RIP Ray Harryhausen

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runcible
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RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by runcible »

Maybe the guy won't mean much to people here but he was the special effects chap who did the animation for many films from my childhood - Jason and the Argonauts, the Sinbad films, Clash of the Titans. His technique was simple but those films are magical memories for me and I've got all my kids into them too.

Anyway, a sad loss as he was a pretty remarkable influence on animation.
Laz69
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by Laz69 »

RIP indeed. Those old movies were astonishing to young eyes.
olan
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by olan »

Image

A genius....will be sadly missed in my house. My kids and I love his work. The Valley of Gwangi is a particular favourite our ours. Cowboys and Dinosaurs, how could it be anything less than perfect? Best viewed as part of a double bill with a Doug McClure movie (The Land That Time Forgot being our favourite).
redcloud
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by redcloud »

I too grew up watching Harryhausen's monsters. 'Mighty Joe Young', 'The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms', 'It Came From Beneath The Sea', the various 'Sinbad' films, 'Jason & The Argonauts', 'One Million B.C.' (ok, I admit...I was looking more at Raquel than I was the dinosaurs!), 'Clash of the Titans'. Man....I loved all those films and have always felt very nostalgic towards them. The skeleton army in 'Jason & The Argonauts' is still one of the true greats of pioneering visual effects.
runcible
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by runcible »

Did anyone see that interpretation of The Flaming Lips 'Zaireeka'? It had collages of various films set to the music and was done in Dolby 5.1. It is absolutely incredible, but the point is the bit with clips from Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans is particularly brilliant.

It's only a matter of time before someone rekindles that style of film making and a pastiche Harryhausen film comes out.
Laz69
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by Laz69 »

redcloud wrote: The skeleton army in 'Jason & The Argonauts' is still one of the true greats of pioneering visual effects.
One of my greatest cinematic moments ever! The clanking of the bones used to really creep me out as a kid...
runcible
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Re: RIP Ray Harryhausen

Post by runcible »

Laz69 wrote:
redcloud wrote: The skeleton army in 'Jason & The Argonauts' is still one of the true greats of pioneering visual effects.
One of my greatest cinematic moments ever! The clanking of the bones used to really creep me out as a kid...
Me too. They were so sinister. 2 other things about that scene is that when you look at it Jason and his Argonauts are truly terrible swordsmen - they just swipe swords wildly in the air without any degree of skill (which they do throughout the film). The 2nd is when the skeletons run off the cliff you just get a shot of a few handfuls of bones that have been flung over the edge.

There is also a curious degree of homo-eroticism in that film for some reason - lots of deliberate 'up skirt' shots on quite a few of the blokes in it, particularly in the 'Hydra' scene. (disclaimer - I had to have this pointed out to me I should add!)
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