Marty Michaels

Along with stop motion animation and practical makeup, proper painted movie posters are fast becoming a lost art. Like Tom Jane’s character in The Mist – himself a poster artist – points out, it’s easier to photoshop two big faces next to each other than it is to paint a poster from scratch. The undisputed master of the film poster, of course, is Drew Struzan, a man who has contributed as much to cinema than the filmmakers themselves. Someone once pointed out that the heroes on Struzan’s posters are looking at you, but they seem to have one eye over your shoulder, looking out for some approaching danger. His posters are as iconic as the movies themselves, so today we’ll be taking a look at the top ten Drew Struzan posters. Onward!

10. CUTHROAT ISLAND (1995)

Ok, so the film was terrible and killed pirate movies for years until Pirates of the Caribbean, but the poster is brilliantly swashbuckling in the classic Errol Flynn/Douglas Fairbanks tradition. Promising high adventure on the high seas that the film sadly didn’t deliver, this is a case of the poster being better than the film itself.

9. THE NORSEMAN (1978)

Struzan’s artwork for The Norseman is ten times better than the film it’s advertising, but when the poster art is this good, does it really matter if the film was a stinker? Out Frazetta-ing Frazetta, Struzan delivered a classic painting that wouldn’t look out of place in a book of Robert E. Howard stories.

8. COMING TO AMERICA (1988)

The first legit good film on today’s list, Coming to America is a classic comedy starring a pre-Mel B Eddie Murphy in what might be his best role. It was the film that made Eddie Murphy a star and Struzan’s poster emphasises the star accordingly. Legend has it, the poster was designed for Crocodile Dundee II, but Paul Hogan nixed the idea. Never one to let a good idea die, Struzan recycled the concept for Coming to America and a classic movie poster was born.

7. THE THING (1982)

Struzan painted the poster for The Thing without any reference photos from the film and all he had to work on was someone telling him “it’s the same basic story as the original.” It’s a wonder he managed to create anything at all from such scant info, never mind an all time classic image. The poster tells you absolutley nothing about the film, but it does make you want to see it, and that, after all, is the point.

6. FIRST BLOOD (1982)

The first poster to advertise a movie by giving as a big guy holding a big gun, the central image of the First Blood poster has been copied and parodied so much is has become a cliche. The classic image of what an action movie hero should look like, the First Blood poster has become the way pretty much all action movies since advertise themselves.

5. THE BACK TO THE FUTURE TRILOGY (1985/89/90)

Three posters, yes, but as great as each individual poster is, they’re so much better when enjoyed as a whole. The first poster is so iconic that when it came time to design the poster for the sequel, Struzan designed countless posters before deciding to do what really should have been a no brainer – repeat the design of the original. There’s been much debate over whether or not Mary Steenbergen should be featured on the third poster, and a design exists showing just Marty and Doc in western gear – but for my money it balances the poster nicely.

4. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL PROMOTIONAL POSTERS (2008)

Also known as “running Indy,” “swining Indy” and “whip Indy” these images weren’t used on the advance or main posters for the latest Indy movie, but were promotional images that turned up on everything from banners to desktop wallpaper to promotional cups and, yes, posters. Showing that no one draws Indy quite like Drew Struzan, my favorite is “whip Indy” which is the rarest of the three, tending only to turn up on huge billboards and hoardings.

3. THE STAR WARS TRILOGY SPECIAL EDITIONS (1996/97)

Anyone who was a Star Wars fan in the nineties will remember the excitment of seeing the Special Edition posters in cinemas. They were – and still are – breathtakingly beautiful and close-to-perfect representations of the Star Wars trilogy. However, you don’t really appreciate these posters until you see them side by side. Empire is the most important story in the Star Wars saga, and it’s only fitting that everything on these three posters explodes outward from the centre of the Empire poster.

2. MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (1987)

Maybe I’m just being sentimental by putting the Masters of the Universe poster at number 2, and to be honest, it’s not as good as the Special Edition posters – but my list = my rules so there. For my money, Drew’s painting of Dolph Lungren deserves to be hanging next to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. It’s an incredible peice of work that provides a link back to my childhood as it’s the first peice of Struzan art I remember seeing.

1. INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE (1989)

Drew Struzan loves drawing Indy. It’s clear from how bloody good at it he is. The third Indy movie has the best poster of any of the Struzan Indy posters (though the distinction of best Indy poster overall goes to the advance poster for Temple of Doom) and perfectly captures the adventure and joie de vivre of what was then thought to be the last Indiana Jones movie. Struzan also painted posters for the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyworld and a ton of Indy novels, but his poster for Last Crusade is undoubtedly his best work.

Sadly, Drew Struzan has retired from the movie business. His last poster was for the movie Super Capers, which I think about three people saw. To quote the man himself “the studios had turned their backs on “art” over the last number of years as most anyone has noticed.” I still hope for the day when the studios will turn back to art and someone – hopefully Struzan himself – will return and save us from the teal and orange nightmare that the multiplex lobby has become. End transmission.

Tags: art, drew struzan, indiana jones, movie posters, movies, star wars, top ten