John Carpenter's "The Thing" wasn't so much a remake as a reinterpretation of John Campbell's classic short story. Closer in spirit to Campbell's conception of the Thing, Carpenter's film was both critically lauded because of the suspenseful storytelling and critically attacked for the excessive gore. While the gore is at times quite excessive it fits in with the audience expectations after films like "Dawn of the Dead" (the origianl 1979 movie)and other films of the era.What's amazing is how audiences are drawn into the story despite the fact that there are no characters we really, really like. We admire many of these men and their resolve but we don't like them. They're the product of their harsh environment and isolation. Mac (Kurt Rusell)is the helicopter pilot for an Antarctic science station. Their dull routine is interrupted by a team of seemingly crazy Norwegians pursuing a dog. The Norwegians are killed and the Americans are left without any idea as to what might have driven the Norwegians over the edge.
Blair (Wilford Brimley)pours over the Norwegian journal brought back by Mac and Cooper (Richard Dysart)and discovers that the Norewegian team discovered an alien spacecraft with an occupant that was very much alive. More importantly, it can change into any shape and take over anybody. Mac, Childs (Keith David) and the rest of the crew must destroy the alien before it can spread to the rest of the civilized world.
Previously released as a "Special Edition" in 1998, "The Thing" has been remastered for this edition.The anamorphic widescreen presentation is, I believe, the first time this has been transferred in the anamorphic format. The previous widescreen edition looked exceptionally good and comparisons between the two transfers reveal minimal differences except for the fact that the new edition is presented in anamorphic (i.e. with a higher resolution) picture. There are some minor digital blemishes that occasionally crop up as on the previous edition (which makes me suspect the previous master was digitally remastered vs. creating a new master). The 5.1 Surround Sound mix has tremendous presence and is exceptionally good with crystal clear dialogue. Ennio Morricone's marvelous music sounds particularly rich and detailed. There's no isolated music track which is a pity.
The special features are exactly the same as the 1998 edition of the movie. "Terror Takes Shape" is an 80 minute documentary on the movie that includes both new interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot. Carpenter, Kurt Russell, the other members of the cast,the optical effects and make up crew and screenwriter Bill Lancaster on all phases from conception to post-production. It's an excellent and informative documentary divided into the various phases of production.
We also see outtakes including the deleted stop-motion animation that Phil Tibbert did for the movie. Carpenter cut almost all of it out in favor of the physical effects because they didn't quite mesh as well as they could have. There's substanial behind-the-scenes footage, photos and the work-in-progress visual effects for the film. Essentially, this indepth approach makes "The Thing" as close to a film school as you'll likely find on DVD.
We also get the original theatrical trailer, storyboards and conception art. The "Visual Effects-in-Progress" featurette t gives you a clue as to how the visuals and effects changed during shooting. There's also an annotated production background archive with an essay on the production illustrated with excerpts from the screenplay with photos and production drawings. There's also a brief essay on the casting in text format along with production photos from the film.
The commentary track is the original one from the 1998 release featuring John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. As with the "Escape from New York" commentary track, "The Thing" commentary track is exceptional with interesting and amusing stories related to the production of the movie as well as behind-the-scenes tidbits that fans will find valuable. Both clearly enjoy each other's company more twenty years after their first collaboration.
The packaging has been redesigned. While it is pretty cool, it's not going to be really durable. The exterior plastic cover like that for "Stir of Echoes" looks really cool and wraps around the carbord and plastic inner case. The inner case has photos and images from the movie. The inside, curiously, looks like it was designed for a chapter sheet or booklet but there's nothing inside.
The Thing takes its title from the influential 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing from Another World, a film it otherwise resembles only in similarity of location and a few plot points. (If you're interested in a less scary, more campy, funnier black-and-white version, with women in it, check out the older one.) The location is an isolated antarctic research station, cut off from radio contact with the outside world, where Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David and several other men unknowingly take in an alien creature that can adopt the form of members of the crew as it destroys them. They quickly find themselves in a desperate and paranoia-inducing situation, each not knowing who among the others might be an alien waiting to kill him. Internal organs are spread into view in various creative ways, while violence and tension build.
Director John Carpenter specializes in gritty, intense, violent suspense, and he doesn't disappoint here. Though it didn't do very well when it came out, maybe because it was up against the much cheerier alien E.T., it has become a favorite since.
The movie has already been released in HD at the same 1080p resolution the Blu-ray will have, so the transfer should be of similar quality. The HD transfer is very good, with strong color and good detail and sharpness, definitely improved over the standard DVD. The sound will be English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, with French DTS 5.1. There will be English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles. *Update* 19 September: The early reviews verify that the transfer is high quality, as expected, with excellent picture and good sound (not much surround in a movie this old).
*Update* Universal has said in its promotional material that this release will include the extra material from the current DVD, but according to the early reviews, that isn't true. First, here are the special features announced in the main press release:
-audio commentary with star Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter
-U Control Picture in Picture
-U Control tutorial
-BD-Live
In addition, most of the 84-minute making-of documentary from the older DVD has been incorporated into the Picture in Picture (PIP) feature, meaning that you watch it in pieces in a window along with the movie. The rest of the special features from the older DVD aren't included. Just as a reminder of what those old features are, missing here:
-outtakes
-deleted stop-motion animation
-work-in-progress visual effects footage
-behind-the-scenes location footage
-behind-the-scenes photos
-storyboard and conceptual art
-annotated production archive
-original theatrical trailer
Again, those are old features that Universal has *not* included on the Blu-ray.
I'm not into gore, but the suspense is well done here, and Kurt Russell is in his element. Fine video transfer and good commentary make for a good package, but the missing features from the older DVD mean you may want to keep the old one too.Maybe someone said so in the DVD's documentary: 1982 was the right time for this movie. Nothing like it would be made today, or even a few years after its release. Even if a thematically similar film were made, it's almost a guarantee that it would use digital effects. This movie boasts the most incredible prosthetic effects ever seen, and I know in my gut that if it were made with computer graphics it wouldn't be nearly as good.
Okay, enough about that. I probably don't need to describe the movie itself, at least not from a plot perspective. Let me briefly cover technique: this movie is built for suspense. From the marvelous low-key Ennio Morricone score to the gold-standard cinematography of Dean Cundey, from the scene construction (I love the scene where the dog enters a crew room, and the scene fades out after we see the man's shadow turning no sting, no shock, just a fade out) to the realistic paranoia and fear building in the eyes of the men. I admit that paranoia movies are a personal favorite genre, but there are very few films that I can say made me sweat from suspense, and this is one of them.
One of the film's greatest strengths is the ensemble cast mostly familiar faces, but not TOO familiar, so you feel a kinship and empathy but you're not saying "oh, that's Richard Masur" the same way you would if it were Bruce Willis, for example. Sure, there's Kurt Russell, but he plays his role so perfectly that he just fits right in with everyone else. Then of course there's the ending, something John Carpenter excels at (the ending of his ESCAPE FROM L.A. made the whole movie for me) especially when in the dystopian mode... so here again we can make up our own stories over "what happened next."
The DVD presentation is packed with so many goodies it's hard to know where to start. An excellent documentary, enjoyable commentary, isolated score (selectable during the documentary), even some cut scenes...and so much more. The picture is fantastic, with such wonderful smooth blue hues so prevalent in the movie. For many years laserdisc owners were tantalised by rumours of a special edition with tons of extras, and when we finally got it (on both laserdisc and DVD) we weren't disappointed at all, and it was well worth the years of anticipation.
The movie is absolutely not for everyone, as its level of gore is quite high. Many people say they're distracted too much by the gore, but I seem to immerse myself in the film's atmosphere and it's never taken me out of the experience. An engrossing and extremely well-crafted film, and the same goes for this special edition presentation.
Read Best Reviews of The Thing (1982) Here
Long after its debut, THE THING is finally getting the respect it deserves. I'm glad John Carpenter is young enough to be around to see it. This film was unfairly shunned when it came out because E.T. came out at the same time. Nobody wanted to see E.T. killing people, hence no one went to see THE THING.Along with THE HIDDEN, this is one of the greatest horror/action movies to come out of the 80s. It should be on any serious horror fan's top ten list (it's number two on mine) and it is perhaps Carpenter's greatest film to date. Yes, I think it is even better than HALLOWEEN. This movie sticks closer to the original story ("Who Goes There") that both this and the older movie THE THING FROM OUTER SPACE were based on. The latter was more of a monster movie, whereas Carpenter's version is more of a psychological action film with a great dollop of paranoia. Kurt Russell and John Carpenter work so well together, and Russell does a great job here (along with the underrated Keith David). I hope they make more films together. Wilford Brimley, better known as the Quaker Oats man, is terrific as well. Actually the whole cast puts in amazing performances. On the DVD commentary J.C. says they all were really into their parts, and it shows. The "blood test" scene is a great example of how well they all worked together.
The special effects in this movie still look good. I honestly don't think they look dated at all. I imagine that if they did this today we would be inflicted with some dumb-looking CGI monster that would ruin the film and seem silly in a few years' time.
If you like this one, get the DVD. It has tons of extras and is worth the money just for the commentary by Russell and Carpenter. 10/10
Want The Thing (1982) Discount?
The movie itself is 5 stars no question. The picture quality on this Blu Ray is amazing. Contrast is consistent and blacks are deep throughout the film with very good detail. Colors are rich and the various hues of blue in the night scenes are pleasing. Greens, yellows and oranges, as well as the important reds (got to have have proper reds in a horror/sci~fi film) are all rendered properly, in this Blu Ray offering. Film grain is not distracting, and chroma noise is not an issue. Unfortunately I have serious issue with Universal for removing features on the Blu Ray that were present on the DVD for US customers, while keeping them in the UK version of the Blu Ray release. The lower stars rating is for this review is for this particular release of it.I love John Carpenters "The Thing", but Universal Studios should be ashamed of themselves for releasing a Blu Ray version of the film with almost ALL of the extras REMOVED.
Inexcusable.
It's a shame Universal chose to do this, since this Blu Ray's picture quality and sound are both great. Purchase the Uk Blu Ray release instead. It includes the many extras not found in this US version. Does Universal Studios value their UK customers more than their US customers for some reason?
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