As a lover and collector of poster art, I’ve been a huge fan of Drew Struzan ever since I can remember. Every geek should know his name, but if you don’t, you certainly know his artwork. Struzan is the artist behind the posters for Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Thing, Goonies, Back to the Future, The Shawshank Redemption, and many, many others.
Struzan has been retired for several years now, and it’s really a shame because he’s truly an artist from another era. As USA Today puts it, movie posters these days “seem like bad Photoshop jobs and aren’t terribly awe-inspiring. Next to Struzan’s detailed and remarkable work, they look 100 times worse.” Not to mention it’s hard to get a hand drawn ad campaign for a film unless you’re one of the big boys like Spielberg or Lucas.
Now Struzan is the subject of a documentary, Drew: The Man Behind the Poster, and it looks like the ultimate fan boy tribute to one of the most important artists in the field. The documentary has interviews with Spielberg, Lucas, Michael J. Fox, Frank Darabont, as well as Struzan himself.
This documentary is having a limited release, but it will be hitting DVD and BluRay in November, and no self-respecting geek should be without a copy. When it comes to great movie poster art, Struzan’s the man.
