Our Top 20 FX Suits!
In a time where computer generated graphics rule Hollywood, we thought it would be nice to compile a list of our favorite special effects suits. To create a cohesive list like this, some rules needed to be laid out. The first is that the suit must be wearable and cover head to toe. Second is one suit per movie. We didn’t want a list of Star Wars characters. Are these the twenty best suits? Not for us to say… but they are our 20 favorites.
Compiled by:
Eric Shepard
Vince Labolito
Chris Burdett
Kevin Derryberry
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20. Goomba
Super Mario Brothers (1993)
Patrick Tatopoulos
Okay, so we may catch some flak for having this on the list. Though the head sculpt and the animatronics in the face are impressive, the overall design of the creature left the average viewer wanting more. Not to mention the disappointed Mario traditionalists that wanted it to actually look like a Goomba from the game. All that aside, there was something about these that stuck with me. They were big dumb oafs, and watching a pack of these bump into each other and sway to music is just plain funny.
-eric
19. Harry
Harry and the Hendersons (1987)
Rick Baker
Rick Baker’s love for gorillas and apes is widely known in the special makeup effects circles. Knowing this, it is easy to see all the attention and love that he and his staff gave to this suit. It can be argued that the Rick Baker ape suits in ‘Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey’ or ‘Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes’ are much more realistic, but the Harry suit had that little extra touch of fantasy that allowed made it stand out. In the context of the movie, Harry was allowed to show a greater range of emotion which Rick Baker and the performer Kevin Peter Hall were able to exploit to create a memorable character.
-chris
18. Wak
Exporers (1985)
Henry Alvarez
At his core, Wak is a teenager. Though an alien, he has an annoying little sister, watches a ton of television, and had more angst than you can shake a latex eyeball on a stick at. Okay, so this is another goofy 80s movie, but it has Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix and a trash can spaceship. Plus, Wak has suction cup fingers.
-eric
17. Pizza the Hut
Spaceballs (1987)
Peter Albiez
Jabba could not be on the list due to his puppet-like nature, so we have the next best thing! In his brief appearance in Spaceballs, Pizza the Hut stole our hearts with his cheesy, melty charisma. This due to the commanding performance by the voice of Dom Deloise that made me believe a man could be made of pizza. Sadly, Pizza became trapped in his car and ate himself to death.
-eric
16. Golgothan Poop Monster
Dogma (1999)
Vincent J. Guastini
Straight from the stinky pits of Hell comes the Golgothan! I don’t know about you, but I love a good poop joke. The suit itself is a nice fatty sculpt, but what makes this special is the four different formulas of poop the FX team concocted: light brown, dark brown, chunky, and creamy. Now that is some in depth poo poo planning. After filming, Kevin Smith said, “It didn’t stink as bad as real shit, but it didn’t lack pungency either.” He also says that the bar it was shot in was extremely hot and stuffy, and by the end of the scene, coated with the crap. Ahh… where would comedy be without poo?
-eric
15. Mr. Stay-Puft (aka the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man)
Ghost Busters (1984)
EEG
Called into existence by Dan Aykroyd’s Ray Stanz character by thinking of “something that could never possibly hurt us”, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (hereafter known as SPMM) leapt from the mind of costume creator Bill Bryan and into the hearts of movie fans everywhere. Through a clever mix of miniatures, optical compositing, and the performance of Bill Bryan himself inside the latex, this simple rubber suit appeared on screen as a 100 plus foot monster made of mallow, bent on stomping the life out the Ghostbusters and anything else that might get in his way. While not the most creative suit (a cross between the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Michellin Man) visually, the SPMM is so iconic of this film that you can’t think of Ghostbusters without Mr. Stay-Puft. The impact of the SPMM on the film’s protagonists can be summed up with the snippet of dialogue below which immediately follows the introduction of the city-stomping marshmallow pitch-man:
Venkman: Ray has gone bye-bye, Egon… what’ve you got left?
Spengler: Sorry, Venkman, I’m terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
-vince
14. Howard the Duck
Howard the Duck (1986)
Industrial Light & Magic
Sort of a strange member of the ILM family, Howard has reached cult status and shamelessly embodies the 80s. Though a Donald Duck rip-off, Howard showed the world that it was okay for a duck to wear pants. Not much else to say really… we just like the little guy.
-eric
13. C-3PO
Star Wars (1977)
Industrial Light & Magic
Unlike his rolling trash bin counterpart, C-3PO is a marvel to look at. The concept behind Threepio’s look was inspired by the mysterious robot in the 1927 film Metropolis. Praise is also due to the actor Anthony Daniels, who portrayed C-3PO, in voice and physical form, in all six films. The winning combination of Daniels’ talent and this beautiful suit actually had cast members fooled. Daniels said that he often was ignored by other actors when he was wearing the C-3PO costume during filming, seemingly that they actually forgot that he was a real person. Understandable.
-eric
12. R.O.U.S (Rodents Of Unusual Size)
The Princess Bride (1987)
Nick Allder
The R.O.U.S’s from The Princess Bride are probably one of my favorite suited creations for the simple reason that for years I didn’t even realize there were little people in those giant rat suits. The performance and look of the R.O.U.S’s was so great to me as a kid, (and well into my 20’s, truth be told) that I really never even wondered how they pulled them off. I just totally bought into the fiction of the giant man-chomping rats wondering around the fire swamp just waiting for a taste of any passing black-clad stranger with a British accent. I recently found out that there were two different performers for the R.O.U.S’s, Anthony Georghiou and Danny Blackner, one of which was responsible for all the rat mannerisms such as the shuffling walk and sniffing around, while the other was able to run really fast on all fours which was handy for the fire swamp attack sequence. If I met the creator of the suits for these pieces of my childhood, he could ask me for anything and I would say, “As you wish.”
-vince
11. Ape Family
Greystoke (1984)
Rick Baker
Rick Baker and crew at their finest. You can really see the love and attention of everyone involved in the creation of the suits for “Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes”. Rick Baker personally oversaw the deign and character creation of all the lead apes in this film. Baker Took the time and effort to ensure each ape was distinguishable from the others and had their own personality. Truly some of the most realistic and beautifully made ape suits to ever grace the silver screen. An example of Baker’s passion for apes and gorillas can be seen at the Los Angles Zoo in front of gorilla paddock, a bronze bust of an gorilla, sculpted by Baker himself. Ape suits made by the larger effects shops have their hair hand punched, one hair at a time, and may take up to 6 months to complete. Baker is known as a stickler to detail and time is not an issue, only a quality product and you see that in these suits.
-chris
10. Pumpkinhead
Pumpkinhead (1988)
Tom Woodruff
In Stan Winston’s directorial debut, be careful what you wish for… you may just incur the wrath of a demonic incarnation. Pretty clearly Alien inspired, the Pumkinhead suit achieves a similar sense of realism… just with less plot, and more gore. A demon conjured for the sake of revenge, Pumkinhead pulled no punches as he demolished one punk kid after another. Pumkinhead was designed and played by Tom Woodruff, the very talented creature master, who has played lead alien roles in Alien 3 and the AVP movies.
-eric
9. Lycans
Underworld Evolution (2006)
Patrick Tatopoulos
This will probably be one of the most hotly disputed choices on the whole list, but that’s okay, I’m prepared to debate it. Of the hundreds of different werewolf suits that have been donned by hundreds of different actors, the suit designs for the lycans from the Underworld films are my favorite. Why? Because they most closely fit what I think a true werewolf should look like. Including, but not limited to, the following:
Lean muscular body like a wolf? Check.
Elongated snout with twitching ears? Check.
Back legs that bend like a real wolf’s? Check.
These suits were my favorite thing about the first film, and their redesign for the second film only made me like them more. Designed by Patrick Tatopoulos, of Independence Day, Stargate, Pitch Black and I, Robot fame, and of course, Godzilla infamy, these hulking monstrosities are a treat to behold. While not as hairy as I’d like to see (these are supposed to be human shaped wolves after all) they get major points from me just for those cool looking back legs. Special props to the performers who had to walk around in those stilted suits, I bet those guys had calves of steel after a couple weeks.
-vince
8. Swamp Thing
Return of the Swamp Thing (1989)
Dean Gates
Swamp Thing has appeared in suit form in 2 feature films as well as a USA television series. The suit created for the 1989 ‘Return of the Swamp Thing’ was by far the crowning achievement. Compared to the rather drab and monotone 1982 movie incarnation the ‘Return’ Swamp Thing was amazingly detailed and painted to highlight the complexity of the suit’s sculpture. Often forgotten due to the rather lackluster movie, the Swamp Thing suit should not be over looked for it’s uniqueness and quality.
-chris
7. Sammael Monsters
Hellboy (2004)
Rick Baker
It’s the little things on this suit that really do it for me. The overall design, by creature artist Wayne Barlow, is a classic, but it’s the execution by Mike Elizalde and his Spectral Motion crew that really sells it. The movement of the robotic eyes, the twitching in the animatronic head tentacles, the near-constant stream of saliva…stuff like that just totally makes this go from a guy in a suit to a living breathing demon creature. It also makes this suit a real joint effort as it takes three people running the remote controls in addition to the performer in the suit. Speaking of which, the guy in the suit goes by the name of Brian Steele. He’s 6’7 which really helps make Sammael seem imposing when stacked up against Ron Perlman, who’s no slouch in the physicality department. Steele also fills one of the Lycan suits in Underworld as well as portraying monsters in loads of other movies such as Doom and Blade: Trinity. Next time you get a chance, check out the little details of this suit too, and pay special attention to the asymmetry of it. Notice that there are two eyes on one side of the head and only one on the other. Notice the huge arm claw on only one arm. That’s a nice touch, and the kind of thing that’s rarely seen in creature suit design. I give it a big red stone thumbs-up.
-vince
6. Chewbacca
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Industrial Light & Magic
Whoooooooa what a Wookiee. Never have I found it so easy to suspend my disbelieve with a suited character as I have with Chewbacca. The loyal sidekick, protecter, and co-pilot to Han Solo, this Wookiee has graced the screen in 4 movies and 1 ill conceived Holiday Special. Under the design supervision of Stuart Freeborn and the performance of Peter Mayhew this collection of fur and rubber has taken on a personality of it own and has captured the imaginations of a several generations. Chewbacca, like Godzilla has been honored with an MTV Life Time Achievement Award, Chewbacca receiving his in 1997. As a side note, the family of Wookiees seen in the Star Wars Holiday Special were created by Tom Burman and consisted of wigs that were unraveled and wrapped around a body suit.
-chris
5. Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
The turtles movie was actually an independent film that was expected to flop, but these amazing suits breathed life into the characters and it ended up raking in a cool $135 million. The best thing about these suits is their mobility. Despite the half shell around their torsos, the actors and stuntmen could really move well in these while fighting Shredder and the Foot Clan. What is amazing about these, is that they are the main characters of the movie. Four, full coverage FX suits displayed in full lighting throughout the entire movie. Even now, they hold up. They still look awesome.
-eric
4. Godzilla
Gojira (1954)
Teizo Toshimitsu
The king of all monsters, the king of all monster suits. This 90 story tall radioactive dinosaur has continued to survive as a guy in a rubber suit for over 50 years. From ping-pong ball eyes in the 1960’s to the elephantine legged incarnation in the last 15 years, Godzilla has evolved in step with the techniques of suit making. There were the dark days of 1998 where the cloud of poorly made CG nearly eclipsed the shining star that is Godzilla, but through such personal favorites as the 2001 release of ‘Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack’ the integrity of the rubber suit was insured. The recipient of an MTV Life Time Achievement Award in 1996, Godzilla continues to be a global icon for rubber suits. The fact that the suit wearer gets to crush HO scale model cities can’t hurt Godzilla’s reputation as one of the greatest rubber suit ever made. Oh no! There goes Tokyo, Go Go Godzilla.
-chris
3. Gill Man
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)
Bud Westmore (Rosemary Odell concept)
Largely regarded as the beginning of the full monster suit, the Gill Man will live in the murky depths of our hearts and minds forever. Despite being made in 1954, the thing still looks awesome. We are talking about a super low budget and uncharted territory here, people. Fun fact: There was a second actor brought in to play the underwater scenes because there was no room for scuba gear, so he had to hold his breath. And as a kid, watching him… so did I.
-eric
2. The Predator
Predator (1987)
Stan Winston
Designed and created by Stan Winston and his team, the Predator is simply one of the baddest alien species to ever grace the silver screen. I don’t know if it’s the space-dreds, or the armor & weapons, or (most likely) that freaky mandibled face, but the Predator will always be one of my favorite suited creatures. Filling out the suit was 7 foot 2 inch actor Kevin Peter Hall, notable for also playing suited monsters in Prophecy, Harry & the Hendersons, as well as returning to the Predator role in the film’s sequel. This is one of those creations that when you first see it, you think it’s awesome, but the more you see it the better it looks. I mean, who can forget the first time you see the Predator without his helmet and get a load of that face? Credit for the face mandibles apparently has to go to action-film director James Cameron as an idea that he mentioned to monster creator Winston during a shared flight to Japan. I surmise that the creature itself, rather than the story is one of the reasons that there is such a huge amount of Predator spin-off material, including toys, video games, comics, novels and even a film pitting the Predator against the star of the Alien franchise (not Sigourney Weaver). By the way, the less said about the Predators from Aliens vs. Predator, the better.
-vince
1. Alien
Aliens (1986)
Stan Winston (H.R. Giger concept)
Our number one spot was created in H.R. Giger’s twisted nightmares, and executed by the creature master that is Stan Winston. The thing that sets Alien apart from the rest of the pack is that at no point do I really feel like I am watching a guy in a suit. When you watch an Alien film, they ARE real. They ARE aliens.
-eric
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If you liked this list, check out our Top 20 Comic Book Weapons as well!
March 28th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I think the Vogons from the (generally rather poor) HHGTTG could come just outside the top 20 - for interpretation of a creature’s nature into a physical form.
March 29th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I think both the Pale Man and the Pan should have been included somewhere in here.
March 29th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I have always loved the Devil in the movie Legend!
March 29th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
I still think the Ape makeup in the planet of the apes “Reimagining” is some of the best makeup ever created. They look SO REAL.
March 29th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
Erin:
Yes, Pan was a late suggestion and could’ve totally been on the list.
Lysa:
I fought for The Lord of Darkness, but he isn’t covered head to toe, so I was overruled by the group. He IS awesome though.
March 29th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Thanks for putting this together! Great job! -rob
March 29th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I think the faun from Pan’s Labyrinth got robbed. That was one of the most intricate and believable suits I’ve ever seen! Sticking with the theme, how could they forget Ludo or Hoggle from Labyrinth?
March 29th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
there’s a relatively little-known werewolf movie called dog soldiers floating about. best werewolf movie ever, aside from american werewolf in london, because they used no cgi. it was all suits and puppets. very well done suits for such a low budget, as well.
March 29th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
There’s one that us old farts still think about, done back in the old days, and that’s the monkey’s in the Wizard of Oz. When you think about what they had to work with and that those monkies have scared little kids for generations, they belong up there as well. Great picks!
March 29th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Yeah the Lycans are pretty cool. The only thing i didn’t really like was the fur. It seemed a little too synthetic.
Alien is good but it doesn’t have to be #1
March 29th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
While I would agree with most of this list as well as previously listed omissions I would have to say that one of the most advanced FX suits has been left off the list.
The Sarris character from Galaxy Quest featured one of the most intricate suits made, not only is it a full body suit but the mask is not simply prosthetics, but an animatronic mask that is not controlled by puppeteers but by the actors movements via a built in telemetry controll system attached to his face.
March 29th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
What? The aliens from Independence day werent in here? Dont get me wrong, the characters on this list are all awesome looking (even if I havent seen all the movies), but those aliens were great.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Huge thank you for putting the Ninja Turtles on this list. As soon as I saw the title of this list, I automatically thought of the gang in green. And I’ve always thought the same thing: even to this day, the suits still hold up. Beats CGI any day.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
What about the TV show “Dinosaurs”? Those things looked crazy good, son!!
March 29th, 2007 at 9:13 pm
“The turtles movie was actually an independent film that was expected to flop, but these amazing suits breathed life into the characters and it ended up raking in a cool $135 million.”
Was it really expected to flop? I find it hard to believe when you consider that every kid in America was playing with the toys and watching the cartoon.
Also, as impressive as the suits were, I don’t think they really had that much impact on the success of the film. They could have been wearing cardboard masks and it still would have been the greatest movie ever made because I was five.
March 29th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
I was surprised Diva Plavalaguna from The Fifth Element wasn’t on here. :X
March 29th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
What about The Thing from the fantastic four, lot of hard work and time went into that suit
March 29th, 2007 at 10:15 pm
what about the thing from The Thing!?
March 29th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
The aliens form “ID4″ were puppets not suits, both the large armor suits and their occupants.
March 29th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Something to keep in mind with the original Swamp Thing costume is the fact that it was made to be worn by Ray Wise. He suffered a broken leg during production and the Wes Craven tapped Dick Durock (already onboard as a stuntman for the picture) to wear the rubber suit. Unfortunately for Dick, he is more than six inches taller than Ray Wise, resulting in the characters stretched appearance.
I’m the first movies costume would have looked better if it fit properly but the costume from the second file is a true work of art!
March 29th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
DALEK!
March 29th, 2007 at 11:38 pm
[…] Top 20 FX Suits! - En Ingles Dejar un comentario […]
March 29th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Great list. The Alien certainly takes the cake for me. It personifies my nightmares: facing an unthinkable foe. Plus your pick of the creature illuminates its trully disgusting and terrorizing elegance. As Ash coldly and succintly puts it: “I admire it for its purity.”
March 29th, 2007 at 11:54 pm
How could both Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal be left out? The Mystics and the Skeksis in Dark Crystal were full body suits, as well as the still awesome Landstriders!
March 30th, 2007 at 12:31 am
The Ninja Turtles DEFINITELY belong up there!! Yeah, small children are easy to impress and because of that, the suits could be made of card board. BUT, they werent, and because they werent, now that I am older, I still enjoy watching those movies. Alot of that is because of how well the suits were done. Also, I must say I do agree with number one, Alien was an awesome movie (not that that has anything to do with the list) but the Alien suit was absolutely stunning!
March 30th, 2007 at 1:02 am
I’d just like to say thanks for putting all 20 on one page–it’d've been a major PITA to click through 5-10 pages on some other site.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:47 am
Good list overall, but I CANNOT believe that Pilot from Farscape wasn’t included! He was basically one of the main characters from the TV show for 4 years and in the mini-series. Pilot is one of the most convincing FX suit/creature that I know of. He’s badass and should’ve been included on the list.
March 30th, 2007 at 1:47 am
The apes from 2001 are widely considered to be the most realistic animals ever portrayed by man.
The apes in the Planet of the Apes movies should also get an honorable mention, at least.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:24 am
Generally, any “Top 20″ list will be subject to debate (especially on the internets!). But surprisingly, I have little quarrel with your list except for the following caveats:
1. you broke your own rule of 1 suit per movie (c3po and chewie). you fudged (because cheated is probably too strong a word) with a technicality by having one on SW:ANH and the other on Empire.
2. the excellent work of jim henson’s creature shop is under represented.
My two cents.
March 30th, 2007 at 2:34 am
[…] 20 Movie FX Suits! Filed under: Uncategorized — recar @ 6:34 am Top 20 Movie FX Suits! In a time where computer generated graphics rule Hollywood, we thought it would be nice to compile […]
March 30th, 2007 at 2:36 am
great list… but fyi the pic for #9 is 100% CG. if you go to the fx companies website ( http://www.luma-pictures.com ), and then to projects and underworld evolution then shot 3, you can see a cutaway ( not sure what they call that). there is even a movie.
I think I saw on the dvd that there was some guy in suit shots, but most were cg. Still cool.
I had forgotten about the explorers, I loved that movie!
gob
March 30th, 2007 at 2:52 am
Great list!
But what about Robocop! While it doesn’t cover 100% of Peter Weller’s body, you could still argue that it is a top to toe suit. At least at the back.
The suit makes the character totally believeable. And come on… he has a gun holster in his leg! How cool is that! Yes yes, I know the holster wasn’t acutally part of the suit and was a separate prop, but still… I think an exception could be made to allow for Robo in this list.
March 30th, 2007 at 3:10 am
The Orcs from any of the LOTR movies shouldn’t be overlooked.
March 30th, 2007 at 3:26 am
How about some of the Dr. Who costumes? Or does’t the small screen count
March 30th, 2007 at 3:42 am
what about jar jar? ^_^
March 30th, 2007 at 4:07 am
WTF?!! Why isn’t The Dark Crystal on this list???
March 30th, 2007 at 4:23 am
You almost had me scared there, I wasn’t seeing Godzilla! BUt then, there he was… at #4! (He should be #1, King of Monsters!)
One of the better “Best of __” Lists out there.
March 30th, 2007 at 5:38 am
as a 24 yr old, i grew up watching the ninja turtles on tv and was absolutely excited when the movies came out. due to my bias, id have them at number 1 plus there were four of them. the first one is always gonna be the best, but the second one sure was damn entertaining especially since ernie reyes jr added more action to the movie (oh yah, plus vanilla ice, haha!). and the third one, eh…
March 30th, 2007 at 5:54 am
The Underworld Evolution shot above is a compleate cg shot, but there were full prosthetic suits of them in the movie.
March 30th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Yeah–talk about forgetting it’s a suit…Hoggle!!!! And talk about detail, personality and individuality, it’s hard to top the Skesis. Sentimental favorite for sheer icon status…Robot from ‘Lost in Space’.
March 30th, 2007 at 10:28 am
does alf count?
March 30th, 2007 at 10:42 am
where is ALF?
March 30th, 2007 at 10:53 am
The Landstriders from Dark Crystal really deserve to be included. In addition to an amazing fx suit, the performers have stilts on both there arms and legs to create the movement.
March 30th, 2007 at 11:16 am
I can almost live with Jabba not being on this list, but no representation for Dark Crystal?
And how about the Mondoshawans from 5th Element?
March 30th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Its sad to see that carlos rambaldi didnt get a mention on this list, he made the oroginal alien suite, E.T, King kong, close encounters and others.
March 30th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Fantastic list!
A job well done!!!
March 30th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
I can’t believe Tim Curry’s character, The Lord of Darkness from Legend isn’t on this list!
March 30th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I have to second Hoggle from Labyrinth. In my mind theres never been a more realistic, absolutely convincing humanesque character than him. Alien? just make em look scary and throw in some slime…but a lead role emotion-showing breathing talking ACTING character? Hoggle takes the cake. I just watched the movie two days ago and Hoggle’s lost absolutely none of his’s impact or artistry. Kudos on the list and thanks for getting us thinking.
March 30th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I see Gummi Bears in the dark……….what about the creature in Split Second……..We need a bigger gun
March 30th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Great list guys… But what about Batman’s utility belt???
March 31st, 2007 at 4:25 am
If you’re going to give Rick Baker sole credit for the characters his team produced, you should at least mention Rob Bottin as lead man on ‘Explorers’.
How about Tik-Tok from ‘Return to Oz’? Surely one of the most hellish assignments for a suit performer– the operator had to stand inside with his head between his knees… and walk backward.
March 31st, 2007 at 9:23 pm
[…] Cardboard Monocle: An Art/Design Blog » Our Top 20 FX Suits! (tags: movies retro) […]
April 1st, 2007 at 7:30 am
ALIEN is the BEST (without any discusion), and then PREDATOR,
But I prefer GODZILLA than GILL MAN
April 1st, 2007 at 9:26 am
good choices all, one I would have added was Mr. Creosote from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/e/e5/Mr_Creosote.PNG
http://www.mwscomp.com/movies/mol/jpgs/vi-explo.jpg
not the most technically astounding, but pretty damn funny
April 1st, 2007 at 11:39 pm
[…] Top 20 FX Suits Top 20 Comic Weapons […]
April 2nd, 2007 at 12:43 am
Great list. I totally agree with Alien being number one, that’s some amazing work there.
April 2nd, 2007 at 4:46 pm
what about just about any monster from the Silent Hill movie? Pyramid Head was pretty bad ass, the guy who played him even has his own imdb account and he regularly chats with other people. Or how about the Nurses from Silent Hill? Behind that faceless, boob-a-licious facade lurked a hot supermodel. Major props for being the only monster with high heels.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm
hey guys, those are some nice fx, but if you read our criteria at the top
“The first is that the suit must be wearable and cover head to toe.”
you’ll see that most of them don’t qualify. Pan should have been on the list, his omission is due to a few factors, primarily that I didn’t think of him till this list was pretty much done already.
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:55 pm
and GENIUS, you remain true to your name. Glad to see we have return readers.
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
This page was sent to me by a friend on StumbleUpon. I immediately scrolled down to make sure Chewie was on the list before giving it my time. Chewbacca is #1 with me. He’s so real you can just smell him. It’s a lot like Bantha shit. All in all a great list.
On a critical note. You’ve created a nice looking website. I’m positive you have access to a spell checker. Use the effing thing.
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:33 pm
If there are any misspellings, I apologize… although I can’t imagine there are many. Coz I du hav a spelll cheker.
Glad you enjoyed the list.
April 4th, 2007 at 1:12 am
What happened to Mr. Hide from league of extraordinary gentlemen? im pretty sure he was covered head to toe, but i could be wrong..
April 4th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
What about the orcs and Uruk-Hai in LOTR??? They more than deserve to be here!!!!
April 6th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
The little robots from Silent Running, played by guys walking on their hands to give their legs a strange articulation.
April 15th, 2007 at 5:08 am
“Lee Says:
April 6th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
The little robots from Silent Running, played by guys walking on their hands to give their legs a strange articulation.”
Played by guys (and a girl) WITH NO LEGS walking on their hands!!
April 18th, 2007 at 1:13 am
As for Alien (which I agree 100 percent with you on), the Alien was created and designed not by Stan Winston, but by Giger! Mr. Winston DID work on Cameron’s Aliens (note the sequel is plural), and unwisely made some modifications to the alien design. The picture you have is not Winston’s.
April 22nd, 2007 at 1:40 pm
I agree with alien I never once thought watching it that it was a guy in a suit. That’s definitely a good criteria to pick the winner.
May 7th, 2007 at 7:01 am
I love the list, tho if i had compiled it, there are a few that i would have thought twice about.
One thing that does bug me, you’ve put ol’Sammi up there from HellBoy…and alot of people have talked about “Pan” and “The White Man” from “Pan’s Labyrinth”…both of which performed by Doug Jones, who also appears in HellBoy as Abe Sapien…in my mind one of the most beautful creature “suits” i’ve seen in years. Now i do admit that Abe is prodominantly a prosthetic job…as Doug put it “I’m wearing more rubber than a cheap hooker” but i still think Abe could have made it into the top 20.
I do agree, the less said about the Predators from AvP the better…they were shameful. It is nice to see that Kevin Peter Hall makes it twice onto the top 20 list, for such a nice guy he could play a evil bugger when he wanted to
As for the “Underworld” Lycans, yes to the first film but i really dont remember seeing much actual creature suit in the second :(…maybe they had to go blow the budget on CG for the sake of it i guess….
Tho the Suit for main antagonist in the film was a brilliant sculpt…that i will admit
As for the LotR monsters..HELL YES…i think WETA deserve a nod for all the hard work they put into the creatures and into the damned movies in general.
SJ
August 8th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
Man, I’m the only person I know that saw the Princess Bride, and I never thought those were people under the suits.
Great list.
August 25th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Sure, the Skeksis and Mystics were neat, but they don’t get to be considered for this list. Sure, there are guys inside, but I consider them technicians more than physical actors. The “costume” is just puppet parts sticking out of A TENT.
August 28th, 2007 at 8:51 am
That’s the Gillis and Woodruff alien suit that you have in place of Stan Winston’s. I believe it may well be an Alien Resurrection suit, if not, it’s from AVP, which mostly uses the same design
Dom
August 28th, 2007 at 10:20 am
@wmmvrrvrrmm
Thanks for the heads up! I did my best to find accurate pics that weren’t too grainy and crappy. Guess I dropped the ball on that one. Let’s all just pretend, huh?
Good eye, wmmvrrvrrmm!
September 18th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Hey, that alien design is from “Alien: Resurrection” and it’s god awfull, because Stan Winston has NOTHING to do with it. Nor does Giger (except the original design for the first film).
Thje best alien suit is in the original. The second best in Aliens. They get worse every film…
October 3rd, 2007 at 11:19 am
Awesome list guys!!! Congrats, man i am so glad you included the turtles, Obviously the first part was the best. The plot and costumes were truly what made that movie. My kids love it and the awesome thing is i can still sit down and watch it with them.
October 10th, 2007 at 7:09 am
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November 13th, 2007 at 1:42 am
I remember the guys who played the robots Huey, Louey and Dewey in Doug Trumble’s 1972 scifi epic, Silent Running. Surely they were some of the earliest full-suit characters using paraplegics. Unfortunately, I don’t remember their names, but they deserve recognition.
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December 13th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
I am a big Fan of Aliens the the #1 spot is great but I have to stick up for the Devil in Legend is another great, I beg to differ about him not being on the list because hes not covered from head to toe, Sooooo Wrong!!! “Tim Curry” had Red latex Skin for the upper Torso black nails Furry Legs wrapped in leather and huge Huffs for feet and Massive cape and Horns, Tim Curry might be alittle tall but no where near the mass of the Lord of Darkness!!!
December 31st, 2007 at 10:01 pm
>Sure, there are guys inside, but I consider them technicians more than physical actors. The “costume” is just puppet parts sticking out of A TENT.>
Making people believe that your hand is a face is more of a technicians job than an actors? Somebody needs to visit a puppet theater badly and yes, the people inside the creatures in Dark Crystal were and still are real actors (check the documentary, if you don’t believe me).
January 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
You are all so cool! I couldn’t agree more with the number 1 Alien!!!!!! My sweet Alien!!!!!
January 14th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
There is one point where the alien looks like a man in a suit, at the end when its caught in the thrusters, it is however a minor niggle.
As a side note the concept of alien vs predator wasn’t so crass in the game because it took colonial marines from the time of the alien films, who are proven to kick ass. Who wouldn’t want to see a predator tagged by a single smart gun shot and then annihilated by the follow up)
January 15th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Very nice! I totally agree with #1. & I’m very happy to see the ninja turtles on this list. Even today, I’m still amazed at the awesomeness of those suits. Although I think you should’ve mentioned Splinter in there with them cuz his suit was pretty awesome too.
& no offense to Chewie fans, but his suit wasn’t THAT great. I think C-3PO is ultimately more convincing than Chewie. Proof: For the longest time I actually thought C-3PO was an actual robot that they were just controlling with a remote or something. Srsly.
January 15th, 2008 at 8:09 am
Oh, & just cuz I’m a dork, I think the Megazord from Power Rangers should be on here somewhere. Or even Goldar or Lord Zedd. I know that Power Rangers is a TV show, but they did make some movies that included these characters. That show made some crazy FX suits.
January 31st, 2008 at 5:03 pm
TMNT ROCKS
February 18th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
The list is pretty accurate. It’s nice to see the TMNT rank so high, too ^^
May 21st, 2008 at 11:24 am
It’s all good but I think the Lycans should of placed a bit higher but preditor and alien were right on the mark
May 29th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Well, I have nothing but bad things to say about all the Alien designs created by Gillis and Woodruff and when I see those hands on that alien in the photo that you’ve used, I sit here and think, “You’ve got to be kidding!” especially after the latest AVP:R movie. It’s a terrifying time to think what’s going on with our Alien and if I added my most extreme thoughts about that Gillis and Woodruff designed alien suit, you would surely have to delete them. But well, it’s all probably too late anyway and what further I had to say is best left untyped. At least the thought counts that the first Alien suit gets to be number 1 in yout top 20 FX suits, at least that can be said
June 26th, 2008 at 8:23 am
A number of miscrediting errors here:
Stuart Freeborn created ChewBacca, not ILM.
ILM also did not create C-3PO. One of the main unit folks created the suit, either John Mollo, John Stears, Freeborn (or as a collaboration).
Carlo Rambaldi created the mask for the first ALIEN movie (Winston only did the sequel which Giger did not work on).
The late Rodger Shaw I am pretty sure created the animatronics for Princess Bride.
Explorers was overseen by Rob Bottin.
Nice to see Tatopoulo’s fine work on Mario Bros aknowledged though. You can tell his “style” a mile away! I think this was his first big job as concept/animatronics designer.
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