 "Remains a superbly horrifying film" | 2009-09-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A24WJULX7UOLFB |
John Carpenter's best film by a long shot, and one of the scariest movies ever made. This movies still creeps me out. It has wonderful special effects that hold up well, and an intense story filed with desperation, paranoia and horror.
The movie features no females, and average looking guys, the kind you might find at an outpost in Antarctica. Which is great because throwing in hot women or pretty boys would have really taken away from the film. Kurt Russel is the only real star in the movie.
Creepy theme music, adds to an already terrific film.
The movie does have a surprising number of filming errors I wont go into, and some scenes that were clearly cut or edited probably for time or money reasons.
Still this remains, as to least to me, one of the scariest films you can see. The extras are ok, including some random deleted or alternate scenes, and some deleted scenes or ideas never shot.
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| ""Who Goes There?"" | 2009-09-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: AGYH54PM5SJP3 |
There are some movies that just never lose their ability to evoke a response from their viewers. Those films are destined to become instant classics and develop a longevity far past their initial screening. This is one of three horror movies that actually scared me the first time I saw it.
John Carpenter's remake isn't a remake of the original 1950s movie than it is a more faithful adaptation of the short story that it was based on by 1930s science fiction guru John Campbell. The science behind the enemy was a little more technical (well, for it's 1982 time period anyway), but the theme behind the movie stayed the same as the story: Do you really know who you can trust? The twist in putting the crew up against an alien menace just added that little extra bang to the paranoia, and it hit a lot harder as a result.
For those of you who prefer the first movie to this one, all well and good, but I would advise you to think about WHY you really like that one better. If it was because this one was too gory, okay. If it was because the scientific team was more antagonistic toward each other in this version, okay. If it was because the 50s are looked at as the 'golden age' of science fiction and no other film past that point can really measure up, okay. But 'The Thing from Another Planet', starring James Arness as the creature, was a simple monster movie through and through, made for a different class of audience. Times have changed and all things have to be expected to change along with it.
STORY-5 Stars
Fair warning for those that haven't seen this movie that this section contains some spoilers, so you might want to skip over to the next section if you don't wanted it ruined for you.
The Antarctic, 1982. There's a... dog running over the tundra, apparently away from something, as it keeps on looking back over it's shoulder. It comes upon a small research station just ahead of a helicopter carrying Norwegian nationals, who just happen to be taking pot shots at it with a sniper rifle. It lands, disgorging its occupants, and things get hectic when they whip out the dynamite. The base's team is forced to kill them. They take the dog in.
Things are calm after a while. There's a storm blowing in, the signalling station can't get a line out to anyone else and the dog is put in the kennel with the current pack that's already there while the crew settles back into its normal routine.
Noises coming from the kennel draw the team back to see what's going on. They find the other dogs trying to tear their way through the fence. The reason for this is that the canine newcomer is in the process of doing some very un-doglike things, indeed, some very un-Earthlike things, like digesting the other dogs of the pack and sprouting tentacles. "I don't know what's in there, but it's wierd and pi$$ed off, whatever it is!!" The team torches it with a flamethrower, but part of the creature splits off and escapes by slamming through the roof.
Now deadly curious and intent on finding out what's going on, a couple members of the team fly out to the now abandoned Norwegian base. They find it in ruins. One corpse is found sitting frozen in a chair, wrists slashed and bloody icicles trailing down to the floor. In a storage shack, they discover what appears to be another corpse, but it's oddly distorted and deformed. They decide to take it back with them for further study. The doctor also finds some tapes containing about nine hours worth of running documentary of some discovery the Norwegians had made. Those are taken back as well.
Back at the base, the tapes reveal that the Norwegians had found a derelict craft buried under the ice, and estimates place the time that that landing occurred at roughly 150,000 years prior. Obviously, this is nothing that originated here on Earth. There was also what appeared to be a frozen pilot nearby. It was soon after the Norwegians took the pilot back that the base went dark.
Studying the pilot and the remains of the dog creature, the team finds that the cellular structure of both are of an assimilative nature. The cells overtake foreign ones and thereafter mimic them.
This creature is a shapechanger. And what's more, there is still cellular activity. Neither body is dead yet. The decision is made burn both.
Wierd things start to happen afterward, and suspicions flare up among the crew. Is anyone still who they say they are? How can they be sure?...
And how can they make sure that the creature doesn't escape and infect the rest of the world?
VISUALS-5 Stars
There was no concept of CGI effects back when this film aired in 1982. There were live effects, masterfully done by Rob Bottin (and I didn't know his last name was pronounced 'bow-teen' until I watched the 'making of' documentary in the Special Features). Yes, they were gruesome, but they were designed to showcase the fact that the enemy was in NO WAY human. In my opinion, they were necessary. The way the film was shot also successfully captured the isolation of the crew and elevated the fact that they were truly on their own with an unfathomable adversary stalking them.
SOUND-5 Stars
Ennio Morricone's score for this movie was simple, but it was dark and foreboding, and in that simpleness, fit exactly the moodiness the theme broadcast for a research team with the unenviable situation of being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a hostile entity.
SPECIAL FEATURES-5 Stars
The 80 minute documentary is exactly the same as on the previous dvd edition, but it's still entertaining to watch how the cast and crew came together, both on the set and off of it (there was this one occasion where they were all travelling to the set late at night on a bus down an icy road when the bus slid into the ditch; they all got out and managed to push the bus back onto the road to keep going). The explanation of the trials and tribulations of Rob Bottin in setting up the effects shots also go a long way in explaining why the move has largely been toward CGI effects now. The Special Features add a welcome depth to this story.
OVERALL-5 Stars
I remember having a nightmare after the first time I had watched this movie of everyone I knew having smiling, happy faces and cheerily saying hello, until they reached up and ripped their faces off to reveal this snarling, slimey, drooling creature underneath -still happily saying hello- and then they would begin chasing me, and then every other person I saw when I was running away started doing the same thing. It was not a pleasant night and I seriously contemplated trying to stay awake for the next two days when I woke up. I was about sixteen at the time.
That dream never repeated itself, but every time I watch this movie I still get an uncomfortable twinge and I'm 39 now. I guess that's the highest compliment you can give to a horror movie.
Two Thumbs Up. |
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| "The ultimate in Sci-fi/horror!" | 2009-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By johnlindsey289 |
In Antartica, a group of researchers (Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, Keith David, Richard A. Dystrat, Charles Hallahan, Thomas Waites, Joel Polis, Richard Mauser, Donald Moffat, T.K. Carter and David Clennon) discovered an old spaceship that was buried in the snow for thousands of years. A parasitic shape-shifting creature has been thawed out as it hides inside a few of the team members for paranoia starts and those that might be The Thing.
An electrifying and shocking brilliant remake of a 1951 Sci-fi/horror classic thanks to director John Carpenter of "Halloween" fame. The film has a talented all-guy cast including Kurt Russell as RJ McCready and lovable Quaker-Oats commercial fellow Wilford Brimley (Without his famed Mustache). The film was a box-office and critical bust upon it's release and was rediscovered later on DVD, Cable and VHS with now being reguarded as the ultimate remake. It's more true to the original story "Who Goes There" by Joseph Campbell then the 1951 movie and the special effects are still shocking yet amazing even in these days of CGI all done by Rob Bottin and Stan Winston. The film is also about survival and paranoia as this is John Carpenter's second best movie besides "Halloween".
This DVD offers a mind-blowing transfer of sound and picture in the highest quality possible even on Blu-Ray and the extras are terrific like audio commentary, an 80 minute documentary on this film, deleted Stop Motion scene from the film that was cut out, exclusive behind the scenes footage, outtakes, Trailer, behind-the-scenes location footage, storyboards and conceptual art, and annonated production achieve. |
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| "The Thing: John Carpenter's True Masterpiece" | 2009-08-26 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2EFCFI3RDB5D5 |
The Thing is a masterpiece in every regard. The casting, acting, story, setting, music, cinematography, directing, mood, and of course, the special effects are all incredible. It was originally panned upon its in the summer of 1982 because it had the misfortune of being release two weeks after E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial. Because of this, everyone was on an "aliens are friendly and would NEVER hurt us" kick. Don't get me wrong, E.T. is a great film that captures the true magic of filmmaking, but I prefer my aliens to be slimy and slaughter-happy.
Carpenter did a phenomenal job bringing John W. Campbell's story to the screen, sticking more closely to the source material than the original 1951 film (another great film on its own merits). The "thing" in the 1951 version could produce in spores and fed on blood but the "thing" in Carpenter's version (and the original story) can perfectly imitate any living thing. This concept is terrifying in that the "thing" could be anyone; your best friend, your mother, even your dog - and you wouldn't know the difference.
This paranoia is only intensified by the setting of the film: Outpost 31 in the middle of the Antarctic. The film really conveys the sense of isolation and being completely cut off from the outside world. It does it both bluntly (a heavy winter storm, no radio contact) and subtly (watching taped episodes of game shows, having only 14 characters in the entire film). Dean Cundey's cinematography is superb; he lights the outpost with deep blues that really give an alien feel to the surroundings.
The casting and acting is excellent by everyone involved. The actors become the characters, even the minor ones. Most of the actors are no-name guys except for Kurt Russell and Wilford Brimley, so it really gives the movie a feeling of authenticity (or at least as much authenticity as you can get with a movie about a shape-shifting alien). Kurt Russell is one of my favorite actors and he does a fine job here, playing MacReady with a gruff attitude while still being likable and believeable. He's like Snake Plissken with a beard. Brimley plays himself and it works, while all of the supporting cast is unique and memorable. The character of Palmer is fun and also highly quotable ("They taught the Incas everything they know" and "I was wonderin' when El Capitan was gonna get a chance to use his popgun!").
This marks one of the first and only times Carpenter did not score his own film (another one being In the Mouth of Madness, a truly underrated Carpenter gem). Ennio Morricone handles the score and gives us one of the most brooding, uneasy, and unsettling scores I've ever heard. It is a simplistic score, but in all the right ways and it compliments the movie perfectly.
Carpenter's directing is top-notch. This was his sixth major film and by now his style was well-established and he knew exactly what he wanted. The film in shot in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) which really gives the film a large scope and affords some truly beautiful shots. The steadicam is also used to perfection and there are a few excellent tracking shots. I've always loved how the film starts out in the open Antarctic, moves to the outpost and gets more and more claustrophobic as it progresses.
Finally onto one of the huge achievements of The Thing: the special effects. Be warned - there are some truly disgusting scenes in this movie so if you've got a weak stomach, bring a trashcan. Flesh tears, limbs crack, bodies parts fly, heads tear THEMSELVES off, and people and "things" are set ablaze, all with the aid of Rob Bottin's spectacular special effects. They look astonishingly real and actually still hold up well to this day. My favorite scene will always be the "defibrillation scene".
From a DVD standpoint, The Thing is a shining example of a great collector's edition. There is a wonderful 83 minute documentary called "The Thing: Terror Takes Shapes" that is both informative and very interesting. There is also an excellent audio commentary from Kurt Russell and John Carpenter. The Thing has been released twice by Universal, once in 1998 and again in 2004, and I own both versions. Each feature all the same material with some slight differences. The original Collector's Edition released in 1998 has the best looking cover and a nice collector's booklet featuring production notes and the scene listings. The above mentioned documentary is also divided into chapters, which is nice for navigation. The only problem is the film transfer is not anamorphically enhanced, meaning the black widescreen bars are always present whether you have a widescreen TV or not. The 2004 release has a better looking anamorphic transfer and better audio mix. Strangely the documentary is not divided into chapters anymore, which is a disappointment. The case for the 2004 release is neat-looking, but features no insert (even though there is a slot for one) and the case's slipsleeve is made of thin plastic that can tear easily. I recommended the 2004 version for the transfer but if you're like me and want the best of both worlds, I recommend taking the 2004 disc and putting it in the 1998 release's case.
So all in all, this film is masterfully crafted and expertly executed. I'm glad it is finally getting the recognition it so rightfully deserves. Do yourself a favor and watch this film, you will not be disappointed! |
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| "fast-paced paranoia with more than a bit of gore" | 2009-07-13 |
| - Reviewed By saintshade |
An isolated research station gets an unwelcome guest: a shape-shifting alien that starts assimilating people, and it's up to the few humans remaining to figure out who's who before it gets out and takes over the world.
There's some nifty paranoia in this: no one trusts anyone else because they might be an alien, and it creates a moody, tense feel. Things move along at a brisk clip, keeping the viewer involved and possibly on the edge of their seats. Indeed, it could be argued that things move a bit too quickly, as there's not enough time to really develop a sense of "scary" except in one or two masterful scenes. The pacing also means that "character development" is left to the wayside. The other complaint usually lodged against this film is the "gore factor"... which is fairly tame by today's standards but was certainly cutting edge at the time of release. A few of the effects (the stop-motion) may seem dated, but quite a bit of it still holds up very well, especially considering this is good ol' make-up and costuming, not cheesy CGI.
Although this film did poorly at the box-office-- in part because of the excess gore but mostly because E.T. was also out and everyone was in the mood for a "friendly" alien-- its reputation has recovered over the decades to make it a well-regarded 'cult classic.'
The DVD has some great features: notably a "making of" special with interviews with the actors, directors, and FX crew; the commentary by director Carpenter and star Russell is also pretty good.
Worth checking out. |
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| "Classic sci fi" | 2009-06-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3BG6H213D2FRF |
| This is one of the coolest looking movies out there. The special effects are all props, no cg except for the very first stupid shot. It looks great and is still scary after all these years. Decent direction, but slip shod editing and poor acting at times mar this one. Other than that, a classic all around. |
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