Dan O'Bannon writer of Alien passes away at age 63

[katmai]

RIP

Dan O'Bannon, science fiction screenwriter and director, passed away on December 17, 2009 in Los Angeles. He was best known for his work in the science-fiction and horror genres, with hits that included Alien, Total Recall, and The Return of the Living Dead.

O'Bannon made his first splash in 1974 with Dark Star, which expanded a low-budget, 45-minute short co-written with fellow USC student John Carpenter. Although the film had sci-fi trappings, such as a space ship and cryogenic freezing technology, Dark Star was essentially a quirky, black-hearted comedy about the ship's misfit crew members. The movie became a cult hit; and not only did O'Bannon work on the screenplay, but he had an acting role as a character named Sgt. Pinback.

A few years later, after working on special computer animation and graphic displays for a little feature called Star Wars, O'Bannon wrote the script for Alien, based on a story penned by himself and Ronald Shusett. It was a career saver at the time, as an Alejandro Jodorowsky-helmed version of "Dune" he had been supervising special effects for had fallen apart.


Released in 1979, the Ridley Scott-helmed Alien put O'Bannon at the forefront of sci-fi/horror screenwriters, and is still considered particularly innovative. "With Alien, I figured out quite simply that, as an audience member, what you DON'T see scares you more than what you see," O'Bannon once observed. "In horror films, the scares that really grab the audience and build the tension for them don't come from the monster jumping out of the shadows! The terror comes from the slow times in between those pay-off scenes in which the characters are talking and planning—waiting for something to jump out at them!"

During the 80's, O'Bannon penned the scripts for Blue Thunder, as well as the alien encounter-turned-vampirism film Lifeforce, as well as the remake of Invaders from Mars, the latter two both for director Tobe Hooper. However, with 1985's Return of the Living Dead, O'Bannon jumped into the director's chair himself for the first time. The result was a successful zombie flick that spawned several sequels.

O'Bannon re-teamed with Shusett on Total Recall, the 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster based on "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale", a short story by Philip K. Dick. The Paul Verhoeven-directed film grossed over $100 million US in 1990. In 1992, O'Bannon helmed his second feature, a low-budget horror film called The Resurrected, inspired by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. In 1995, he received a co-screenplay credit for Screamers, based on another Dick story, "Second Variety".

At the time of his death, O'Bannon was working on the Alien prequel due out in 2011. He was also known for writing "The Long Tomorrow", a mid-1970's short story comic book with artwork by Moebius, which blended elements of noir and cyberpunk. Both Ridley Scott and William Gibson have said their respective works — Blade Runner and Neuromancer — were influenced by "The Long Tomorrow".

[Jaron]

Rest in peace

[Queequeg]

Just watched Alien over the last week, and read his Wiki bio.  Very sad.  Alien is one of the few perfect movies.   

[LaCroix]

well, except for those few scenes where the alien is shown in all its costume glory. notably: sucked into space 

[The Brain]

Blue Thunder. What an awesome movie.

[DontSayBanana]

Will have to break out Total Recall.  In memory, I will watch Sharon Stone getting her whiny ass kicked.

[Duque de Bragança]

Lifeforce, what a great guilty pleasure. Mathilda May in full glory helped, too

[grumbler]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

[The Brain]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

No lesbian sex scenes.

[DontSayBanana]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

But...but... what could be funnier than Arnold Schwarzenneger with his eyes bugging out like an overly-macho cartoon?

[Neil]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

No lesbian sex scenes.

And that's what made it perfect.

[grumbler]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

No lesbian sex scenes.

Tentacle sex trumps lesbian sex.

[grumbler]

Yeah, I have to admit:  there were moments of suckage in most of the movies named, but they all had at least their moments, and in Alien those moments lasted the whole movie.  Much as I hate agreeing with Queequeg, he is right:  Alien is one of the very few "perfect movies."

But...but... what could be funnier than Arnold Schwarzenneger with his eyes bugging out like an overly-macho cartoon?

Total Recall is the weakest film on the list, but even it has moments.