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John Carpenter's "The Thing"
One of the scariest movies ever made, John Carpenter's "remake" of the 1951 Howard Hawks sci-fi thriller has also received a nice boost during its metamorphosis to the DVD format.
Widely reviled upon its initial release to theatres for its graphic makeup effects, Carpenter's Thing went on to become somewhat of a cult favourite. And those makeup effects, pulled off with incredible imagination by Rob Bottin, can indeed cause the weak of heart to lose their lunches. However, like Starship Troopers, the film got a bad rap from those who couldn't see beyond the visuals.
The Thing details the discovery, initially by Norwegians and then by Americans, of an alien creature whose spaceship crashed in Antarctica some 100,000 years ago. The creature survives by assimilating its victims and then imitating them - it can and will take any shape (hence the makeup effects) and therefore hides among the scientific outpost's crew until it can find the time and opportunity to strike. It's survival of the fittest, and it becomes painfully evident as the film unfolds that it ain't the humans who are the fittest!
Based on the short story "Who Goes There" by John W. Campbell, the Carpenter version is far more faithful to the written piece than was Hawks' version. Carpenter's "Thing" is a tale of claustrophobic paranoia, as the men (there are no women in the film), isolated in their compound by an Antarctic winter storm, discover the threat and try to eliminate it, all while realizing that some among them probably aren't what they appear to be (but which ones are they?).
If you've only seen the movie on pan and scan videocassette, you may find yourself amazed at how much more closed in the movie feels in its widescreen glory. And the DVD's picture and sound (the latter of which is remixed into Dolby Digital) are, as expected, first rate.
The extras are also outstanding. There's the trailer, a set of outtakes from the film, behind the scenes photographs, storyboards and concept art, an annoted production archive, and some stop motion footage that was cut from the final film. There's also a hilarious running commentary on a separate audio track that features director Carpenter and Kurt Russell closeted in some screening room, sharing their memories of the production. These guys go back a long way and are obviously good friends - and Russell sounds like he's having a really good time during the recording session.
And of course there's also a full length documentary on the making of the film, featuring cast and crew, and it's a must see for fans of this science fiction film classic. We're pleased as punch at the treatment given to this often overlooked masterpiece.
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