Ron Cobb, a Designer on Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Alien, Dies at 83
Source: Gizmodo
Ron Cobb, one of the most prolific and impactful designers in cinema history, died this week at the age of 83.
Cobb is a name thats well-known to film nerds, but maybe not so much to the general public. Thats wild, considering he worked on some of the most successful and influential films from the 1970s, 80s, and 90s: Star Wars, Alien, Back to the Future, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Conan the Barbarian, The Abyss, The Last Starfighter, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, to name just a few.
On Star Wars, he designed some of the creatures in the Cantina scene, including the Hammerhead. On Back to the Future, he helped refine the design of the DeLorean to give it the DIY look that made it so memorable. For Alien, he did the exterior and interior of the main setting, the Nostromo. He helped Steven Spielberg come up with the idea for E.T. and had a cameo in the film. He designed all the ships in The Last Starfighter. We could go on and on.
Read more: https://io9.gizmodo.com/ron-cobb-a-designer-on-star-wars-back-to-the-future-1845130929
Also was a cartoonist at the L A Free Press back in the day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Cobb
http://www.roncobb.net/
Tactical Peek
(1,212 posts)1975
PlanetBev
(4,104 posts)My favorite was a family driving on a road with cut down tree stumps and smoggy air. A sign ahead says scenic drive next 10 miles, followed by billboards with trees.
Funny, but sad. 🤪. Wow, died on his birthday!
Ford_Prefect
(7,927 posts)He is still so relevant too:
GReedDiamond
(5,318 posts)...which is, I suspect, what Ron Cobb was trying to warn us about, so we wouldn't be where we are now.
If Twitler gets a 2nd term, we are there-and-beyond "B Citizens Only" type designations.
lapfog_1
(29,238 posts)the best SciFi film shot for under $100,000.
Negotiating with the the AI bomb scene is priceless.
Ron designed the ship... and I would bet that he had a hand with the beach ball alien too.