Goodbye to the Maestro

[A bit late, but I did not have access to my blog until now]. Two days ago, on August the 10th, a legend of monster making passed away: Carlo Rambaldi died in his home at Lamezia Terme (Catanzaro), Italy, where he moved about 10 years ago.


The Maestro's track record includes many memorable creatures, e.g. E.T. The Extraterrestrial (pictured above), the animatronic head mechanisms for Alien, John Guillermin's King Kong (he won an Oscar for all three), the Sandworms from Dune and the aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The head of Giger's iconic Design was mechanized by Rambaldi and his team.
Among his creations are also many monsters from italian genre films, like the 1968 Odyssey miniseries and Hercules and the Princess of Troy -- with the unforgettable sea cicada beast.  The start of his brilliant career actually fares back to 1957, when he built -- at the last moment, mind you -- a full size Dragon creature for Giacomo Gentilomo's Sigurd, which you can see below.

Goodbye Carlo, and thanks for everything.

1 comment:

  1. Io un grosso debito con Carlo Rambaldi: lui per me รจ stato una delle "3 grandi guide" (gli altri sono Stan Winston e Ray Harryhausen) al cinema fantastico.

    Quando ero piccolo infatti i miei mi portarono ad una mostra dedicata a lui a Cinecitta' (Roma).

    I disegni,i modelli,le foto delle sue creature hanno lasciato dentro di me un ricordo indelebile,stregandomi e immergendomi in un mondo di fantasia,mondo che per me non ha perso assolutamente il suo fascino.


    La sua scomparsa mi ha costernato,ma continuera' a vivere attraverso le sue opere.

    Grazie infinite Carlo......

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