The Thing

[Spiffy Niffy]

hmmm not reallly fit for this site , cuz its not a bad movie at  all. Its actually a genious movie.  But im going to mention this fine film anyway. Anybody else love this movie as much as i do ? Spectacular effects , and decent acting , with Kurt Russel , or Wilford Brimley. Oh yes, does anybody know the name of the special effects artist  who made the monsters and stuff. Also if anybody has any sites  dedicated to the thing  id like to check them out.

[Gerry]

The effects were by the SFX genius Rob Bottin. Some of his best ever.

[ulthar]

I, too, love "The Thing."  It was put at the top of my Christmas wish list cuz believe it or not, I don't own it yet!

Bottin's effects were dynamite; if you have not seen it yet, get the DVD - he discusses how a lot of the effects were done.  I was struck by how down-to-earth and unassuming he is.

[trekgeezer]

Check out this site, it's totally dedicated to this movie, even has info about  concepts for the monster they didn't use and you can download the original 1938 story that  both Thing films were based on (Carpenter's is very close to the original story.).

John Carpenter's The Thing

[peter johnson]

Who Goes There?
Anyway, as much as I do enjoy the Carpenter movie, I still have a soft spot for James Arness and the Original Giant Carrot version --
I mean, when they first discover that spaceship under the ice, and you have those guys standing around in a big, silent circle that shows you:"Oh, my lawdy!! It's one of them thar saucer-thingies!!".  That's one helluva scene.
The way the dialogue overlaps throughout the film was groundbreaking and experimental for the day -- it still comes across as a fresh technique.
James Arness burning up with electricity in the greenhouse!!  Just a fine old scene in anybody's movie!!
I take nothing away from Carpenter -- but, heck, them old flicks can still do a number too --
peter johnson/denny crane

[Deej]

peter johnson wrote:

> Who Goes There?
> Anyway, as much as I do enjoy the Carpenter movie, I still have
> a soft spot for James Arness and the Original Giant Carrot
> version --

Absolutely!! I, also, don't want to knock Carpenter's version, but I saw the Howard Hawks version first and so have a soft spot for it. I wish John Carpenter would've remade THEM!, as well.

[Gerry]

Speaking of Hawks's version of THE THING, I found this a while back in a 1951 issue of "Wonder Story Annual":

[ulthar]

That is a great site.

[ulthar]

And likewise, I'm not knocking Hawks' version; Carpenter paid homage two times that I know of:

1. The Arness silouette scene in "Halloween"
2. The Arness ice 'casket' was in "The Thing"

But....Carpenter's version was closer to the original story "Who Goes There?"  That Hawks deviated from the original story is not necessarily a bad thing; Carpenter just wanted to put the original idea (paranoia) on film.

In that sense, "The Thing" is not really a remake of "The Thing From Another World."  They both have roots in "Who Goes There?" but they are completely different approaches to the basic premise.

And, they both work extremely well.

How often does that happen?

[trekgeezer]

An interesting fact about Carpenter's version that I didn't realize until I saw it talked about in a interview (I think with Rob Bottin). For all the grossness going on in the film there is really very little bloodshed, even when Richard Dysart gets his hands chomped off  trying to revive Charles Hallahan or when Wlford Brimley sticks his hand into Donald Moffat's  face and drags him off (a scene that really gives me the creeps).

Hawks version is really loosely based on "Who Goes There?".  This movie was made during a period of paranoia  about the commies invading us. I think this is why the military was added and they changed the monster because it would have been really hard to replicate the creature described in the story.  The overlapping dialogue was a Howard Hawks trademark. He also did the smart thing and did not  show the monster a lot.  There is still controversy over who directed the movie. Christian Nyby is credited as director and Howard Hawks as producer. James Arness claims Hawks pretty much directed it, but Kenneth Tobey always said that Nyby did but Hawks was on the set every day.

This movie inspired the whole "small group of isolated people terrorized by seemingly instoppable monster" genre.

[ulthar]

trek_geezer wrote:


>
> Hawks version is really loosely based on "Who Goes There?".
> This movie was made during a period of paranoia  about the
> commies invading us.

And I did not realize until hearing the Carpenter interview on the DVD that "The Thing" played on the paranoia of AIDS.  The movie was released when AIDS was just first becoming known here in America, and at that time, we did not know how it was spread and you certainly could not tell who had it.

Also, I've heard that "The Thing from Another World" was the first movie that depicted an alien as malignant.

[JohnL]

The part that always got me about The Thing; One of the characters says that they should all prepare their own meals and only eat out of cans because even a tiny particle of the thing can take over a man. Then they do the blood test, cutting each guy's finger with the same scalpel, only wiping it off between each one. I'm thinking that they probably infected most of the remaining humans with that little oversight.

[Flangepart]

Hummm....only if the blood were part of the alien. The hot needle test would then show who was a who, or an "it". If the test came up negitive, then its no big deal.

I loved the Hawks version, but the gore factor puts me off the remake, even thought i did respect the faithfulness to the Campbell short story.

[JohnL]

>Hummm....only if the blood were part of the alien. The hot needle test would then
>show who was a who, or an "it". If the test came up negitive, then its no big deal.

True, but one of them WAS an alien and if I'm not mistaken, he was one of the first ones to be cut. He was on the end of the bench closest to Kurt, so it makes sense that he would have been one of the first. From that point on, the humans were being cut with a possibly infected blade. The guy doing the cutting goes last and makes a point of wiping it off on his pants before cutting his finger.

[Sugar_Nads]

John Carpenter is a Demi-God. The Thing rocks and I feel that it is a prime example of traditional Make-up and puppet effects used correctly.