Stan Winston, a giant in old school special effects, has passed away. He is survived by Karen, his wife of 37 years, and his two children. Without his perseverance, imagination and the comradeship he had with those at Stan Winston Studios we wouldn’t have Terminators, “Stay Away From Her, You Bitch” Aliens, Pumpkinheads, Scissorhands, Small Soldiers, and Jurassic Park dinosaurs as we see them today. He won four Academy Awards.
At a time when practically all visual wizardry can be accomplished with a computer, Winston’s work makes a compelling argument for the you-see-what-you-see handcrafted effects that are taken for granted. For granted because those seemingly breathing creatures on the screen made us focus on the real gem: the story.
German filmmaker Werner Herzog actually hauled a 360-ton boat up a muddy 40-degree slope in the Amazon jungle when filming Fitzcarraldo (1982) because visual effects wouldn’t be able to express such a feat as completely. I think Stan Winston would’ve appreciated that.
Before his death he supervising the special effects for Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins to be released next year. The last completed film Winston conjured with his magic touch was the brilliant Iron Man (2008). With his passing, the world just got less awesome.
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem came out on DVD today. This is the sequel to the AVP movie from 2004 and it features a new cast, new director, and what the studio had hoped would be a winning new direction for an AVP franchise. The box office was not so hot for this movie and it will most likely do much better business on DVD as more people are willing to give a DVD a shot for some cheap thrills. And of course, as with almost every DVD release these days, there is the obligatory 2 Disc Extended cut of the film. AvPGalaxy.net has posted a very detailed list of