The Thing

if you have the older dvd, then it's probably Spielberg's hybrid cut, which is pretty close to the original cut with some of the special edition scenes spliced in (minus the "inside the ship" scene).

iirc before the movie was on dvd the only version available for many years was the special edition.

and it made the same stupid mistake that Super 8 made in its shonky ending. I DON'T WANT TO SEE INSIDE THE SHIP if you don't know how to end the bloody movie. That's not an exciting thing that needs to happen if the story's pretty much over with. It's like, "uh guys we've still got 20 minutes of movie left to fill in, whaddya wanna do? I dunno. Show em inside the ship maybe?" So dumb.

I don't quite get this...? Super 8 never showed us the inside of the ship (since SPOILER! SPOILER! it literally ended with the ship being put together and flying away). The alien itself was only properly shown in the finale though, but that was necessary to establish the connection between it and the kid (since SPOILER! the big theme in the movie was forgiveness, and the connection between helped the alien to forgive the human race and move on), because in the end Super 8 wasn't a horror movie but an E.T. variation. I agree with your point in general, but I don't see how Super 8 is an example.

the most unrealistic part of this movie is that MacReady would waste both good liquor and his only friend/source of entertainment in the opening. although maybe he has a huge stockpile of booze and back-up Chess Wizard computers in his shack, wouldn't put it past him.

childs is such a fascinating and singular character. definitely holding the place of the "#2" in the film and meant to be on par w/macready in strength and conviction and technically an ally in the "action film" sense but also spending much of the film diametrically opposed to macready and his theories. i recognize this stems from the crushing paranoia of the film but in probably most other hands childs would be macready's bff and would stand fast with him every step of the way, and also he'd probably die 2/3rds of the way in.

in most other movies childs would be the first guy killed why because he's black

Both black guys in this movie last until the final reel, which is kind of amazing. Not to mention that there are two black guys to begin with.

also two jittery dudes
two assholes
two paranoid scientists

which is kind of amazing

it's def anamolous for the time

John Carpenter was always pretty good about giving prominent roles to women and non-white actors.

did the 'stoned/ hippie-ish/ paranoid-conspiracy guy with messy hair invariably wearing denim and maybe headphones' stereotype begin with this film? seems that character is in loads of sci-fi films after; notably The Abyss, Minority Report, the Solaris remake etc. is there a word for this 'type'? there should be. they all have shades of Oddball from Kelly's Heroes i suppose.

hiya

http://parallax-view.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/BeattyParallax.jpg

Silent Running is from 1972

The Crying of Lot 49 and the Illuminatus! trilogy are the literary antecedents, but I think Patient Zero for this is post-JFK assassination Lenny Bruce

those aren't really film referents

there was a solid Thing reference in the crossword i did today

I want to see a re-edited version of this from the alien's perspective. It's only our anthrocentrism that prevents us from seeing it as the protagonist doing its best to survive in a hostile world.

Read Peter Watts's award-winning short story 'The Things', which is free online... It does that very thing

Sweet, thanks!

Peter Watts! I'm reading Blindsight rn!

Excellent book

I want to see a re-edited version of this from the alien's perspective. It's only our anthrocentrism that prevents us from seeing it as the protagonist doing its best to survive in a hostile world.

― What's Your Definition of a Dirty Baby? (Old Lunch), Friday, June 3, 2016 7:59 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i feel like the alien franchise occasionally gives you an opportunity to imagine this, even if it doesn't recenter (or re-focalize, to use some jargon) the movie around the alien's subjectivity.

the thing is different, though, in that it leaves open the possiblity that one might simultaneously be the thing and 100% oneself. it only becomes a threat when we treat it as one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAoONl2P8fw

^best remake imo

Yeah, the Thing just wanted to be left alone to rebuild its spaceship and go home, right? And then these stupid humans keep showing up with flamethrowers, trying to fuck its shit up. It's like ET, if ET occasionally morphed into a horrific toothy monster. "Just let me go home!"

The Things read by Kate Baker.

A yearly tradition at the South Pole is the winter-over crew watching "The Thing" right after the last flight for the summer leaves. Here is a picture of the yearly showing in the gym #southpole #winter #Xenophobia #science pic.twitter.com/bI3DJoKprJ

— South Pole Telescope (@SPTelescope) February 26, 2018

I'm surprised they're watching the original there

Decided to watch the Carpenter Thing tonight, and decided it's flawless

there's a new The Thing board game, pretty fun!

Wow

Wait, is this a reaction to your first viewing? Will reserve my jealousy pending confirmation.

yes

36 years later and it still gets this reaction. I love it!

Fantastic. Officially jealous now.

A little tidbit of trivia I never tire of:

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Release date: June 11, 1982)
The Thing (Release date: June 25, 1982)

'Four for the movie about the alien, please. You kids are gonna love this!'

i stand by my "12 Angry Men" vs an alien thought upthread.

i read something online recently trying to speculate when and how those who became "things" actually did. I guess the shadow we see when the dog enters that room near the beginning is intended to be Palmer, but the audience isn't supposed to realize that. idk either way.

all i know is the dog in that scene is an incredible actor. goes to one door, stops, looks towards another door, walks slowly to the other door, pauses, then enters.

I guess the shadow we see when the dog enters that room near the beginning is intended to be Palmer

I don't think anything in the film gives a clear indication of who gets infected first, which is v deliberate

i had read something online from a producer who had said it was supposed to be Palmer originally and in fact had planned on using David Clennon, but his shadow was too identifiable. So they used another crew member. And as a result it's left pretty vague and works a lot better, of course. It's funny though bc i always thought the shadow looked like Charles Hallahan.

Hallahan died of a heart attack back in the late '90s, I wonder if any medics showed up on the scene and were wary about using a defibrillator...

it was here:

http://theoriginalfan.blogspot.com/2011/09/shadow-on-wall.html

THE SHADOW ON THE WALL...

...was intended to be Palmer. At the time of filming David Clennon's silhouette was considered too distinct, a dead giveaway. Cinematographer Dean Cundey tried to soften the edges to diffuse the image, but in the end John used stunt coordinator Dick Warlock to throw everyone off the scent...

The scene as originally written ended with the shadow figure uttering a barely decipherable "Hello, Boy" and the door slamming shut from the inside. Additionally, this is the last piece of an originally much longer sequence that had the dog weaving its way through the radio room, storeroom, kitchen and hallway, methodically surveying the scene. Beautifully shot by John, as seen in one piece it had the effect of establishing the camp geography from a dogs eye point of view. Great stuff, but John felt it slowed the story up and cut it down, with only small pieces used ( The brush against Bennings underneath the rec room table, for instance )...

the whole blog is interesting on the behind-the-scenes.

the dog does do some crazy good acting, it's true

man i would love to see an alternate edit of this movie using unused stuff, ANY alternate edit, just to live in that world but with a different skew would be so cool

(which is kinda what i thought we'd be getting in the prequel but erm)

Iirc the dog was the same one in that Ethan Hawke film White Fang

it's true:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_(wolfdog)

wow he lived to a good old age

Watched this properly for the first time a couple of days ago.

good thread

The part that is fx is astonishing. Also the part that is acting is astonishing. The dog's acting is astonishing.

It's so grim.

The flying saucer was buried in the Antarctic for thousands of years.

I love how it just freestyles with body.

Not enough repping for the commentary track itt, which is one of the all-time best.