A very young and eager Joe Viskocil was hired back in 1975 to work on a film project for director George Lucas.
Joe, along with other special effects artists, was asked to create things that no one had ever seen before, and to do it from
scratch. It took over a year of tedious work, but in the end, if not for Joe Viskocil, Luke Skywalker would not have been
able to destroy the Death Star in the climactic ending sequence of "Star Wars: A New Hope". That is because it was Joe who
actually got to produce the blast effect a whole year before any audience viewer would see it. Using models, Joe Viskocil
created a spectacular explosion that has a permanent place in the memories of many fans. His successful work on "Star Wars"
gave Joe another chance to work with Lucas on "The Empire Strikes Back". Examples of his stunning achievements can be seen
in the Imperial AT-AT invasion of the rebel base on the ice planet Hoth. Though the actual height of the AT-AT models was
only 2 feet, Joe skillfully created the onscreen illusion of the immense size of the imperial walkers, making them appear
200 feet tall to an unsuspecting audience. Joe's successful work on the original "Star Wars" trilogy has allowed him to open
his own fully working special effects shop in Hollywood. Joe and his company have been hired to create the fantastic destructive
explosions seen in "Terminator", "True Lies", "Interview With a Vampire", "Godzilla", and he won an Academy Award for his
accomplishments in "Independence Day". Joe's most current work can be seen on DVD in the thriller "The Panic Room" and "Star
Trek Nemesis".
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| Joe preps some explosives for the opening shot of STAR WARS |
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| Sure, Luke blew up the Death Star...BUT not without Joe's help! |
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| Lucky guy! Joe is back on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, seen here prepping an ATAT to blow up! |
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