Dan O'Bannon died today at the age of 63. O'Bannon was responsible for writing such cinematic gems as Aliens, Dark Star, the highly underrated Lifeforce, and of course my favorite - Return of the Living Dead. Going through periods of time being homeless and completely unknown for his work, O'Bannon continued to write new and interesting movies up until his last days. Apparently he was in the middle of writing an Alien prequel when he died of a heart attack.
For those ROTLD fans who haven't listened to the DVD commentary, I highly recommend it. You really get a feeling that the guy loved what he did and took every opportunity to make each movie special in its own way.
It's sad, really. With a movie industry clogged to the gills with crap and re-hashings of old favorites, it's a shame to lose a good original writer/director who wasn't afraid to take risks and try new things.
