The Thing (1951) is one of the great classic science fiction B monster films. The Thing (1982) is one of the great science fiction monster films, period. The Thing (2011) isn't really in the same league as either, yet still manages to entertain. It would appear that John Campbell’s novella, Who Goes There?, has some staying power.
Campbell's story is a remarkable piece of claustrophobic suspense. Set at an Antarctic research station, it followed the efforts of a group of scientists to understand the discovery of an alien spacecraft and the body of one of its occupants. That occupant, despite having been frozen in the ice for ages, comes back to life. Dread and paranoia ensue as it becomes clear that the alien can imitate any form of life, meaning that the man standing next to you may be your best friend or an alien needing to snack on your bod.
The 1951 rendition of the story saw the action shift to the Arctic because Reasons. The thing was also not buried in the ice for millions of years. Rather, via its assorted sensors and instruments, the scientists working in the Arctic actually saw the spaceship crash. This leads to exploration, discovery, and the return of the "dead" alien back to the facility. Terror ensues as the alien is still alive and appears ready to invade the Earth.
The 1982 rendition hews closer to Campbell's story, not only by returning the setting to Antarctica but also by the ship being buried for a significant chunk of time. Here, the creature comes to the American research station in the shape of a dog being chased by Norwegians. As the story unfolds, it was the Norwegians who discovered the alien craft and its occupant, and who were the first to discover the horrifying truth. Because in 1982, the thing once more was able to imitate other lifeforms and this film ratchets paranoia through the roof.
The 2011 rendition tells the story of the Norwegians. That is, it's a prequel to the 1982 film. This has its good and bad aspects. The good is that we get to see how the events, implied in 1982, happened. The bad is that we already know it's all going to go horrible. It's hard to build suspense when the audience already knows that everyone is going to die in grim and horrible fashion. To the film's credit, this isn't necessarily the case, and it also does a very good job at referencing the 1982 film (which, it should be noted, had hat tips to the 1951 film).
The 1951 film is one of my all-time favorites. I've watched it so many times I've lost count. There was a time I probably could have recited all of the dialogue from memory. Produced by the legendary Howard Hawks and allegedly directed by Christian Nyby (I say alleged, because rumors and reports are consistent that Hawks himself stepped in and did most of the work), the film is simply brilliant in any number of ways. Each character is lovingly presented, with the mighty Kenneth Tobey taking the lead. James Arness made his big screen debut as The Thing. There's a story about how his makeup was developed, leading to him having to drive, in makeup and costume, to the studio. Other drivers looked at him and screamed in horror. Robert Cornthwaite is great as the head scientist who is, perhaps, a trifle over anxious to make friends who the thing; things (!) do not go well for him. And the dialogue is vintage Hawks: face-paced, overlapping, and just a delight.
On the other hand, while the 1951 film was really about Communist invaders, the 1982 film embraces the original story’s more intimate paranoia. John Carpenter has said this is the best film he ever made, and I won't argue. The practical effects work by Rob Bottin were not only ground breaking, I don't think they've ever really been equaled, let alone exceeded. Carpenter turned the thing into a multifaceted creature that expanded on a simple notion within Campbell's story ("[E]very part is a whole."). The result is that when a human is discovered to be a thing, hacking off an arm means that the arm will run away on its own. The cast is 100% perfect, with Kurt Russell and Keith David taking the lead. They're almost secondary, though, perfect vessels for conveying the magnitude of the horror facing them. A horror that grows each step of the way. This film is relentless in its suspense and building paranoia. I first saw this film on a 12-inch color TV and kept leaning in, literally on the edge of my seat.
For 2011, our doomed collection of humans is facing the same creature from the 1982 film, so not a lot of new surprises there. The film does a surprisingly good job of keeping us guessing, however, despite our knowing that things will, eventually, go horribly wrong. What I loved is that the writer and director didn't bother trying to have this batch of human snacks inexplicably replicate how to discover who's who. Rather, they took a simple and direct approach, at least as a start, and it works really well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead takes the lead here and she does…all right. The 1951 film had a couple of woman scientists (the 1982 film is all male), so it's not as if in 2011 they were trying to be politically correct. I think my biggest issue is that it’s an American flown into the Norwegian facility because…I don't know. There are already a bunch of scientists there. Did we have to have An American to make things work? Couldn't she have already been there? The tension between her and the man who hired her never feels genuine, so why bother?
The 1951 film is almost a straight line, from discovery to fiery conclusion. The 1982 film takes us through a roller coaster from discovery to fiery conclusion. The 2011 meanders a bit, takes a few false turns, and then drives on to its fiery conclusion.
Fire and The Thing go together like peanut butter and…cactus.
In the final analysis, the 2011 film is inferior to its predecessors. While there’s a remarkable amount of practical effects at play here, as a homage to Bottin’s work in 1982, there’s a layer of CG laid on top that removes the physical reality that so infused the 1982 film. The film’s ending is also a bit of a copout, so while I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, it remains a distant third compared to the other two.
The 1982 film is a horror masterpiece. It really is Carpenter’s best film. All love to Big Trouble in Little China and Starman, but Carpenter’s The Thing is brilliant. Some of the film’s logic falls apart by the end, but that’s a quibble compared to just how great the rest is. Watch it in the dark.
And as for 1951, which actually has the full tile of The Thing From Another World, I love it. There’s not a single thing I’d change. It’s such a benchmark film it’s hard to imagine the science fiction cinematic world without it. The method for invasion is horrifying, the creature is convincing, and every character feels as real today as when I first saw the film. It’s a masterpiece of building suspense by not showing you what’s going on. And the dialogue… Again, this has always been where Howard Hawks shines, and it works brilliantly here.
So, the 1951 film has the edge; there’s too much nostalgia for me to ignore. But the 1982 film is terrific, much, much more a horror film that thrives on terror. And the 2011 film is a good effort, enjoyable for what it is, if mildly depressing in that it can’t quite pull off what it was going for.
Now, please, someone make a film version of the 2002 video game sequel to 1982 film (“Where the movie ends, the true terror begins.”). That would be straight up creepy, and I could add a fourth The Thing in my video collection.
Campbell's story is a remarkable piece of claustrophobic suspense. Set at an Antarctic research station, it followed the efforts of a group of scientists to understand the discovery of an alien spacecraft and the body of one of its occupants. That occupant, despite having been frozen in the ice for ages, comes back to life. Dread and paranoia ensue as it becomes clear that the alien can imitate any form of life, meaning that the man standing next to you may be your best friend or an alien needing to snack on your bod.
The 1951 rendition of the story saw the action shift to the Arctic because Reasons. The thing was also not buried in the ice for millions of years. Rather, via its assorted sensors and instruments, the scientists working in the Arctic actually saw the spaceship crash. This leads to exploration, discovery, and the return of the "dead" alien back to the facility. Terror ensues as the alien is still alive and appears ready to invade the Earth.
The 1982 rendition hews closer to Campbell's story, not only by returning the setting to Antarctica but also by the ship being buried for a significant chunk of time. Here, the creature comes to the American research station in the shape of a dog being chased by Norwegians. As the story unfolds, it was the Norwegians who discovered the alien craft and its occupant, and who were the first to discover the horrifying truth. Because in 1982, the thing once more was able to imitate other lifeforms and this film ratchets paranoia through the roof.
The 2011 rendition tells the story of the Norwegians. That is, it's a prequel to the 1982 film. This has its good and bad aspects. The good is that we get to see how the events, implied in 1982, happened. The bad is that we already know it's all going to go horrible. It's hard to build suspense when the audience already knows that everyone is going to die in grim and horrible fashion. To the film's credit, this isn't necessarily the case, and it also does a very good job at referencing the 1982 film (which, it should be noted, had hat tips to the 1951 film).
The 1951 film is one of my all-time favorites. I've watched it so many times I've lost count. There was a time I probably could have recited all of the dialogue from memory. Produced by the legendary Howard Hawks and allegedly directed by Christian Nyby (I say alleged, because rumors and reports are consistent that Hawks himself stepped in and did most of the work), the film is simply brilliant in any number of ways. Each character is lovingly presented, with the mighty Kenneth Tobey taking the lead. James Arness made his big screen debut as The Thing. There's a story about how his makeup was developed, leading to him having to drive, in makeup and costume, to the studio. Other drivers looked at him and screamed in horror. Robert Cornthwaite is great as the head scientist who is, perhaps, a trifle over anxious to make friends who the thing; things (!) do not go well for him. And the dialogue is vintage Hawks: face-paced, overlapping, and just a delight.
On the other hand, while the 1951 film was really about Communist invaders, the 1982 film embraces the original story’s more intimate paranoia. John Carpenter has said this is the best film he ever made, and I won't argue. The practical effects work by Rob Bottin were not only ground breaking, I don't think they've ever really been equaled, let alone exceeded. Carpenter turned the thing into a multifaceted creature that expanded on a simple notion within Campbell's story ("[E]very part is a whole."). The result is that when a human is discovered to be a thing, hacking off an arm means that the arm will run away on its own. The cast is 100% perfect, with Kurt Russell and Keith David taking the lead. They're almost secondary, though, perfect vessels for conveying the magnitude of the horror facing them. A horror that grows each step of the way. This film is relentless in its suspense and building paranoia. I first saw this film on a 12-inch color TV and kept leaning in, literally on the edge of my seat.
For 2011, our doomed collection of humans is facing the same creature from the 1982 film, so not a lot of new surprises there. The film does a surprisingly good job of keeping us guessing, however, despite our knowing that things will, eventually, go horribly wrong. What I loved is that the writer and director didn't bother trying to have this batch of human snacks inexplicably replicate how to discover who's who. Rather, they took a simple and direct approach, at least as a start, and it works really well. Mary Elizabeth Winstead takes the lead here and she does…all right. The 1951 film had a couple of woman scientists (the 1982 film is all male), so it's not as if in 2011 they were trying to be politically correct. I think my biggest issue is that it’s an American flown into the Norwegian facility because…I don't know. There are already a bunch of scientists there. Did we have to have An American to make things work? Couldn't she have already been there? The tension between her and the man who hired her never feels genuine, so why bother?
The 1951 film is almost a straight line, from discovery to fiery conclusion. The 1982 film takes us through a roller coaster from discovery to fiery conclusion. The 2011 meanders a bit, takes a few false turns, and then drives on to its fiery conclusion.
Fire and The Thing go together like peanut butter and…cactus.
In the final analysis, the 2011 film is inferior to its predecessors. While there’s a remarkable amount of practical effects at play here, as a homage to Bottin’s work in 1982, there’s a layer of CG laid on top that removes the physical reality that so infused the 1982 film. The film’s ending is also a bit of a copout, so while I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, it remains a distant third compared to the other two.
The 1982 film is a horror masterpiece. It really is Carpenter’s best film. All love to Big Trouble in Little China and Starman, but Carpenter’s The Thing is brilliant. Some of the film’s logic falls apart by the end, but that’s a quibble compared to just how great the rest is. Watch it in the dark.
And as for 1951, which actually has the full tile of The Thing From Another World, I love it. There’s not a single thing I’d change. It’s such a benchmark film it’s hard to imagine the science fiction cinematic world without it. The method for invasion is horrifying, the creature is convincing, and every character feels as real today as when I first saw the film. It’s a masterpiece of building suspense by not showing you what’s going on. And the dialogue… Again, this has always been where Howard Hawks shines, and it works brilliantly here.
So, the 1951 film has the edge; there’s too much nostalgia for me to ignore. But the 1982 film is terrific, much, much more a horror film that thrives on terror. And the 2011 film is a good effort, enjoyable for what it is, if mildly depressing in that it can’t quite pull off what it was going for.
Now, please, someone make a film version of the 2002 video game sequel to 1982 film (“Where the movie ends, the true terror begins.”). That would be straight up creepy, and I could add a fourth The Thing in my video collection.
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