Review Special Effects

[Doctor Omega]

From JASON & THE ARGONAUTS to CLASH OF THE TITANS, via MIGHTY JOE YOUNG and GWANGI... please feel free to have a chat about RAY HARRYHAUSEN and his works here...





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[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

I met Ray Harryhausen many years ago in London at the Scala Cinema when there was a small convention - and screenings of cult films.

They showed a montage, much like the one above, and then he walked onstage.

He had long since retired at that point and was clearly content with that decision.

He and Forry talked, of course, of how KING KONG had inspired them and Ray said that his favourite film of the ones that he had made was JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS.

Forry talked of his love for the film METROPOLIS. Sadly he did not live to see an almost complete of it being found in 2008.

After the talk I went up and they both signed my programme. At the time I had just purchased this issue of the brand new comic adaption of KING KONG.

His eyes widened and he was fascinated by it, obviously pleased to see it, clearly not knowing of it's existence. For - just for a few moments - he was an excited kid again. In retrospect I really wish I had just given it to him, but got it signed instead. Hopefully he got his own copy eventually!

I believe the event included a screening of JASON and I believe I remember Forry and Ray saying that they had brought a print with them.

The rest of the event was composed of screenings of some extremely obscure horror films including 2000 maniacs or some such title. I still have the programme somewhere, but there was certainly nothing mainstream! However the biggest memory is of meeting Ray and Forry.

My own favourites is a toss up between JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and CLASH OF THE TITANS. :)

 

[Doctor Omega]

Please post and discuss on the life and work of Rick Baker here...

He announced his retirement in 2015....

 

[Doctor Omega]

To be honest, I knew him first and foremost as the man who was King Kong in 1976.

Rick humanised Kong, mainly through the use of his eyes behind the mask in that much derided, but I feel underrated, film.

Of course, since then, he has gone on to be a legend in the movie make up industry.

But he will always be Kong to me!

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

The man is a legend. His work is amazing, and I will always remember that he was the man who scared the shit out of me when I watched AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON without my mom knowing. I had nightmares for weeks.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

My own favourites is a toss up between JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS and CLASH OF THE TITANS. :)

Thanks once again Doc! I remember watching double features as a kid when Mom could send my brother and I to the movies for $5 each which included tickets, popcorn and candy. It was a great way for her to get an afternoon off and we grew up watching some of the greatest "B Movies" ever made for a cheaper 4 hours than she could ever have gotten paying a babysitter.

Harryhausen will always live in my memory as the Grandfather of special effects; especially since he did most of his work "in camera". Something that has more-or-less disappeared altogether in this day and age of "whose got the best CGI" and why. He is one of the reasons I have always supported FX in support of story instead of today's Big Budget Blockbuster "let's pour our whole budget into the FX and if there's room for a story... that's great too.

It's wrong, it's sad and it's tragic. So thanks for reminding us that there was a time when movies really were magical along with the man who helped make them that way.

Oh... and I too think Metropolis is a beautiful piece of moving art that was the "once upon a time" that started it all. Yes, Nosferatu was bloody brilliant but it's also a whole different class of film.

 

[divemaster13]

One day, when I was a little kid, my dad was excited for a movie that was coming on TV one Saturday afternoon. He had seen it before (likely in the theater) and wanted his son to experience it as well. He knew I was totally into dinosaurs (aren't all little boys?), and we sat down and watched The Valley of Gwangi together. Loved it! I've seen other RH films since, and liked a lot of them, but Gwangi holds a special place in my childhood.

 

[High Plains Drifter]

Do you think with all the advances in CGI this is will put Prop Makers out of work?

This was something I was thinking about. We seen Disney fire it's animators and go all computerized now.
Next the CGI world is getting better, and better and props can only do so much.
When is it going to be enough in the CGI world?
What I'm mainly pointing out is CGI vs Practical Effects.
Just think they could shoot a whole movie with a green screen, without having to go here or there. They can ever put actors faces on other people.

Honestly I hate being able to figure out at times what is fake or real. I noticed the better movies are, the more cgi is in them. I'm just hoping it will run it's course, and everything will get back to normal movie making with special effects. Even airbrushing needs to stop on posters and in ads.

 

[The Seeker]

I hope not. I'm not always impressed with CGI. Maybe I'm old fashioned. But props and real locations look better to me.

 

[Janine The Barefoot]

I look at shows like Penny Dreadful, GoT, movies like LOTR and TH and know, just know that props will always be a part of movie and TV making. Even ST (all of them) and all the Stargates relied heavily on props. There are still many shows that just don't have the budget for universal CGI and many shows that don't use any at all. I do however, agree that the use of lenses and airbrushing to make actors look a certain way gets more than a little annoying. Real people don't look like that and given that the audience is made of real people surely they can't think we don't notice and don't care.....

And DBs in honor of Harryhausen and the good ole days of Jason and the Argonauts and such:

 

[Doctor Omega]