Stan Winston: 1946-2008

As we surfed around this morning, we happened upon the sad news of Stan Winston’s passing – aged just 62, after battling cancer for a good few years. To say we were shocked would be an understatement.

If you don’t know his name, we know you know the great man’s work – those amongst us who have haven’t freaked out at some of his wonderful creatures, make up or special effects work over the years must be few and far between. The list of classic films which bear his mark is long and bloody: Predator, Aliens, Terminator – as well as 2, 3 and the new movie Salvation - The Entity, The Thing, Friday 13th pt. III, Edward Scissorhands, Batman Returns, Interview With A Vampire, A.I., Big Fish, Small Soldiers, End Of Days, Galaxy Quest, the Jurassic Parks and Iron Man being just the ones that mean the world to me.

He was good. Crikey, was he good.

A confirmed technophobe, Winston’s art was building the physical objects that make us sit up and pay attention, the nuts and bolts, skin and bone that help us immerse ourselves in a good fantasy film, the characters that bring a wonderful physicality to interactions with real actors. He wasn’t a pixel pusher, he dealt in rubber, slime, gears, metal and fake blood – inspired by the great make up that filled Universal Horror movies of the 50s - and we here at Den Of Geek loved him for it.

He built the massive T-Rex for Jurassic Park, the ‘you’ve got to be f**king kidding’ er… Things from The Thing, the wonderful Teddy from A.I. He created the Terminator – just think about that. The Terminator!

Bow your heads; it’ll be a while before we see another like him. Stan, you'll be very, very sadly missed. Hopefully, all the proponents of CGI will continue to understand the important of what he did for decades to come.