Escape to the Movies: The Thing

[The_root_of_all_evil]

Anyone know where to get 'The thing from another world'? I've looked everywhere for a copy

Or £4 on Amazon [http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0012138KU/ref=asc_df_B0012138KU4799298?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=googlecouk06-21&linkCode=asn&creative=22206&creativeASIN=B0012138KU]

 

[[zonking great]]

Thanks Bob. You just saved me a fistful of bills.

 

[burningdragoon]

In mostly unrelated news, Mary Elizabeth Winstead is still gorgeous. Oh yes and woo for Avengers!

 

[wooty]

Not going to see this film at all, but I will say that the 1982 "The Thing" scared the shit out of me when I was a kid.........and still does. Animatronic puppets are just far more frightening than CGI.

 

[Sonicron]

I often disagree with Bob's opinions (e.g. liked Robin Hood and Green Lantern, disliked Prince of Persia, just plain laughed at the Planet of the Apes film), but I'll take it into consideration nonetheless - when I rent the movie a few months down the line. I can't watch horror flics in the theatre, the tension drives me crazy.
Anyway, did the 1982 version really need a remake? About a year ago I watched it for the very first time, and in my opinion today's special effects and CGI can't produce anything remotely as scary as the kind of body horror displayed in that movie.

 

[Draconalis]

My movie of the week that I went to go see was:

Ghostbusters

And it was amazing.

 

[Harry Mason]

No surprise here, unfortunately.

If there was some way I could start an elite strike team to stop the remake machine forever, I doubt I would have a hard time finding recruits. Seriously, if we could take that fucker out, it would be a massive victory for creativity everywhere...

Fuck you. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

 

[Frostbite3789]

I often disagree with Bob's opinions (e.g. liked Robin Hood and Green Lantern, disliked Prince of Persia, just plain laughed at the Planet of the Apes film), but I'll take it into consideration nonetheless - when I rent the movie a few months down the line. I can't watch horror flics in the theatre, the tension drives me crazy.
Anyway, did the 1982 version really need a remake? About a year ago I watched it for the very first time, and in my opinion today's special effects and CGI can't produce anything remotely as scary as the kind of body horror displayed in that movie.

Yeah, The Thing provided some of the most horrifying scenes I've seen in a horror film.

Spoiler

Especially that whole defibrillator scene where the dude's chest eats the doctor's hands...then that head thing crawls away. Just...holy crap.

 

[Smokescreen]

No surprise here, unfortunately.

If there was some way I could start an elite strike team to stop the remake machine forever, I doubt I would have a hard time finding recruits. Seriously, if we could take that fucker out, it would be a massive victory for creativity everywhere...

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

You'd have to hit it from orbit. Only way to be sure.
/oblig

For those of you who haven't seen the original, see it. It's really well done and stretches the tension out in a way that few horror movies tend to do. In addition, it's a fascinating time capsule of what frightened America at the time. I'm not suggesting it's political by any means, just that it's an interesting way peer into the psyche of a culture.

Also, the ending is fantastic. Even scary movies don't do that much anymore.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Carpenter's The Thing really doesn't really rank up there for "memorable character". And if you didn't know Wilford Brimley was going to be the "face on the final boss fight," then you need to have your brain checked. Carpenter's The Thing is not really "classical" material: it's a cult film. Last time I checked, those two concepts are radically different.

So I fail to see how you can complain about these things int he remake if not even the original got them right, unless you are so blinded by nostalgia, and bitterly cynical about Hollywood to the point where it obscures your obligations as a critic.

Oh wait, this is MovieBob we're talking about. Of COURSE he can't do a proper job because he's too blinded by nostalgia and bitterly cynical about Hollywood! Silly me... expecting a critic to actually be critical instead of just complaining about how it's Hollywood being Hollywood and that it's not original!

Once again, MovieBob really cements himself as being one of the worst contributors on this site.

How about this then? Compare any of the CGI from the new Thing film, with this shot.

 

[Draconalis]

I'd like to note... by the way...

Damn you Robert Downey Jr! You're such an asshole!

I didn't want to care about the Avengers because I don't like Marvel... but then you come along, being all witty, and charming... and now I kinda want to watch your movie...

I enjoyed the Ironman movies so much, because I could watch it and pretend the rest of the Marvel universe didn't exist, so long as if I left before the credits were over.

Angry!

 

[Falseprophet]

"Sausagefest". The interesting thing about the 1982 Carpenter version is precisely that it is a sausagefest. Most horror films throw in at least one or two female characters so they can be the ones to panic and scream at the monster. Here you have a bunch of hardened men, the kind assigned to harsh conditions for months at a time, losing their shit. A very unique dynamic you just don't see in other horror films. (The closest is that other great 80s horror sci-fi film, James Cameron's Aliens, where the female characters keep their heads on even while scared out of their minds, and if there's any useless panicking it's among the male characters.)

Carpenter's The Thing really doesn't really rank up there for "memorable character". And if you didn't know Wilford Brimley was going to be the "face on the final boss fight," then you need to have your brain checked. Carpenter's The Thing is not really "classical" material: it's a cult film. Last time I checked, those two concepts are radically different.

So I fail to see how you can complain about these things int he remake if not even the original got them right, unless you are so blinded by nostalgia, and bitterly cynical about Hollywood to the point where it obscures your obligations as a critic.

Dude! Spoiler tags for the unintiated!

And sure, with today's knowledge of movie tropes you can predict the ending of Carpenter's "The Thing". Not so easy back in 1982 when it was inventing or establishing some of those very same tropes.

 

[Sabrestar]

Sorry, Bob, but as far as I'm concerned there will only ever be one The Thing. And it was played by James Arness. I don't mind the love for Carpenter, but I just don't care for that sort of horror. The (real) original was not horror so much as suspense, which is probably why I prefer it. Still, I know I'm in a minority and I don't begrudge anyone their love of Carpenter's movie. Just don't ask me to sit down and watch it with you.

All the same, I'm glad to hear this one isn't good. No harm meant to those involved in it, but I didn't see a reason for it to be made and didn't want it to be successful. I hope they go on to better things than this.

 

[GeorgW]

188 days that can't go fast enough! It's the only movie I'm looking forward to...
Not a big surprise this wasn't any good, but as last week showed us there's always hope. Oh well, now that's gone too.

 

[N_of_the_dead]

Thank you Bob for proving my suspicions now I'm off to look up times for my local cinema as they are showing Ghostbusters.

Also did anyone think the idea of a remake disguised as a prequel as kind of ironic given the monsters ability to mimic other things?

 

[Sniper Team 4]

Since it's a prequel--and if you're familiar with the opening of the original The Thing--doesn't that mean that you should know that everyone is going to be toast by the end of the movie? I thought the two guys in the helicopter in the opening of the original where the only two survivors, and they lasted all of five minutes.

 

[anthony87]

Now I'm confused. A friend of mine, who is a filmmaking student, said it was f'ing awesome. I tend to agree with Bob almost every time though, so I'm going to pass on this one.

So...your friend said it was awesome.

Moviebob said it sucked.

What do YOU say?

 

[anthony87]

Carpenter's The Thing really doesn't really rank up there for "memorable character". And if you didn't know Wilford Brimley was going to be the "face on the final boss fight," then you need to have your brain checked. Carpenter's The Thing is not really "classical" material: it's a cult film. Last time I checked, those two concepts are radically different.

So I fail to see how you can complain about these things int he remake if not even the original got them right, unless you are so blinded by nostalgia, and bitterly cynical about Hollywood to the point where it obscures your obligations as a critic.

Oh wait, this is MovieBob we're talking about. Of COURSE he can't do a proper job because he's too blinded by nostalgia and bitterly cynical about Hollywood! Silly me... expecting a critic to actually be critical instead of just complaining about how it's Hollywood being Hollywood and that it's not original!

Once again, MovieBob really cements himself as being one of the worst contributors on this site.

How about this then? Compare any of the CGI from the new Thing film, with this shot.

I see your dog transformation and raise you one head crab...spider....thing:


Seriously though, what a fuckin film eh? I had the good pleasure of seeing it on a proper movie screen just a couple of weeks ago at a small cinema that shows all the old movies.