The Thing (1982) [Blu-ray]

Description

Product Description Horror-meister John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape from New York) teams Kurt Russell's outstanding performance with incredible visuals to build this chilling version of the classic The Thing. In the winter of 1982, a twelve-man research team at a remote Antarctic research station discovers an alien buried in the snow for over 100,000 years. Once unfrozen, the form-changing alien wreaks havoc, creates terror and becomes one of them.Bonus Content:U-Control: Picture in PictureFeature Commentary with Kurt Russell and Director John Carpenter Review Howard Hawks's original 1951 production of The Thing from Another World can be glimpsed playing on a TV that fateful October evening in John Carpenter's blockbuster hit, Halloween (1978). A few years later, Carpenter reteamed with his Escape from New York star Kurt Russell to do a remake. But while the first movie version of The Thing was in atmospheric black and white, Carpenter's 1982 version is in widescreen, full color, and features some of the most revoltingly explicit, surreally imaginative special effects (courtesy of FX-meister Rob Bottin) that have ever been seen on the screen. Researchers in the remote Antarctic dig up the remains of a spacecraft that has long been frozen in the ice. But the alien life unthaws and infects the living (not only humans but sled dogs too), living and gestating inside them. (This horrific concept was also explored in the two versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the Alien movies.) This Thing is chilling in every sense of the word, with plenty of terrifying, adrenaline-pumping moments that build it to a powerful and shockingly nihilistic conclusion. It's a harsh and uncompromising movie (hewing more closely to the original 1930s story "Who Goes There?")--so much so that it probably never would have been given a green-light by any studio in the more cautious and doggedly upbeat 1990s. --Jim Emerson Review: "I know I'm human, and some of you are still human..." - Does anyone besides myself remember when Kurt Russell was the Disney poster boy, appearing in films like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1969), The Barefoot Executive (1971), Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972), and The Strongest Man in the World (1975)? What the heck happened since? Well, perhaps in an effort to distance himself from his carefully cultivated, squeaky clean cut, all-American kid Disney image (and avoid the dreaded curse of the former child star/now out of work actor), he teamed up with writer/director/producer John Carpenter first in the made for TV movie Elvis (1979), then as the quintessential anti-hero Snake Plissken in the film Escape from New York (1981), and then again, a few years later, to do The Thing (1982), which is actually a remake of the Universal/Howard Hawks classic science fiction film The Thing from Another World (1951), which are both based on John W. Campbell's story "Who Goes There?". Also appearing in this film is Quaker Oat man Wilford Brimley, who would have a much more amicable alien encounter in Cocoon (1985), T.K. Carter (Doctor Detroit), David Clennon (The Couch Trip), Keith David (They Live), Richard A. Dysart (Pale Rider)...whew, let me catch my breath...Charles Hallahan (Vision Quest), Richard Masur (Heaven's Gate), Donald Moffat (The Right Stuff), Joel Polis (True Believer), Thomas G. Waites (The Clan of the Cave Bear), and Peter Maloney (Desperately Seeking Susan)...also worth mentioning is one time Carpenter favorite and ex-wife Adrienne Barbeau, who doesn't actually appear in the film, but can be heard as the voice of the computer chess game Russell's character is playing in the beginning...a little bit of useless trivia for you...hey, at least I didn't mention the craft services person...who, by the way was Yervant Babasin... The film begins with a shot of outer space, and soon into view comes a whirling saucer, flying somewhat erratically, headed for Earth...apparently some time passes, as the year now is 1982, and we're in Antarctica. We see a helicopter flying across the icy landscape, chasing a dog. One of the occupants is firing a rifle at the dog, but is missing miserably...poor shot? Perhaps not, as I figure it's hard as hell to hit a moving target from a helicopter...anyway, the chase ends at the United States National Science Institute Station 4, as the two men in the helicopter suffer a fatal mishap, but, you'll be happy to know the dog was all right...for now. Questions arise, as the now deceased men were part of a Norwegian expedition not far from the Americans. This prompts helicopter R.J. MacReady (played by a really hairy Russell) and another to fly over and investigate. Seems the Norwegians found something in the ice, something better left alone, as now they're all....dead. After returning to the camp, all soon learn perhaps sometimes a dog is not just a dog, especially when it's an alien posing as a dog...what follows next should really be seen, rather than explained here... This is one of those films I can watch a few times a year simply because its so well put together and entertaining, especially on a visceral level, thanks, in part, to the special effects artistry of Rob Bottin (The Fog), among others, who worked on this feature. One thing that separated this film from the one from 1951 is the crazy-go-nuts amount of gory madness. There's popping eyes, spurting veins, mutating and burning flesh, dripping mucus, guts a bustin', blood squirting, face eating, spider heads, tentacles slapping, bones and cartilage cracking, body mangling, and so on...if'n you're a gore hound, and you can't satisfy your monkey here, then perhaps you need some serious, professional help. By the way, I have seen movies with much more gore, but not so much in mainstream films like this...if you've got small children, and you're looking to give them nightmarish, bedwetting nocturnal visions for at least a month, then I'd recommend this film along with Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Don't get me wrong, this film isn't all about the nasty bits, as it's also an extremely tense thriller...if you've seen the film, you know what I'm talking about, especially the scene when the men are testing their own blood in hopes of determining who still human. You see, the alien has the ability to absorb other life forms, and then create an exact duplicate. This aspect ends up driving the paranoia within the characters as they're unsure whom they can trust, and who will eat their face while they sleep. Also, the alien is intelligent, and uses this distrust against the men, in order to further its own cause, all taking place in an enclosed, isolated environment, inducing a definite sense of claustrophobia, which only adds to further the tension and suspense. There are plenty of shocks, also...one scene in particular was the defibulator sequence. If you've seen the film you know what I'm talking about...and we shouldn't forget legendary composer Ennio Morricone's distinct, unsettling, and highly appropriate musical scoring. As far as the characters go, there isn't a whole lot of time spent focused on the individuals, even though we do spend a good deal of time with Russell's character, as the story is more geared towards the group, and their efforts to recognize, contain, and destroy the imminent threat to all. That's not to say there's no individualism among the characters, as there is, but Carpenter and the actors manage to express a lot without actually having to relate it to the audience, by actions, mannerisms, and so on...little time is wasted in this feature as things move along very quickly. Another aspect I really liked was the attention to detail with regards to the sets and locations. One could almost feel the pervasive cold emanating from the film, the wind cutting to the bone. Everything worked here for me, the acting, the script, the directing, the music, the settings, the liberal carnage, and so on...again, this is a violent, graphic movie, but well worth it, if you can take it...overall, this film may be vastly different that the 1951 version, along with the original story, but I think Carpenter did carry a few, important elements in the sense of paranoia inherent within the material. This special edition DVD release contains a beautiful, re-mastered, anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) print, along with a clear Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track. As far as special features, there are gobs, including an audio commentary track with the director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell, along with a featurette titled John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape (84 minutes), a production background archive, cast production photographs, production artwork and storyboards, location design, full motion and frame by frame breakdowns of the saucer and the `Blairmonster', outtakes, post production materials, and an original theatrical trailer. All in all a superior release of an excellent film. Cookieman108 Review: A Stunning level of quality beyond just the effects - Movie 1 of 1982 and 91 overall in my journey through films of my lifetime. When I started this retrospective "The Thing" was a movie I had in mind as justification for the effort. From the outset I'll just say that this movie exceeded my expectations by bounding degrees. I could not have begun to imagine that this movie was this good. In the first season of "The X-Files" there was an episode that mimicked "The Thing" and I really didn't like that episode. In fact I never watched another episode of "X-Files" to this day. So when the prospect of watching "The Thing" came up I passed. My history with this movie doesn't end there though. In the 80's that family I spoke of in a different, earlier review had cable on all day. I would see scenes from "The Thing" on there periodically and it scarred the heck out of me. The practical effects are great even today but back them, as a child, it looked like a documentary. The highest compliment I can give this movie is that it is just a great story. I'm so dissapointed to read that it was a flop but at least it withstood the test of time. The sound effects and music were great for any time period. I was expecting dated synth but it was far from it. There may have been synth but it was so well done I didn't notice. Another compliment I'll pay this is that it's the best Lovecraft inspired film I've ever seen. I recently saw "The Color Out of Space" with Nicolas Cage and it was abysmal in my opinion. It suffered from similar issues but where they differ greatly is the quality of the story telling. So what criticisms could I share? Well I'm not a fan of the UFO at the beginning. In fact I think it proves my point I made in "Escape from New York" that Carpenter has a raw imagination. This can be a good thing too but I'm listing this as a bane. Why did we absolutely have to know that the creature was a space alien? It would have enhanced the story to leave the origins of the creature to the imagination of the audience. Another issue I had is directoral. Shot after shot lingered far too long on the creature. Again, imagination is the key and the effects would have looked even better in flashes, hints, and suggestions. I remember my dad explaning (years before "The Thing") what made "Jaws" so scary: you never saw the shark. My dad was right and I'm kind of surprised Carpenter didn't understand that. These are small gripes though. The good far exceeds the bad in this movie. Pros -great story -Lovecraftian feel -horror done right -incredible special effects Cons -over explains -lingering shots of effects A note on computer scenes in 70's and 80's movies. Still an area where the public knew so little that the imagination could run wild for film makers. The scene where the computer is diagramming and calculating the alien infection is almost nonsensical to me. I laughed out loud because this computer, in the middle of Antarctica, is the most advanced AI ever conceived. Story, especially cinematic story, needs gravity and the computer scene was creative exposition to accomplish this. One could get away with this back then but I'm very curious what a younger person today would thinking about this scene. We are aware now that computers just don't work this way. We still do this today to one degree or another though. Computer modeling is done for predicting virus outbreaks to weather changes. These models are far more often wrong than right and yet our imaginations make us think they have credence. It would be folly to laugh too hard at their efforts back then because we still hold computers to unrealistic standards.