Aug 7, 2025
Douglas Trumbull was one of the greatest visual effects artists to ever touch a frame of film.
He was the genius behind the wild visuals in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), the alien ships in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and the sci-fi elements of Blade Runner (1982). No computers. True practical effects. Light, lenses, models, and complex machines he often built himself.
His work paved the way for science fiction films for generations, and have never been outmatched. Amazingly, he also invented the motion control ride with Back to the Future at Universal. And he was instrumental in turning IMAX from a museum side show into a major film exhibitor.
Here’s to Trumbull. No one will ever come close.
