A Few Words About A few words about...™ The Thing (1982) -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

My initial contact with John Carpenter's The Thing was at a screening at Gomillion Studios, of what I believe was a 70mm final answer print, derived from the original camera negative.

Both image, and audio were extraordinary. Huge sound.

Later I screened it in 35, and the quality held, again with great sound.

Universal's original Blu-ray of the film, which goes back to 2008, and which was also an HD scan of an IP, is still serviceable. Color, black levels are all in a good place, along with a nicely resolved image.

The only real negative of that original release is stability, and along with a slightly more resolved image from Scream Factory, that's another plus to upgrade.

But if you're a aficionado of the film, the killer aspect of this new disc is found in the extras, and there are a ton of them.

What's a ton?

An entire discs' worth of quality material.

So for those who may be on the fence about an upgrade, this is an easy one to answer.

Absolutely, go for it.

Image - 4.75

Audio - 5 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

4k Up-rez - 4.75

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I've been hanging onto my HD DVD, waiting for an upgrade. Looks like I'll be biting soon.

 

[TravisR]

One of Carpenter's best.

 

[dpippel]

I've had the Deluxe Limited Edition of this for a while now and think it easily qualifies as a candidate for release of the year.

 

[Johnny Angell]

It's a shame this film didn't do better at the box office. ET has just come out a week or two before and apparently we, the public, weren't in a mood for Carpenter's vision of a visitor from outer space. Didn't the BO failure actually effect Carpenter's career?

 

[TravisR]

Didn't the BO failure actually effect Carpenter's career?

After The Thing, he did Christine which made some money and Starman which did OK but it got Jeff Bridges an Oscar nomination. Then he did Big Trouble In Little China and I'd mark that movie's financial failure as the first real nail in the coffin of him doing medium budgeted studio movies and then the disaster of Memoirs Of An Invisible Man as the final nail of doing bigger pictures.

 

[SAhmed]

Arguably Carpenter at his best ( Escape From New York, Halloween, The Fog, Assault On Precinct 13, Big Trouble In Little China, They Live etc...). Saw it when it first came out in Leeds, UK. I love this movie and ordered the Deluxe Edition as soon as you could place an order for it. I have bought this movie (or Leone's Masterpiece "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly" ) more times (in various formats/releases) than any other. Side not - I "lost" the original English quad poster (along with other originals) during a house move so had to buy the US poster which hangs with a couple of other Carpenter's movie poster in my theater.

Regards,

 

[Johnny Angell]

After The Thing, he did Christine which made some money and Starman which did OK but it got Jeff Bridges an Oscar nomination. Then he did Big Trouble In Little China and I'd mark that movie's financial failure as the first real nail in the coffin of him doing medium budgeted studio movies and then the disaster of Memoirs Of An Invisible Man as the final nail of doing bigger pictures.

I had forgotten about Memoir, that was a disappointment if you think too much about the book while watching it. Oddly, I still enjoy it when watching. I think that has to do with Daryl Hannah. I have always loved her.

The book is such an oddity. The author (under a pen name, I think) never published another novel, it's out of print, and never been made into a kindle or other electronic book. Yet it was a big seller and I think it would still sell of put into print again.

 

[Nelson Au]

I wish the 1951 The Thing From Another World would be remastered for HD. I've never seen the Carpenter version.,

 

[Johnny Angell]

I wish the 1951 The Thing From Another World would be remastered for HD. I've never seen the Carpenter version.,

Both are fine movies but you owe it to yourself to see the Carpenter version. A totally different take on the original story "Who Goes There". Carpenter's is probably more faithful to the short story.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

After The Thing, he did Christine which made some money and Starman which did OK but it got Jeff Bridges an Oscar nomination. Then he did Big Trouble In Little China and I'd mark that movie's financial failure as the first real nail in the coffin of him doing medium budgeted studio movies and then the disaster of Memoirs Of An Invisible Man as the final nail of doing bigger pictures.

Also, because of The Thing failing to garner much box office, Universal pulled Carpenter from their production of Stephen King's Firestarter. To think what Carpenter would have done with that!

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for the recommendation Johnny. My only exposure to the Carpenter version is perhaps 15 minutes when it aired on late night. I tuned in in the middle and it struck me as gory. Perhaps more so then the chest busting scene in Alien. A film I don't have an issue with the gore. The gore was part of the story. I imagine the gore is part of the story in The Thing. I can appreciate the idea that this version is more faithful to the Campbell short story. So I'll consider the new Shout/Scream Factory disc since I have never owned any version.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Thanks for the recommendation Johnny. My only exposure to the Carpenter version is perhaps 15 minutes when it aired on late night. I tuned in in the middle and it struck me as gory. Perhaps more so then the chest busting scene in Alien. A film I don't have an issue with the gore. The gore was part of the story. I imagine the gore is part of the story in The Thing. I can appreciate the idea that this version is more faithful to the Campbell short story. So I'll consider the new Shout/Scream Factory disc since I have never owned any version.

Yes, it is gory and the gore is on a level with Alien. As I have aged my gore tolerance has diminished. If The Thing was just released, I might not watch. Since I'm familiar with it, I accept it. However, it has characters I become interested in and care about (as in Alien). I myself have not found an off moment in the film that takes me out of the story. The creature creators used all of their imagination creating the creatures.

Re-read your post and the gore in the thing could be greater than Alien.

 

[SAhmed]

Nelson - Very much in agreement with Johnny, I would say that the gore is, in my opinion, definitely greater than Alien but is perfectly in tune (as a wonderful support framework) with the story, characters, environment and the awesome musical score . I hope you enjoy it!

Regards,

 

[Dick]

Yes, it is gory and the gore is on a level with Alien.

Much more so, really. Other than the chest-bursting sequence in ALIEN, that film has practically zero gore.

 

[Douglas_H]

Both are fine movies but you owe it to yourself to see the Carpenter version. A totally different take on the original story "Who Goes There". Carpenter's is probably more faithful to the short story.

It's far more faithful to Who Goes There? I like the ending in the film version better than the short story.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Far more faithful to Who Goes There?

It's been a while since I read the story but the alien in the story was a shape shifter and there was a lot of mistrust going around. Both are in Carpenter's version and not in the 50's version. So I'd say significantly more faithful than the 50's version. Don't take that as a criticism of the first film because it's one of my favorites.

 

[Douglas_H]

It's been a while since I read the story but the alien in the story was a shape shifter and there was a lot of mistrust going around. Both are in Carpenter's version and not in the 50's version. So I'd say significantly more faithful than the 50's version. Don't take that as a criticism of the first film because it's one of my favorites.

Absolutely not. The Howard Hawks\Christian Nyby version is great. Has a classic 50's Sci-Fi feel to it. The characters are well-drawn and their interaction is excellent. The actor who plays the head scientist is great as is the femme fatale. The portrayal of arctic cold is very well done as well. I'm guessing that portraying all of the aspects of the alien were too difficult to illustrate at the time. As someone else posted, it deserves a first-rate restoration.

 

[SAhmed]

Absolutely sign me up right now for a first rate restoration release of the original as I love it too (while on the subject of classic 50s Sci-Fi, would love to see a first rate presentation of "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" in high def )!

Regards,

 

[MOVIE SOURCE]

Going to be looking for this one, love this movie.