Darth Solo:"Looking at that Rancor pic reminds me of how much an incredible piece of design that was, given what we've had ever scince. Im thinking of Mimic, the Host, arguably even the Predator and beforehand Gigers Alien model (as they were designed to fit a man in suit).
Yes it looked clunkey and crap when it moved but the model still stands up beyond any creature design too date"
Got to disagree with you there. I like the Rancor, for sure, but it wasn't executed too well, whereas something like Alien, save for a couple of guy-in-suit moments, is really quite an exceptional bit of design and execution. And you're kind of dismissing one hell of a lot of design work before and since. What about Aliens, for one thing. The Fly remake. There are the other famous creatures, like Gremlins - clearly puppeted but very effective - and the more obscure ones, like the "underwater" demon in Poltergeist or even the dragon in Dragonslayer. Hell, I even prefer the terror dogs from Ghostbusters, which were only spoiled by some dreadful matting.