The Thing by John Carpenter has always been one of my fave movies since i was 14 and one of the best Science Fiction and horror movies of all time. It's also one of the best remakes ever made, the 1951 movie by Howard Hawks was good but it had something wrong with it in the first place as they didn't have the time or technology to do it justice back then to be truthful to the original Joseph Campbell novella from 1938. John Carpenter grew up with both sources as a kid and remade it to honor and respect both sources yet it's more faithful to the story including the shapeshifting creatures as it improved on the original. Carpenter's movie with it's solid cast like Kurt Russell (one of the only movies where you see him with a beard), Wilford Brimley (Yes the Oatmeal guy every 80's child knows only without the stache), Richard Dystard and Keith David and amazing special effects and gore by Rob Bottin. For it's time it was very shocking that some people walked out as the film came out in the wrong time, it was released 2 weeks after E.T. and bombed but has became a best rented video to best selling video, Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-Ray of all time including a most watched movie on cable. I can't wait for the upcoming prequel which should be a worthy one showing us from the Norweigens point of view and should be also as cool as that badass video game sequel i have for PS2.
Is Rob Bottin involved with the prequel? I really hope they use practical effects for the creature and not CG. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I disagree, I can't stand it. One of the worst movies I've ever tried to sit through. And failed each time.
100% agreed. And John Carpenter's film isn't so much a remake, as it's a closer (mostly in spirit) take on the original novella that inspired The Thing From Another World. If you've never read it, it's called "Who Goes There" written by John W. Campbell. It's a quick read, but very ambitious for the time period in which it was written (1938).
Win!!!! I'm curious what you consider to be a good movie, because I don't know a single film buff that has anything but praise for Carpenter's Thing. It is widely regarded as a masterpiece of cinematic art.
No it's not, it's just dumb jump scare slasher movie that tries to be serious. I HATE that type movie. It's not the least but disturbing or entertaining. I have the same problem with Alien, it's also a jump scare slasher movie.
^ I love The Thing. It's a huge 'gross-out' type of horror movie, but incredibly creative with innovating effects for it's time. I also think it's a classic.
You've either never seen either film, or you're just trolling to make a poorly constructed argument. Neither of the two films you mentioned are "jump scare" or "slasher" movies. "Jump Scare" movies rely on an immediate suspenseful element inserted into and otherwise unsuspenseful scenes and are accompanied by immediate shift or insertion of overly dramatic, and often loud, musical shifts. A "Slasher" film, by it's very definition, is about a mass murder or serial killer. Films of that nature are dubbed so due to the villain often using sharp metal objects to cut or slash their victims. Neither Aliens or The Thing fall into those categories. Both take great care in building upon mistrust and tense situations to intensify the horrific scenarios that arise. And while both have occasional "jump scare" scenarios, they inserted to shift the tension of the situations presented and don't rely on that scare tactic for the basis of their horrific narrative.
Yes they are. The Thing totally relies on jump scares, as does Alien. But like I said I can't sit through them. I can get the basic idea. However I really can't stand the Thing. If it's on, I'm not even going to try and watch it. Alien I can sort do until the Xenomorph shows up and the plot goes from sci-fi to slasher movie. I've never found that to be true. Jump scare can and are stuck in without regard to a scenes specific tension. I don't consider being more or less human or wielding a bladed weapon as qualifiers for calling the threat in a movie a slasher. I consider the course of actions the plot follows to be FAR more important than who does it and how. The thing and Alien both follow the plot course that any Slasher movie would. Characters getting offed (killed or assimilated) until only a few are left and they stop what ever is doing the offing. I can't stand movies who's plot can be said to follow that formula, that take themselves seriously. No matter what kind of layers are stacked upon it. It grates on me until I'm forced to change the channel. And if it doesn't take it self seriously it becomes a case by case thing. Again they totally do. By the factors that I use for qualifying them.
Your personal qualifiers for how to categorize a movie don't actually mean they are then suddenly categorized that way. Creating your own definitions for a genre isn't going to suddenly reverse 30+ years of film history. You'll be hard pressed to find anyone who will categorize either film as a slasher film. And you're basing your entire argument on pre-conceived notions on films. Films you admit to refusing to watching. Meaning your arguments lack any sort of basis and are argumentative for the sole purpose of being argumentative. If all you're going to do is is type till your fingers bleed and scream until you're blue in the face about how awful a movie you've never seen is, and continue to make arguments based on facts you don't have, I'll simply remove you from the thread so those that wish to discuss the film can do so without being trolled.
That's not true. My brother would given the same explanation I just gave you. I watched the Quebec dub one saturday night when I was around 14. And that one time was enough, never again. There is only one movie I've never watched, and refuse to ever watch. And that's Titanic.
Your brother hardly counts as a deciding factor in the history of movies. So now you've watched a french dub of the film when you were a kid. I personally prefer to watch movies in their native language. Dubs, especially in the 80's, rarely capture the tone the film was going for. Also, I really can't keep up with your thought process. You are now contradicting your previous posts and continually have to justify your dislike for this film by how much you dislike other films that have nothing to do with the subject at hand. You don't like the movie. Awesome for you. You've made your opinion known and said your peace. The rest of us are going to get on with discussing the movie without resorting to shouting from the corner of the room. Okay? Thanks.
Joe Moore The Thing John Carpenter One of the best movies of all time, without a doubt. The entire thing is masterful.
I still love the quality of the special effects and totally ambigious ending. I really want to know what happened at the end...did they get rescued, did they freeze to death....is the monster really dead.... Love it.
I have a bad feeling about the prequel. Usually, movies start small marketing pushes 6-8 months prior to a films release. A movie like this, which is banking on nostalgia, needs to build it's audience beyond those that love the original film. There have only been a handful of pics released, no footage and the few set reports have been uninspiring so far. And the way that most modern horror films are approached (lop off the exposition, pile on the heavy grunge and camera filters), especially reboot/remakes, makes me a bit skeptical.
To me there was something about the pacing of early 80s action and sci fi movies that they just can't seem to recreate these days (predators was pretty close, though). The Thing, 1982, is certainly one of my favorite horror movies, and a lot of directors and story tellers could learn a good thing about how to pace a horror movie from it. So, I'm going to be apprehensive about this supposed prequel.
Damn, this was on the other night (on an uncle's Direct TV movie channel or something like that). I hadn't seen it in forever, and even though I remembered what happened with each scene, it didn't stop me from going, "HOLY SHIT" at the body ripping the guy's arms off.
