Even if you’re not constantly looking for great movie poster art, its steady decline over the decades is obvious. Hard to pinpoint the turning point, since memorable anomalies still pop up, but it surely started with the end of the old studio system in the ‘60s. By the ‘80s, photoshopping and airbrushing had largely taken over from paint & brush storytelling. Now, it’s down to a rotation of portraits, space rockets, uniforms and MARVEL. So, doubly sad to read obits for two of the last great practitioners of the craft: Italy’s Renato Casaro and Hollywood’s Drew Struzan, dying about a month apart.* Eric Sharkey’s Struzan docu is nothing special, but gets the job done, showing a lot of work, especially good at including putative poster campaigns that were turned down by studio execs who thought something less ‘artistic’ would sell more popcorn. Fortunately, a George Lucas or a Steven Speilberg could sometimes step up and manage to find a spot for their preferred renderings in Special Editions or re-releases. Sharkey goes a little light on Struzan’s peculiarities, a very likeable, but odd artistic fellow, and only does right by one of the two major conflicts in the story: a fight over rights on 'lost' original art (that wasn't lost at all), and a non-Struzan poster for INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM that was eventually replaced by Struzan.* Hagiographic interviews with famous actors & directors tell the rest, as do Struzan/Wife & Son, to bring this quiet and surprisingly quirky personality out.
READ ALL ABOUT IT/LINK: *In addition to individual obits, this appreciation neatly touches on the vast output of these two titans. ALSO: Can’t swear to it, but I think this is the TEMPLE OF DOOM poster that Lucas & Spielberg objected to as too dark in tone & personality. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/movies/drew-struzan-renato-casaro-movie-posters.html https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2009/09/indiana-jones-and-temple-of-doom-1984.html
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