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Alien Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, Dead At 63
Dave Knott writes "The notable science fiction screenwriter and director Dan O'Bannon has died at the age of 63. O'Bannon's career began with a writing credit for John Carpenter's Dark Star and he went on the write many enduring science fiction and horror films such as Blue Thunder, Lifeforce, Screamers and Total Recall. He was also an occasional director, whose credits include The Return Of The Living Dead, the campy horror film that made popular the zombie chant of 'braaiiiinnnsss.' However, he will be best remembered as the writer of Alien, one of the all-time classics of both the science fiction and horror genres. O'Bannon died after a 30 year battle with Crohn's disease and is survived by his wife, Diane, and son, Adam."
That's sad, I wonder whether he got to see Avatar. Alien is a masterwork of a sci-fi movie though. I almost put it on when I got home today.
As a 32 year old fellow sufferer of an extremely serious case of Crohn's Disease, I can tell you that it is a terrible battle: every day I face large amounts of pain and feelings of illness (e.g. my hemoglobin is 70 due to internal bleeding and should be around 170, making it difficult for me to do anything without feeling exhausted - walking up a flight of stairs nearly makes me faint). Crohn's has stripped me of my quality of life: the limitations it places on me make every day a challenge and it has stripped me of many of my dreams. Indeed, it got so bad that, seeing it as my last option, I tried to kill myself last May to escape from the ravages of this disease (I would have been successful, but I was discovered before I died). Right now I wait for surgery to remove 1 m of my intestines, which should help the situation, but euthanasia is still an option I consider to continue and will pursue if the surgery does not improve my quality of life.
Crohn's research is seriously underfunded, and the cause of this disease or its sister disease, Ulcerative Colitis, is not known. Also, the incidence of Crohn's appears to be on the rise to the point where some countries (e.g. Scotland) have deemed it a near epidemic. I urge you, if you like O'Bannon's work, to make a donation to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation in your country:
USA: http://www.ccfa.org/
Canada: http://www.ccfc.ca/
We'll not see his like again.
What he can't kill, he has sex on. Trent.
I always wondered if he was related to Rockne S. O'Bannon (apparently not, despite the same name and field of work).
I shall watch Dark Star again today, one of my favourite films, in his memory.
Ok, that one post of news years in advance makes up for all the two days late news on Slashdot, right?
New is appearing that Stephen King has passed away also.
Come on, what's the point in posting something like this? You're just wasting our time making us read this crap. I'm wasting my time replying. And others will waste their time reading my reply. And so on...
Alien Memorial Collection Box Set in 5.... 4.... 3.... 2....
two months later..
Alien Memorial Collection Box Set - Director's Cut
two months later..
Alien Memorial Collection Box Set - Deluxe Edition with Bonus DVD!
two months later..
Alien - The Original Films Special Collectors Edition Deluxe Super Tribute
two months later..
Black hole created by writer spinning in grave consumes the known universe
.. mostly ..
*DrugCheese rants*
I just did a rewatch of Alien last week. It's one of those movies I revisit once every year or so, like Bladerunner. Bladerunner was said even by W. Gibson to be widely influential across a swath of cultural fields, but I think the artwork in Alien to have had a more lasting cultural wide influence. The artwork in Alien underlies and embues the artwork of almost every FPS game with a science fiction setting. The narrow, steam filled, water dripping innards of a space ship's mechanical works and bays hiding the alien threat was done best in Alien.
ideopath @ play
Game over...
The work he did on Alien is amazing. I think it remains the best-written screenplay I've ever seen. Not so much about the story, but the way in which it is written.
If anyone out there is interested in writing for the screen, find a copy of Alien and study it. It's a minimalist masterpiece, only the absolutely necessary words are there to describe scenes. That sounds simple and obvious, but it's really very rare indeed. Most screenwriters tend to add too much description and direction.
Damn, that's a great shame. Wasn't he also responsible for the special effects in Dark Star and parts of Star Wars?
For those in the UK, there is The National Association for Colitis and Crohn's (NACC) the site looks a bit 90s but it is a registered charity in the UK
I've got alot of love for Return of the Living Dead. If you read the IMDB for it, it actually gets good ratings, despite being campy.
First Movie with Running Zombies? Check
Tarman? Check
Running around naked in a cemetary? Check
BBBRRRRAAAAAAIIIINNNNSSSSS and zombies that eat them? Check
A movie where every line is a memorable quote? Check
Character names like Trash, Scuz and Suicide? Check
Go BUY it from FYE, Amazon, or KMart now. It's more funny than it is scary, but that doesn't detract from it still being a good movie. Alot of zombie movie lovers keep a place in their heart for this movie, even though it isn't a true George Romero movie.
Someone had to ask it.
The Alien screenplay was based on O'Bannon's and Ronald Shusett's story.
Is he related to Rockne S. O'Bannon of Farscape fame??? Can't find any links between them online.
A good friend did a Christmas dinner with O'Bannon and his wife. They invited a few friends to join them. James Karen from Return of the Living Dead was there. Sadly my friend died a year or two later from a drunk driver so I never saw O'Bannon again. He was quiet and kept to himself. He seemed to like having the people around but he kept disappearing into the kitchen while everyone else sat around and talked. I still remember a story my friend told me back in the late 70s. He said Dan was around when they put the actor in the Alien suit the first time. Geiger hadn't built a rubber suit before and Dan said he bet it would rip in three steps. He later admitted he was wrong, it ripped in two steps. My friend used to tell me about the lawsuit Dan had with 20th over alien. They were claiming Alien lost money. He finally won and received a settlement but it was better than ten years later. I think he largely retired after that. Probably due to health. I tried back in the 80s to get Vestron, long dead company, to produce his script "They Bite". A fun little script and a favorite among animators. Ask any old time animation fan about the Collie Beetles. I got Vestron in touch with O'Bannon but I think they had a string of flops by then and they weren't willing to risk the money on a big stop motion film. The script never did get produced although I take it he retitled it "Omnivore" years ago. I'm not sure how many unproduced scripts he had but that one dated to the late 70s.
I just realized another O'Bannon story. I can actually tell this one now. Anyone hear of Dead and Buried? O'Bannon's name was on it with Ron Shussett for screenplay. Well the first time O'Bannon heard about it was when he opened a newspaper and saw the ad for the film with his name on it. He calls up Ron saying, Ron what's up with this Dead and Buried film? Ron says I'll give you 20 grand, I can't remember the actual amount, if you don't say anything. Dan just says "Okay" and that was the last they said of it. Ron had been adding Dan's name to scripts to give them more weight but it was the first one he sold. Both my friend and Dan are gone now so it's safe to tell. Just a little Hollywood backstory.
Here are science papers on Vitamin D and Inflammatory Bowel Disease:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/science/research/vitamin-d-and-inflammatory-bowel-disease.shtml
Example:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19269107
"""
The peculiar geographic distribution of inflammatory bowel disease is a puzzle for researchers. A low vitamin D status has now been linked to several Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases, including multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, with the strongest evidence for the vitamin's protective role in multiple sclerosis. Sunlight and vitamin D may be potent immunomodulatory agents by down-regulating Th1-driven immune responses and inducing the synthesis of antimicrobial peptides considered as natural antibiotics of the immune system. Similarly to multiple sclerosis, we propose in CD the so-called north-south gradient may be partly explained by variations in the degree of sun exposure, with vitamin D being a "seasonal stimulus". These observations may yield a better understanding of the pathophysiology of Crohn's disease and pave the way for developing new therapeutic approaches for an incurable disease. Whether a low vitamin D status is associated with an increased risk of Crohn's disease in the general population and whether vitamin D and heliotherapy may be effective in treating Crohn's disease will require additional investigations.
"""
How to get adequate vitamin D:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml
You could try a blood test for vitamin D right now as recommended there to see if you are deficient in vitamin D, and, if you are seriously deficient, you might talk with your doctors about trying vitamin D3 supplements first (or maybe even an injection of a megadose by a doctor in your situation) before trying surgery (or maybe a UV-B lamp if you can't absorb vitamin D supplements well right now). Have you noticed any correlation with the seasons? Is it a little better in summer? A little worse in winter?
Do you avoid the sun? I would think it would be common in writer types like Dan O'Bannon, or some other media people who work indoors a lot. Vitamin D deficiency is at epidemic levels across the USA and may be linked to a host of issues from cancer through autism to depression. Even if adequate vitamin D did not help with Crohn's, it might at least help with other issues that stem from it.
Obviously, there may be other factors as well (other vitamins -- vitamin A relates to membrane health but every one might be an issue, or other environmental issues). Best of luck finding something that works for you, and then afterwards in rebuilding strong roots in your life whatever they may be, relationships, hobbies, philosophies, laughter, helping others, enjoying time in nature, and so on, to help you weather the storms of life and Crohn's disease.
A 21st century issue: the irony of technologies of abundance in the hands of those still thinking in terms of scarcity.
What? The guy who ripped off A.E. van Vogt's Voyage of the Space Beagle is dead?
Man, I'm glad that the studio settled out of court making them technically correct to dismiss the charges but who settles out of court when they are innocent in the first place?
What part of your intestines is malfunctioning? A person can lead a nearly normal life without a colon (large intestines). They just have to go to the bathroom in a special way. But that's better than being tethered to a bathroom by a tantrum-throwing colon. I suspect a person can also lose a big chunk of small intestine before they're any worse than having that chunk misbehaving.
I went for six months without using my colon after surgery for colon cancer. After healing it was reconnected minus eighteen inches of colon and a foot or two of small intestine (about a meter total). My digestive function is pretty normal now and I don't have any of the pain, bleeding, and unpredictable bowel movements that the tumors caused.
So I'd be hopeful that the surgery to remove part of your intestines could lead to a big improvement in quality of life. As much as I dislike the plumbing modifications that I've had to make, it's vastly better than suffering with malfunctioning plumbing.
Thanks for all your efforts and insights Dan, you will be missed and remembered
for your innovative and clever work.
jr
Innocence is no defense against infringement in cases like this (see Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music) and settlement is usually the cheaper option. With plot points even making such an accusation was an abuse of copyright -- copyright was intended to protect the expression of an idea. Obviously van Vogt never read the works that Dan O'Bannon (and later James Cameron) did tip their hats to!
This is a reference to an ancient Slashdot meme that was probably well before your time.
Dan O'Bannon wrote this far future noir detective short story illustrated by Moebius. It was in Metal Hurlant and Heavy Metal magazine in the late 70s, and both William Gibson creator of 'Neuromancer', and Ridley Scott, director of 'Blade Runner', site it as a seminal influence in their works.
"I do not like the men on this spaceship. They are uncouth and fail to appreciate my better qualities. I have something of value to contribute to this mission if they would only recognize it. Today over lunch I tried to improve morale and build a sense of camaraderie among the men by holding a humorous, round-robin discussion of the early days of the mission. My overtures were brutally rejected. These men do not want a happy ship. They are deeply sick and try to compensate by making me feel miserable. Last week was my birthday. Nobody even said "happy birthday" to me. Someday this tape will be played and then they'll feel sorry."
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
I remember watching Dark Star in college at the Student Union friday films at CSULB. The song at the end always cracked me up " Benson Arizona" A few years late I was traveling down 1-10 and there she be: Benson, Arizona. I had to stop!
One weird and convoluted story and I find myself living in "Benson, Arizona" I helped the Karaoke DJ at the local dive/country bar here to find and MP3 and we put it in the karaoke machine where I occasionally will play and sing it. It has now become a staple and is part of the rotation on Karaoke night.
This week I will dedicate my singing this song to Dan O' Bannon and thank him and John Carpenter fro putting it in the film!
RIP Dan!
IMO, the best adaption of an H.P. Lovecraft story ever brought to the screen.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105242/
R.I.P. Dan!
... than just a script writer. Amongst many things, he gave Moebius/Jean Giraud the idea of what later became 'The Incal.' Moebius, Giger and Dan O'Bannon were all working on the aborted Dune project of Jodorowsky.