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John Mollo, Oscar-Winning 'Star Wars' Costume Designer, Dies At 86 (hollywoodreporter.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the galaxies-far-far-away dept.

schwit1 quotes the Hollywood Reporter: John Mollo, the costume designer who brought to life Ralph McQuarrie and George Lucas' conceptual vision for Star Wars, has died. He was 86... "We discussed a few concepts when I joined the team, and George Lucas had a clear vision of what he was looking for. He liked the idea of the baddies having a fascist look about them, with the heroes reflecting the look of heroes of the American Wild West," he told www.starwarshelmets.com.

With McQuarrie's sketches and a meager budget of $1,173 for one costume, the London-born Mollo began shaping and fine-tuning Darth Vader's image through his knowledge of World War 1 trench armour and Nazi helmets, ultimately creating the look of one cinema's most memorable villains. His military influence is also visible in the regalia worn by the crew of the Death Star.
Working on Ridley Scott's Alien, " Molloâ(TM)s focus was to create used and well-worn clothing for the crew of the Nostromo on their long return trip to Earth as well as designing the patches and emblems emblazoned across their suits."

13 comments

  1. Beam him up, Scotty! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass, and then you see it.

  2. Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    "With McQuarrie's sketches and a meager budget of $1,173 for one costume"

    First off, those sketches were basically Vader fully-fleshed out. There was little imagination needed beyond those sketches.

    Second, $1,173 in 1977 money is a ton of money.

    1. Re: Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      I'm not impressed with how /. is forcing politics into a matter that has nothing to do with politics. If I wanted to read nonsense about 'fascists' and 'Nazis' then I'd go to Reddit.

    2. Re: Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Poor snowflake. Do you need a safe space like Mike Pence? Did the liberals say something mean to you?

    3. Re: Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Voting you to -1 because this site is about fascism and politics now, sorry.

      Speaking of which, where is my Trump article? I need my 2 minutes of hate!

    4. Re:Not impressed. by Psion · · Score: 1

      There's a lot of work moving from a sketch to a real, finished costume. The sketch says almost nothing about the materials used, how they're cut and assembled, how they fit the actor, or how they're made to move.

    5. Re:Not impressed. by sandbagger · · Score: 2

      >First off, those sketches were basically Vader fully-fleshed out. There was little imagination needed beyond those sketches.
      Your personal incredulity says a lot, but not in the way you think.

      The props and costumes had to be made and the paintings were different each time. Once they needed to go from pigment into the real world choices had to be made.

      For example how threadbare should the farmers clothes be, what combination of new and worn should the stormtroopers' costumes be, fabric and materials choices. and of course, none of it could be taken off the rack. All of the costumes had to be assembled -- even if they used components -- from the get go.

      It's a bit like saying Dykstra had nothing to do because there were paintings. Or the actor, come to think of it.

      --
      ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
    6. Re: Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You misunderstood, this guy is on your side.

    7. Re: Not impressed. by hey! · · Score: 1

      The notion that Lucas turned to a historical uniform expert for his costume and ended up with his bad guys in Stallhelms and Kriegsmarine tropical caps doesn't sound so ridiculous to me.

      Of course you have to go back to 1977; Nazis weren't a serious contemporary political issue back then. They'd been irrelevant long enough to be a joke; just the thing if you wanted a campy villain.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  3. Danger, Will Robinson! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This guy did good work with such a small budget. Although, I give him negative points for not killing off Dr. Smith...what a worthless character!

    1. Re:Danger, Will Robinson! by Psion · · Score: 1

      Dr. Smith brought wit and humor to the show, you bumbling, bubble-headed BOOBY!

  4. Fake Wars for Fake Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Star Wars fandom has been usurped by mainstream fake nerds with their genuine social skills. Star Wars is become shit.

    Fuck the famdom. Fuck fake nerds.

  5. Get Unicode FFS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    "MolloÃ(TM)s focus"

    Jesus, doesn't an editor even LOOK at this shit before they post it?