Bad news about "The Thing from Another World" on BD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Crawford]

I watched the Region 1 DVD today and I think it needs a lot of work before it gets a Blu-ray release. What a great film and one of the better written sci-fi films ever made especially from that film era. One of the things I really noticed this morning with my latest viewing of this film is the film score. Dimitri Tiomkin strikes again! I hope to get my Region 2 DVD this week so I can compare the two video presentations.

 

[ABaglivi]

The original soundtrack of The Thing was issued by Film Score Monthly. The excellent insert contains many stills and a fine article on the film and the score.

 

[Brent Reid]

I guess i watched the uncut version on the BBC then, strange that the running time is 83 minutes odd, i'm thinking PAL speedup, probably 25fps versus 24fp, that accounts for 4 minutes of running time, thanks for the information Anthony.

Every film I've ever watched on iPlayer, whether SD or HD, has 4% speedup...

 

[Richard Gallagher]

I hope to get my Region 2 DVD this week so I can compare the two video presentations.

My Region 2 DVD was shipped five days ago.

 

[davidmatychuk]

The original soundtrack of The Thing was issued by Film Score Monthly. The excellent insert contains many stills and a fine article on the film and the score.

There's an excellent 11-minute suite of music from "The Thing (From Another World)" on the 1989 "The Home Video Album" CD. It's even mixed in Dolby Surround, and it's ideal for Hallowe'en kids-at-the-door-let's-hit-them-with-some-scary-music use.

 

[dana martin]

ok so correct me if i am wrong, didnt the King Kong, blu come from something other than the original negative,.... i think WB might be able to pull some magic out of that hat, given the chance

 

[John Sparks]

ok so correct me if i am wrong, didnt the King Kong, blu come from something other than the original negative,.... i think WB might be able to pull some magic out of that hat, given the chance

Maybe that's why it wasn't that much better than the DVD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Maybe that's why it wasn't that much better than the DVD.

I beg to differ as I think King Kong on Blu-ray looked much better than the DVD.

 

[Dick]

Maybe that's why it wasn't that much better than the DVD.

Huh?


It would never be as good as THE HUNCHBACK (1939) unless they did a 4k, which would probably not be practical due to aforementioned elements. But KING KONG is exponentially improved over the DVD. If they could get THE THING looking like that, I would proverbially kiss Warner Bros. feet.

 

[John Sparks]

There are some of us that feel that way. I A/Bed the movie in my HT and that's what I saw, IMO.

 

[Rick Thompson]

There's an excellent 11-minute suite of music from "The Thing (From Another World)" on the 1989 "The Home Video Album" CD. It's even mixed in Dolby Surround, and it's ideal for Hallowe'en kids-at-the-door-let's-hit-them-with-some-scary-music use.

IMG_2708.JPG

That was part of the last volume of the "Classic Film Scores" series recorded by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Gerhardt in the 1970s for RCA Red Seal.The first 12 volumes have been released on CD under the Red Seal banner (though Sony owns it now). The last volume (which includes "The Thing") was a set of unreleased tracks, filled out with a couple of reruns from the other volumes (including all the studio fanfares). It was released back when RCA was owned by BMG, but is now out of print. You can still find it, though.


I recommend all 13 to any fan of classic film scores.

 

[LouA]

Well, I bought the one disc UK release since I couldn't find the two disc release available except from other sellers at a price I rather not spend on it or because I'm in the states, they can't ship it here. I wanted the Carpenter commentary, but oh well.

After reading this thread , I decided to order the 2 disc set from Amazon-UK from a third party dealer . Besides wanting to see the complete uncut version, I also wanted to take a look at the colorized version (sacrilege!). It was about 15 pounds plus shipping . While I was at it , I decided to order Love With The Proper Stranger as well.
Back to the Thing , I have the US DVD from about 10 years ago, but I don't think it includes the missing footage .
This won't stop me from getting the Blu-ray should it someday materialize - I'm a long time fan of this film.

 

[andySu]

Isolated (Dimitri Tiomkin) The Thing soundtrack mono. I can't seem to find Dolby surround version. I like the mono with shrilly eerie vibes that sounds sci-fi out of this world. Yeah some of the music instrumental now reminds me of (Danny Elfman) score for "Mars Attacks". Can any one else hear it?


Its good production quality the set or location with frozen ice and snowflakes it really puts me in the picture. Was this an on set studio scene with outdoor scenes edited together.








Have a listen to The Thing and Mars Attacks there are some small simulates. Also "The Day the Earth Stood Still" comes to mind as well. Oh gosh and Forbidden Planet. I guess the 50's most have sparked off this what sci-fi music should sound like, thing?

 

[ABaglivi]

After reading this thread , I decided to order the 2 disc set from Amazon-UK from a third party dealer . Besides wanting to see the complete uncut version, I also wanted to take a look at the colorized version (sacrilege!). It was about 15 pounds plus shipping . While I was at it , I decided to order Love With The Proper Stranger as well.
Back to the Thing , I have the US DVD from about 10 years ago, but I don't think it includes the missing footage .
This won't stop me from getting the Blu-ray should it someday materialize - I'm a long time fan of this film.

Please see my post #39. The US DVD does include the missing footage.

 

[Charles Smith]

A great Tiomkin score, with beautiful use of the theremin! I hadn't remembered that. Thanks for posting those.

 

[andySu]

A great Tiomkin score, with beautiful use of the theremin! I hadn't remembered that. Thanks for posting those.

I Googled up a dozen keywords and was discovering a connection of the sci-fi 50's genre.


http://www.movie-wave.net/titles/tdtess.html

Scoring The Thing From Another World was Dimitri Tiomkin, one of cinema's most famous composers, who nonetheless was known for his popular melodies rather than an aptitude at science fiction. Tiomkin's roaring, bellicose score for The Thing featured unusual instrumentation—particularly the electronic theremin—that terrified audiences along with the film's titular villain. The score became the blueprint for the '50s "monster" movie genre, although Tiomkin never attempted another one like it.


http://www.filmscoremonthly.com/cds/detail.cfm/CDID/314/Thing-From-Another-World-Take-the-High-Ground!-The/

This comes to mind as I was thinking it might have been some kind of sound generator that was oscillating rhythmic frequencies in waving form but its this type of instrument in the video.

 

[Charles Smith]

A must-see or must-have, for anyone interested in this to any extent:


http://www.amazon.com/Theremin-Electronic-Odyssey-Leon/dp/B00005BKZO/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1442851857&sr=1-4&keywords=theremin+an

 

[FoxyMulder]

There are some of us that feel that way. I A/Bed the movie in my HT and that's what I saw, IMO.

The blu ray of King Kong is improved over the DVD i had, now maybe it is possible they re-released it on DVD in 2010 with a far better encode, i don't recall, but i think the bitrate would struggle with the film grain, regardless of anything i think it's about as good as we are going to get unless they find some original untouched negatives in a vault under my house.


http://www.darkrealmfox.com/film_reviews/hd-comparisons-king-kong-1933/


I have noted a tendency these days for the studio's to not smother their DVD's in as much DNR or EE, especially the latter, shame they didn't do that from the very beginning, most of my old DVD's are just unwatchable these days, hurts my eyes.

 

[andySu]

A must-see or must-have, for anyone interested in this to any extent:


http://www.amazon.com/Theremin-Electronic-Odyssey-Leon/dp/B00005BKZO/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1442851857&sr=1-4&keywords=theremin+an

That is a good thing you found there. Get it "good thing". I think I might have seen "something" like this, used at Jean Michel Jarre concert video that I have, Jarre in China.


Well Googled about and found this Thing. It has history that dates back to its inventor in Russia, Professor Léon Theremin 1920's.

So with the music in The Thing leads to another Thing.








I hear some of that Thing'ish musical instrument and I like the hint of Vertigo in it.





I like the slow build up for The Thing on this LP I can hear that LP thing sound.

"Holy cat" was this Thing really rated "X" in the UK you got to be kidding me.

 

[davidmatychuk]

That was part of the last volume of the "Classic Film Scores" series recorded by the National Philharmonic Orchestra under Charles Gerhardt in the 1970s for RCA Red Seal.The first 12 volumes have been released on CD under the Red Seal banner (though Sony owns it now). The last volume (which includes "The Thing") was a set of unreleased tracks, filled out with a couple of reruns from the other volumes (including all the studio fanfares). It was released back when RCA was owned by BMG, but is now out of print. You can still find it, though.

I recommend all 13 to any fan of classic film scores.

Thanks for that. Charles Gerhardt and the National Philharmonic Orchestra gets credited in the CD booklet without a mention of what album the suite was originally recorded for. It's a great arrangement and performance, and I bet the "Classic Film Scores" series is tremendous.