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Alien Screenwriter Dan O'Bannon, Dead At 63

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the fare-thee-well-nostromo dept.

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."

5 of 139 comments (clear)

  1. My heart goes out to him... by vorpal22 · · Score: 5, Informative

    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/

    1. Re:My heart goes out to him... by MartinSchou · · Score: 5, Insightful

      But I know there are some people who carry on despite terrible diseases and constant pain, so I know it must be possible somehow.

      I can't say I know how he feels. Or you feel. Obviously you feel that taking your own life is a bad idea, but - why make the choice illegal? Or rather, why make aiding it illegal.

      My dad watched his dad lie hooked up to machines for about a month before passing away. Then a few years later he watched his mom in the same situation. This October he saw his youngest daughter pass away after having spent almost two weeks in an induced coma, hooked up to an ECMO as doctors worked frantically to try to save her from dying of complications from Sharp's Syndrome, with I think ten IV-tubes running into her, breathing tube in her mouth, two massively thick tubes handling the blood flow in and out of her body as well as dialysis apparatus.

      Sadly I wasn't there when she was finally let go. And my mom is pissed that the first thing my dad said after she was declared dead, was that if he ever ended up in a situation like that, he didn't want to be saved. That's where euthanasia comes into play. Even before then.

      Euthanasia can be done in really simple ways as well. Doesn't even have to be expensive, messy or painful. You could go out with a huge sense of euphoria on your lips. I present to you: Nitrogen asphyxiation. All you really need is a tight fitting face mask for ventilation and pure nitrogen. Essentially a slightly modified SCUBA kit.

      It takes about 15 seconds for someone to lose conciousness and about 7 minutes until brain death sets in. The organs are, I believe, unharmed, which is a good thing if you plan on being a donor. There is a very minute risk (I think I read 1:1,000,000) of painful side effects, but these will only last until the person is unconscious, again no more than 15 to 20 seconds, and then they'll be at peace.

      As for the "what ifs", they're just silly.

      What if you turn out to have a child that becomes the new Gandhi?

      What if you turn out to have a child that becomes the new Hitler? Are those two lives (yours and your child's) really worth the lives and suffering of millions? If we just go by 'what if', we should never have children, as for every Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela, we also end up with a Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot and Papa Doc. For every Norman Borlaug, the agronomist and humanitarian who essentially saved a billion people from starvation, we also end up with a Thomas Midgley, the man behind such wonderful innovations as leaded engines and CFCs. Both were effective at what they were designed for, sure, but the man essentially made a hole in the ozone layer the size of Antarctica and gave every single child in the world lead poisoning - by himself.

      Do you really want to be responsible for the next Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Papa Doc or Thomas Midgley? Those are the risk we take when we think we might be the proud parents of the next Ghandi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela or Norman Borlaug.

      My point still stands. Euthanasia needs to be legal, and it needs to be a cheap and simple one at that. I'd go for nitrogen asphyxiation.

  2. Re:Will be watching Dark Star again by S-100 · · Score: 5, Informative

    O'Bannon not only wrote Dark Star, he plays Sgt. Pinback in the movie.

  3. He mostly wrote scripts by DrugCheese · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. mostly ..

    --
    *DrugCheese rants*
  4. Was it from chest pains? by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 5, Funny

    Someone had to ask it.