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Syd Mead

Syd Mead

Actor · Died December 30, 2019, aged 86 · Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA

Sydney Jay Mead (July 18, 1933 – December 30, 2019) was an American industrial designer and neo-futurist concept artist. He made designs for science-fiction films such as Blade Runner, Aliens and Tron. Mead has been described as "the artist who illustrates the future" and "one of the most influential concept artists and industrial designers of our time." Description above from the Wikipedia article Syd Mead, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
July 18, 1933
Died
December 30, 2019 (aged 86)
From
Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA
Works as
Actor
Titles
4 on MovieCove · 5 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 63 days to Oct 26Down 32% in 30 days

What are Syd Mead's films like?

Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Ideas.

Themes

share of theme weight
Society
46%
Ideas
38%
Self
16%
Art3 titles, browse their movies with this themeLegacy3 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 3 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Light: How heavy the subject matter and outlook get. Browse their light movies.
Tone · Weight
lightdark

Light 3 · Serious 0 · Dark 0

Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 0 · Heightened 0

Gentle: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their gentle movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 3 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 0 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0

Resolved: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their resolved movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 3 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings shown from 5 titles

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
3
Warm
2
Melancholic
1

How their films linger

Rousing2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteWistful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Syd Mead's films?

As of October 24, 2026, all 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (3).

Subscription and free streaming for Syd Mead's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

5 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 10 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.

  • Blade Runner 2049(2017)

    Thanks

    Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films

  • Mission to Mars(2000)

    Concept Artist

    Midcredits score: 30th percentile of all films

  • Turn A Gundam (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1999)

    Show 50 episodes · Mechanical Designer

  • Aliens(1986)

    Concept Artist

    Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films

  • Tron(1982)

    Production Design

    Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films

Career shape

A full career of 5 titles from 1982 to 2017.

By role

only this rolewith another role
Other crew5 of 5: 5 only other crew, 0 with another role

By decade

1980s2 · crew1990s1 · crew2000s1 · crew2010s1 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it.

How do Syd Mead's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 84th percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 85th percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

85thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Approval · how many liked their films

89thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Reach · how many have seen their films

42ndpercentile
Typical film, the median of 3

Midcredits score across 4 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up2
  • 50th to 74th1
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 2 are Universally Loved.

  • Universally Loved2
  • Crowd Pleaser1
  • Mixed1

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Syd Mead work with?

People who share at least 2 of Syd Mead's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Katherine Haber shares the most, 3.

Actors