Herb Kane
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 7, 2001
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The Thing – From Another World
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 1951
Rated: Not Rated
Film Length: 87 Mins
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Standard Version
Audio: DD Mono
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
The Feature:
Many of us equate "The Thing" to director John Carpenter, who is responsible for the 1982 remake. This 1951 RKO Pictures film was directed by Christian Nyby and produced by the legendary Howard Hawks. After doing a little reading, it appears as though Hawks was at least partly responsible for the film’s direction as well. The story based on the novel by John W Campbell Jr.
Radar operators discover that something has gone down in a remote arctic region. Initially the downing is thought to be nothing more than a meteorite, which is quickly dismissed. Later on when the downing is thought to be something of a significant amount of metal, Capt Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) of the USAF stationed in Anchorage Alaska, is in charge of a crew to investigate the downed object. Upon their arrival at the crash site, it is determined that the large “bottle” shaped impression first viewed from the air on their way to the site, was in fact, a round saucer shaped object encrusted in thick ice. The ice removal operation winds up destroying the space craft and all that remains is a creature like figure still visible in the ice. Chopping away at the block, it is removed in it’s entirety and transported back to the barracks for examination and testing.
When a heating blanket is accidentally left on top of the block of ice, the ice begins to melt and this leads to the eventual escape of The Thing (played by James Arness). Dr. Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) seems to believe the creature is plant like in nature and won’t respond to any of the ideas or suggestions the team has in trying to subdue it. During the escape a couple of the sled dogs are killed and a strange looking arm is found at the scene. When further tests are performed by the scientists, they determine that the creature may require the blood of humans for survival and that they have now become potential food for this thing. When two of the scientists are found murdered, the rest of the crew and scientists realize that they are in a struggle for their lives.
The movie is free from any gore and plays smartly on the mind for suspense. Although I have the remake version, this was my first experience watching the original version and I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat for much of the movie.
During the movie, we see the likeable (but no nonsense) Captain exploring a relationship with Nikki (Margaret Sheridan). We also witness the tense relationship between the Captain (whose paramount concern is of the safety of his men and that of others) and Dr. Carrington (who seems to want to “research” regardless of the potential cost). They’re at odds with each other during much of the movie.
Video:
I thought I was in for a rough ride (see my explanation below) as I watched the trailer. In an attempt to be as diplomatic as possible, the transfer is not without its share of flaws. It’s difficult to state what the elements were like to start with (and I presume less than pristine), but I wasn’t left overly impressed with this transfer. Again, from what I’ve read, I’m certain the quality is going to surpass the LD release.
For the most part, I would say the transfer looked very good -- not great, but good. I noticed many scratches and occasional jitter. At the 07:43 mark, there is a good example of film dirt. I noticed a couple of jumps as well – whether they are splices or repairs, it is hard to say. The amount of film grain is greater than I like to see and the black levels weren’t the greatest.
Audio:
There is nothing particularly special from the audio track (not that there is usually anything particularly special from a mono track…). Everything seemed rather clear – which is all that we can hope for. Nothing in particular stood out pertaining to the movie’s audio.
Special Features:
While, apparently, there were extras available on LD, the DVD offers nothing more than a trailer. And, what a Trailer it is…. it was terrible. It looked like something produced from one of these public domain studios…
I usually start watching a movie by watching the theatrical if available and this was no exception. I couldn’t believe how poor it looked and obviously no work went into its inclusion. I thought initially, I was in for a rough 87 minutes; fortunately that wasn’t the case. In light of the fact WB have only given us the trailer, some more work should have gone into its release.
Final Thoughts:
As I mentioned earlier, I had never seen this version before. I spent the quiet afternoon in the theater watching it and I found it rather enjoyable. Perhaps I’m getting pickier but, I wasn’t left overly impressed with Warner’s offering. That said, and in light of the quality of Warner’s recent catalogue releases, I have a feeling they didn’t have much here to work with in the first place. As for the movie, great flick.
Release Date: August 5th, 2003
