Rest In Peace - Ray Harryhausen

Well, this is a sad moment.  I know that most of the Ray Harryhausen films I was planning to do on All-Out Giant Monster Attack! have already been reviewed, leaving only "Valley of Gwangi" on the list, but its still depressing to know that I only barely began to know this great filmmaking and his truly inspired take on special effects before he died today, at age 92.  Ray Harryhausen has been in what is essentially retirement for decades, ever since his last great movie, "Clash of the Titans".

Along with Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen essentially created the genre of giant monster films, and was a beloved icon of special effects.  Every one of the thousands of names that was included in the "Iron Man 3" list of effects artists can thank their career to the pioneering work of Harryhausen, who was doing what they were doing with animatronics and camera tricks before even the first visual computer was invented.  Without him, we wouldn't have had a "Godzilla", we would not have had a "Star Wars", no "Terminator", no "Jurassic Park", no "Toy Story", no "Coraline", not even a "Transformers".  I'm sure if Harryhausen had made the Transformers series in the 1960s, it would have been far superior, because he was a man who brought great personality and meaning behind his monsters, which modern filmmakers seem to struggle with.  You can get a million emotions behind the simple gestures of Harryhausen's Cyclops in "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", and all the computing power in the world can't replicate simple pure genius.

So RIP, Ray Harryhausen.  You are missed by me and all filmgoers around the world.