but he was certainly a name in our household. When I heard that he died, I gasped out loud.

    True special effects are a dying art form, and the loss of Winston will probably only magnify that fact.

  • http://johnbierly.wordpress.com John

    Thanks so much for the comment, Bree. I know you have a special connection to this since your dad was a special effects man, too. I’d love to talk to you more sometime about his work, in fact, if that would be cool.

    What a loss. And you’re right … Stan Winston kept Hollywood honest, and I hope the loss of voices like his doesn’t lead to studios getting even lazier.

  • http://almostperfectzen.wordpress.com AlmostPerfectZen

    I was really heart broken when I found out. I’m hoping they do a tribute or something for him. Like at the Oscars considering all of his unbelievable work over the years.

    I’m also in love with the countless people who refuse to believe that this is true, all the ones posting “It’s a Hoax!” comments on various sites. They gave me hope and had me frantically search for some indication that it, indeed, was some cruel joke… Unfortunately it seems to be the real thing. :-(

  • Bree

    Oh, my dad’s work. There were a lot of moments of absolute coolness. I have the Polaroids from a Michelle Pheiffer Cat Woman fitting for Batman Returns in my possession right now.

    It’s hard seeing other Spec Fex artists pass, because they only equate to the proverbial nail-in-the-coffin (literally and figuratively) to the art form. When Dick Smith goes, it’s REALLY going to be a dark day in Hollywood.

    Glum stuff aside… now that Kevin has a jobby-job, we’re looking to get internet at home soon (ONE YEAR WITHOUT!), so we can catch up on AOL or something.