The Thing [4K UHD]

BOTTOM LINE: It's an easy 5 STAR rating for the intense motion picture horror experience that is John Carpenter's THE THING. The abysmally disappointing Universal barebones Blu-ray is a 2 STAR turd. Don't bother. Pick up the Shout!Factory Blu instead. Their release is what fans deserve and have been wanting. 5 STARS for Shout!'s Blu-ray!Terrific thrills, chills and flat out shocks fill this frosty fright flick to the icy rafters. John Carpenter gives us what many consider to be his very best film. (I'd modify that statement and say it's his best science fiction film. His best horror work is still the original HALLOWEEN, while his best action film is ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13. As always, IMHO/YMMV.) I am among those that love THE THING. I've been an enthusiastic fan of this film and John Carpenter since I first caught it during its debut on cable way back in the day. The barren, brutal and bloody frights of THE THING were unleashed into theaters a mere two weeks after the snuggly hug-fest of Steven Spielberg's E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, and I think a lot of film goers back then were simply not prepared for the senses-shocking visceral horrors that Carpenter and his crew were set to spring on them. In fact, even without ET's cuddly competition, I'm not sure THE THING would have been a box office hit. THE THING was just too far ahead of its time. 25+ years later and it has lost none of its power to shock, make you jump and squirm in your seat. SPFX artist extraordinaire Rob Bottin's incredibly twisted creature designs and disgustingly awesome motion-controlled props & make-ups still physically and psychologically repulse and fascinate the viewer all these decades later. This film is stuffed to the gills with some of THE best examples of beautifully grotesque movie effects ever seen. Give me wonderfully-realized practical effects like the ones on display here ANY day over the ocean of computer-generated stuff.Every cast member gives us a top flight performance; no half-hearted acting to be found here. Kurt Russell makes you instantly forget there ever was a Dexter Riley, with his subtle yet most definitely in-charge role as laconic chopper pilot R.J. MacCready. Charles Hallahan, Keith David, Richard Dysart and especially Wilford Brimley all turn in A-list work in their various supporting roles. Establishing himself as an acting force to be reckoned with, Brimley gives us an unforgettable, multi-layered performance as the slowly disintegrating Blair. And a special call-out to long-time character actor Donald Moffat as the bewildered, beleaguered and undoubtedly in over his head Antarctic outpost commander, Garry. Moffat gives us what is arguably the greatest line reading in the history of talking motion pictures with his "couch" speech. His vocal firepower is the equivalent of a howitzer in this scene and once you've heard it you'll never forget it. LOL.This 1982 remake, based on John Campbell's fantastic 1938 short story "Who Goes There?" hews much closer to the source material than the previous movie incarnation, the classic Howard Hawks 1951 version of THE THING (FROM ANOTHER WORLD). Carpenter's film is every bit as impressive and iconic as Hawks' version is, though for drastically different reasons. Hawks' THING combines a fantastic cast of characters who, despite initially being at-odds with one another on how best to deal with their alien visitor, eventually band together to battle the terrifying extraterrestrial, (a super-intelligent plant-based lifeform that could conceivably pollinate the entire planet with its deadly spores, instantly knocking mankind to the bottom of the food chain). Hawk's THING = US against THEM. The fear in Carpenter's version, (much like INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), comes from being unable to know for certain just exactly WHO or WHAT the enemy is; no person, (in fact no living thing), can be trusted. Carpenter's THING = ME against EVERYTHING. Carpenter's remake remains one of THE best on-screen examples of paranoia-fueled terror ever lensed, pure & simple. The 1982 version of THE THING is one of those rare occurrences when the remake of a classic movie is every bit as good as the original. Both versions are absolute "must-owns," fully deserving a spot on every movie (and especially sci-fi/horror) fan's video library shelf.BLU-RAYS...The Universal Blu-ray of THE THING is a major let-down. None of the excellent bonus features from the previous Collector's Edition DVD have been ported over to this Blu-ray version, save the audio commentary by John Carpenter & Kurt Russell. Nothing new was produced for this Blu-ray either. That's a damn shame no matter how you look at it. Instead of an ultimate, reference-quality release, you just get a new format version that in all honesty isn't any better than the previous format. Neither the picture nor the sound are much improved from DVD. Universal really dropped the ball with this release. A travesty for Carpenter fans and basically the home video equivalent of a kick in the nuts to those, like myself, who were hoping for at least a worthwhile picture & sound upgrade even if no goodies were included. As I say, the audio & video are somewhat better but not THAT much. If you already own Universal's "Collector's Edition" DVD then I cannot recommend double-dipping for this Blu-ray.UPDATE>>> Forget the craptastic Universal Blu-ray. Pick up a copy of Shout!Factory's new Blu-ray and see how this SHOULD have been handled by those knuckleheads at Universal. The Shout! Blu is a terrific 2-disc offering that is worlds better than Universal's. The transfer, first & foremost, is amazing. Super sharp focus, bringing out a ton of details not seen in any previous format release. The picture looks clear, clean and is free of artifacting, pixelation, edge enhancement, and only the slightest amount of crush (video noise). The crew at Shout! affected a 2k scan of the film's interpositive, overseen by the Director of Photography, Dean Cundey. It looks amazing. The blacks are solid & inky and the mid-tones are firm and strong. Audio is clear, clean and the soundmix is level. There is a wealth of superb bonus content for fans of this great film. Shout! knows how to please. In addition to the best original stuff ported over from previous versions, there are lots of new goodies; some on Disc #1 (Feature Film) and the rest spread out over Disc #2 (Special Features). Bravo! This is the release THING fans have been clamoring for. Wait no longer. Order yours today!

John Carpenter’s classic remake of the thing is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. I love to catch this movie whenever it comes to theaters. My favorite scene is the interrogation when everyone is tied to chairs and they are testing each individual’s blood to see if they are part of the alien creature. It’s amazing to hear people scream in the audience because it may be their first time ever seeing the movie. I don’t know if any FILM has better practical effects that have held up over the years also, the performances in this movie are iconic, and the lines are very quotable. This is Kurt Russell’s best movie Halloween may be my favorite John Carpenter movie, but I have to admit that this is easily his crowning achievement. The 4K Blu-ray scan is very high-quality and I would recommend this to anybody.

Great movie. Looks great on 4k. Great price. Fast shipping.

Very good movie that just got a whole lot better with a 4k release. The audio is great as well. This movie holds up considering that it was feom the early 80's.

Here it is. The movie that has become my all-time favorite. It's John Carpenter's "The Thing".I've seen this movie so many times. I own it twice on DVD, I own it on Blu-Ray and I even have a copy on the now defunct HD-DVD format. I regret not seeing it in the theaters back in 1982. I don't know why I didn't go. I was certainly old enough to appreciate it. Instead, I saw "E.T.". I got swept up in happy little alien fever. I went with the crowd. All I had to do was wander over to a differnet screen and watch Carpenter's creation in all its paranoid glory. Sigh...As with all good movies, music, or books, I experience something new every time I view it. I keep trying to piece together how the Thing spread throughout the camp. I keep looking for clues. Like when Blair performs an autopsy on the recently roasted Thing. While he's presenting his thoughts on what the Thing is, he absent-mindedly taps his pencil eraser on the steaming carcass, crosses his arms and brings the pencil eraser perilously close to his mouth. Then he makes a talking point by waving the pencil in the air and ever so briefly...it touches his lip! Did he infect himself? Is it too late?!?!? Has the Thing spread itself to Blair?!?! These kinds of moments fill the movie. It so suspenseful and so paranoid. And the isolation is torture. You know they all have nowhere to go. All those nameless men. Well, they aren't nameless, it's just that it's hard to remember them all. And the strange thing about it is, we still seem to care about them. I think that's because Carpenter has done such a masterful job of building the suspense through threat and isolation that we can't help but subconciously put ourselves into their places.There are so many great scenes. The opening helicopter-chases-dog scene. The horror of finding the Thing in the dog pen. The death and subsequent transformation of Norris. Wow! Is it gory! And in this particular case, I think the gore is absolutely necessary. That's kind of the knock on this film. The gore has been classified as extreme. And it is. But this is a story about such a faceless, out-of-this-world beast that it all seems so appropriate. And those effects. I don't think I need to say anymore than others have already posited about the very special practical effects by Rob Bottin. They have to be the best I've ever seen.Then there's the "blood test" scene. All of the men at the Antarctic station volunteer to give a blood sample and then have it tested, while tied to chairs, to see if it reveals which of them are actually the "Thing". One by one, a heated copper wire is placed into a petri dish of blood from each one of the men. Seeing the smoke rise from the wire when its touched to the dish of blood brings some relief. Will the next dish be Thing-free? You'll have to watch it and see for yourself. The setup and execution of this scene is one of the most intense and frightening things I've ever watched.I am very happy that this film has found it's place thanks to Home Video. It's now considered a Horror/Sci-Fi classic. It is without a doubt my favorite Horror movie, perhaps my favorite monster flick and quite possibly my top SciFi feature. It's that good.I don't understand why this Blu-Ray doesn't contain all of the extra features that are on the Collector's edition DVD. I think the "Making of" documentary is added as a picture-in-picture offering, but there's plenty of room for all of the other extras as well.

A good sci-fi movie

I love this movie from 1982. It's the best out of the thing series. If you watch anyone of the movies this one is the one to watch. 10 out of 10