ROTTEN TOMATOES: Total Recall: The Best of Stan Winston

Total Recall: The Best of Stan Winston

We take a look back at the celebrated career of Hollywood's beloved creature artist.

by Tim Ryan | June 18, 2008

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With the passing of Oscar-winning makeup and special effects artist Stan Winston, RT decided to take a closer look at one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential behind-the-scenes figures, a man whose work changed the way that the movie industry brought special effects magic to the screen.

Stan Winston is proof, if any were needed, that dedicated, inspired craftspeople can leave as indelible a mark on movies -- and audiences -- as any director or actor. In his four-decade career, Winston's work was consistently inventive. He won an Emmy for his makeup work on the TV adaptation of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman, aging Cecily Tyson 19 to 110. More recently, he helped bring Iron Man to exhilarating, vivid life. But Winston was no mere craftsman; as he once said, "I don't do special effects. I do characters. I do creatures." This week's Total Recall takes stock of some of Winston's most memorable cinematic creations, many of which have left a profound mark on the imagination.

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The Terminator (1984, 100 percent)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991, 97 percent)

The first two Terminator films are perhaps the best examples of how Winston's work changed with the times -- and influenced cinematic technology to come. On the low-budget Terminator, Winston crafted the machine's exoskeleton with puppetry and animatronics. He would use similar applications on T2, but with greater complexity, and combined with the molten, shape shifting CGI, the sequel was huge leap forward for special effects (he won two Oscars for the film, for Best Visual Effects and Best Makeup). The Terminator began a fruitful partnership with James Cameron; they would work together on several more projects, and co-founded Digital Domain, a cutting edge digital effects company. He also remained close to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has referred to Winston in recent obituaries as "one of my best friends."

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Aliens (1986, 100 percent)

Taking over the helm of the Alien franchise, James Cameron brought Winston with him. They had their work cut out for them; how do you improve on Ridley Scott's taut, nightmarish direction and H.R. Geiger's iconic creature? The answer: go bigger and badder. While Cameron pumped up the action, Winston created a truly terrifying expansion on the original creature: the giant alien queen, a 14-foot tall combination of frightening power and dizzying speed. Supported by a crane, and utilizing a complex system of hydraulics, cables, a pair of puppeteers brought the menacing queen to life, and, in doing so, helped to deepen the legacy of one of horror and sci-fi cinema's most memorable monsters and picking up an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

"The special-effects specialists are featured prominently in the credits that precede Aliens, and so they should be," wrote Walther Goodman of the New York Times. "Under the direction of James Cameron, they have put together a flaming, flashing, crashing, crackling blow-'em-up show."

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(1-14 of 14 posts) | Reply

Floor Man writes:
on Jun 18 2008 06:16 PM

Man! Guy was a genius...!

(Reply to this)

Dionei writes:
on Jun 18 2008 07:13 PM

It'a shame he passed away... Those were good days when the special effects were made in plastic and not looked like plastic...

(Reply to this)

crazykila93 writes:
on Jun 18 2008 08:12 PM

He will definately live out in our hearts as a film legend.

(Reply to this)

jokerboy1991 writes:
on Jun 18 2008 08:46 PM

In reply to this comment (#1799620)
Yeah I miss that. When it was good old fashion make up and stuntwrok instead of CGI.

(Reply to this)

Zora_187 writes:
on Jun 18 2008 09:37 PM

I completely agree with you Dioeni. It's a shame he died while Terminator: Salvation was still being made.

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citizenjames writes:
on Jun 19 2008 06:05 AM

i remember watching my laserdisc for JURASSIC PARK (i'm dating myself) and my friend's wife commented that "spielberg is a genius... the guy created dinosaurs." i quickly corrected her: "stan winston created dinosaurs... spielberg just told them what to do."

i good example is i believe there is only six minutes of cgi footage in JURASSIC PARK... everything else is stan. people talk about how fake effects look but movies are more than that. i'll take bad effects and a good story over great effects and a bad story every day and twice on a sunday. what stan did was marry the two flawlessly. i defy anyone to point out the flaw in IRON MAN and what's practical and what's cgi. people complain about HULK but the problem (which i have none) isn't sloppy cgi... it's just that cgi hasn't caught up with stan.

www.jamesford.wordpress.com

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TombstoneLawDog writes:
on Jun 19 2008 07:01 AM

In reply to this comment (#1800422)
"it's just that cgi hasn't caught up with Stan."

Amen, brother.

..and there are those of us who remember laserdiscs.. (I had a friend who lost quite a bit of money investing...)

While there will always be those that rise to the occasion and show us something we've never seen before, I will not be surprised if it is a long time before anyone like Stan Winston comes along.

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CallMeBakes writes:
on Jun 19 2008 08:58 AM

There are a lot of people who can create crazy creatures and fabulous effects in their mind. It's another thing entirely to be able to actually create it physically. Stan Winston did just that. Anything that was inside his head, he could eventually bring to fully realized life. The man was simply a genius. Nothing else can be said. He will be missed.

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minderbinder writes:
on Jun 19 2008 09:11 AM

Brilliant guy, he will be missed.

People always rant about how great the CGI was in Jurassic Park, not realizing that most of the shots that look photorealistic are practical effects and not computer generated.

AI had some astounding visuals, but it was such a wasted opportunity. The craftsmanship in that is just amazing, but the movie is ruined by an awful script, really a shame it could have been brilliant but ended up a mess.

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zsmiller79 writes:
on Jun 19 2008 09:17 AM

R.I.P. Stan Winston

He changed the way effects are created for the big screen.

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MacLeoD39 writes:
on Jun 19 2008 02:13 PM

OKAY!!!!! ROB BOTTIN DID THE WORK IN THE THING!!!!!!!!! AS WELL AS THE FOG!!!!!! ROB BOTTIN!!!!!!!! not Stan Winston!!!!

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avoidz writes:
on Jun 19 2008 08:28 PM

In reply to this comment (#1801372)
@MacLeoD39 - Look up The Thing (1982) on IMDb; Stan Winston is listed under the Full cast and crew for "additional makeup effects".

:( It's extremely sad to lose such a great artist, but his art lives on in the movies he worked on.

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RETyrant writes:
on Jun 20 2008 03:21 AM

It's a shame. He also created the monsters in the video game The Suffering. There was supposed to be a movie adaptation of the game where he was to design the actual creatures used in the film, but I don't see it being made after his death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Suffering_(video_game)

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MacLeoD39 writes:
on Jun 20 2008 01:31 PM

In reply to this comment (#1801815)
okay i feel very dumb lol i never knew that Stan Winston had anything to do with The Thing it's one of my all time favorite movies I just never paid close attention to the credits!! thanks for the info!!!!

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