John Carpenter is one of my all-time favorite directors, and while his stylistic masterpiece remains Halloween, there are certainly other equally-impressive entries on his resume – most of which involve collaborations with alter-ego and frequent star Kurt Russell. One of their best team efforts and one of Carpenter’s most fully-realized works is his 1982 remake of Howard Hawks’ The Thing from Another World, shortened to simply The Thing. This intricate story of fear, mistrust, and paranoia more closely resembles John W. Campbell Jr.’s 1938 source novella, “Who Goes There?” and goes far beyond the now-laughable reveal of actor James Arness (Gunsmoke) in a phony-looking rubber suit in Hawks’ original. Using some of the same skills employed in Halloween, Carpenter slowly and gradually ratchets up the tension as an isolated group of scientists stationed in a remote part of Antarctica soon learn that one of their own has been overtaken and absorbed by an alien creature capable of replicating any life form.

As the film opens, a lone helicopter is wildly chasing a Husky on the run. The men inside the chopper are Norwegian scientists and they are intent on killing the seemingly defenseless dog, first shooting at it and then dropping grenades from above. The dog makes its way to Outpost #31, a United States science station, where twelve men are about to hunker down for the brutal winter months. They include helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady (Kurt Russell), Dr. Blair (Wilford Brimley), cook Nauls (T.K. Carter), pilot Palmer (David Clennon), Childs (Keith David), Dr. Copper (Richard Dysart), Vance Norris (Charles Hallahan), George Bennings (Peter Maloney), dog handler Clark (Richard Masur), outpost captain Garry (Donald Moffat), Fuchs (Joel Polis), and communications expert Windows (Thomas Waites). The crazed Norwegians crash their helicopter, but not before one man escapes and pursues the dog to the outpost. When he attempts to shoot the dog and ends up wounding Bennings, Garry kills the man and Clark takes in the hunted dog.

Curious as to why these intelligent Norwegian scientists would go on a killing spree, MacReady and Dr. Copper decide to fly to their research base several miles away. MacReady and Copper find the remnants of a devastating scene in which there are no survivors and one man who obviously committed suicide. They also find a curious creature that appears to be half-man, half-something else. Copper suggests bringing it back to their own outpost for an autopsy. Once there, Dr. Blair’s examination reveals that although parts of the thing are human, it’s also composed of an unknown life form. That night, as Clark puts the stray dog in the kennel with his own, the men will discover why the Norwegians wanted it killed. The “dog” transforms into an alien creature that attempts to absorb and replicate the other dogs in the kennel. Before it can finish, the crew attempts to shoot it, then burn it with flamethrowers… but it ultimately manages to escape through the roof.

Dr. Blair makes the astute discovery that this alien creature can effectively attach itself to any host organism and replicate its DNA in short order, thereby destroying the original but creating an exact duplicate. So anyone who comes in contact with it – including all twelve men in Outpost #31 – could already unknowingly be one of these “things.” Gradually, one-by-one, the alien infects the men as their own paranoia runs rampant. Tensions build as the men battle against the growing legion of alien “things” and soon find themselves battling each other.

Looking back at The Thing some twenty-six years after its release, what’s so refreshing about the film is how the old-school latex, puppet, and mechanical effects still look far more convincing than any of the contemporary CGI effects most movies employ today. And although the movie is filled with elaborate and unforgettable special effects sequences, Carpenter still takes the time to build fear and tension through plot and character. Despite a large, exclusively male cast, we get to know each of the twelve men cooped up in that remote outpost on a personal level, and every performance is stellar. Wilford Brimley is the standout as the extremely paranoid Dr. Blair who at one point decides to cut the outpost off from the rest of the world by sabotaging the helicopter and communications system. Keith David and Kurt Russell also maintain a nice rapport as the two non-scientists in the bunch who seem to have more common sense than their educated comrades.

The entire “who can you trust” metaphor plays out perfectly in any era and is a favorite theme of the horror genre. Howard Hawks’ 1951 original (actually directed by Christian Nyby, although it’s always referred to as a Howard Hawks production) drew comparisons to the McCarthy hearings and the obvious communist “red scare” that was prevalent at the time. Oddly enough, just as Carpenter’s 1982 film was released, a little-known disease we’ve now come to identify as AIDS was beginning to make headlines. Its infectious nature and diagnostic blood tests seemed to fall in line with the hidden fear of The Thing. In broader terms, the small-knit group of scientists can be viewed as any isolated group, reluctant to let anyone – or any thing – from the outside enter their circle. Once breached, everyone comes under suspicion and those who “don’t belong” need to be ousted. It’s a classic us-against-them scenario, and one that Carpenter milks for all it’s worth. Even during the final chilling scene, we’re never quite sure if the thing has been obliterated… and Carpenter relishes letting our own paranoid imaginations run wild.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s original 2.35:1 aspect ratio is presented in a sharp and detailed high-definition transfer using the AVC video CODEC. I’ve seen this film so many times on everything from those sinful pan-and-scan VHS releases, to later laserdisc and DVD incarnations, that I think every frame is ingrained in my memory. For me, Universal’s prior HD DVD release was the be-all, end-all version of the movie. While this BD was essentially minted from the same high definition source material, I have to admit this transfer gets the slight edge over the HD DVD. Color reproduction seems to be a just a bit more vibrant and although the image doesn’t have the three-dimensional look of some reference-quality BDs, I did think it looked a bit more refined and better-defined. Master cinematographer Dean Cundey’s remarkable cold, blue color palette just pops off the screen in so many sequences, especially the nighttime exterior scenes. Details such as the icicles embedded in MacReady’s beard after being left out in the cold and the rivers of melting ice on a distant glacier in the opening scene all look impressive. Color balance is strong throughout and black levels are all deep, dark, and consistent. Flesh tones are also nicely rendered and I didn’t detect any signs of compression artifacts, black crush, or edge halos. Although this isn’t a fully restored or cleaned-up transfer and it does reveal some minor flaws in the source print, overall it’s a very good video presentation.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is just as solid as its video counterpart. Boasting a full and ambient six-channel mix with deep and resonant bass, it really makes the most of award-winning composer Ennio Morricone’s stellar, keyboard-driven score. Although this is a rare instance when Carpenter didn’t compose and perform his own music for the film, like the thing itself Morricone seems to have successfully replicated the director’s musical style. From the opening chase sequence between helicopter and dog, Morricone’s deep bass notes emanate from the subwoofer and front channels. There’s also a full complement of discrete surround effects, especially during the latter scenes where the alien creature rears its ugly head, so-to-speak. The infamous chest-bursting sequence offers an aggressive and pounding aural experience, with plenty of directional sounds from the front and rear channels. Dialogue is always clear and concise through the center channel and there are also some nice left-to-right channel pans when the helicopters are in flight. Overall, a very good and atmospheric audio presentation.

The optional subtitles are in English SDH, English, Spanish, and French.

The Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

What a disappointment this BD is in terms of bonus material, especially after the stellar job Universal did on both the film’s previous Signature Series Laserdisc and similar Collector’s Edition DVD offerings. Even the previous HD DVD title was a bit more generous in the supplementary department.

First, the pro: the wonderfully articulate and entertaining feature-length running audio commentary track with director John Carpenter and star Kurt Russell is presented intact and it remains one of my all-time favorite commentary tracks. Carpenter and Russell and longtime friends and have built a wonderful creative relationship akin to Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro or Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. As such, their commentary is equal parts analysis and friendly banter. Smart and savvy, Carpenter is great at delving into the thematic elements of the film and how much he admired Howard Hawks’ original production. Russell, by contrast, is amicable and good-natured and has an infectious laugh that is peppered throughout the track as the two talk about literally being trapped in Alaska during the shoot. Much of the track goes into how the twelve cast members and film crew had a special bonding experience during the filming, and everyone seems to have plenty of mutual respect and admiration for each other. A highlight of the track is when Wilford Brimley goes on a rampage, tearing up the outpost’s communications center, and both Russell and Carpenter fall into fits of laughter at Brimley’s dryly-amusing performance.

Now the con: Universal has taken all of the ample bonus material from previous releases, including the stellar nearly 90-minute documentary John Carpenter’s The Thing: Terror Takes Shape, and sliced and diced it up into little sound bites for their U-Control Picture-in-Picture feature. What initially was a neat option, I’m becoming less and less impressed with the U-Control idea as it tends to force more comprehensive supplementary material into a truncated format. Besides, why would I want to watch such material in a small box at the corner of the screen instead of full frame? While it’s good in some instances – like watching a side-by-side comparison of storyboards vs. final film, for instance – it’s not conducive to watching talking-head interviews on the making of the movie. Although there are highlights from Terror Takes Shape used here, much of it has been omitted – and having watched the documentary a few times, there’s little in it that’s frivolous or unnecessary. Sadly missing from this BD are all the stills and production photos; the storyboards and creature design artwork; outtakes and effects test scenes; text production notes; Ennio Morricone’s complete isolated music score; and even the original theatrical trailer. As such, diehard fans will still want to hold onto their DVD or HD DVD copies.

The 109-minute film is divided into thirty-seven chapters.

Final Thoughts

Standing tall alongside his seminal Halloween, John Carpenter’s The Thing is a remarkable example of suspense and horror done right. Tapping into our own worse fears that breed paranoia and mistrust, The Thing is a relentless exercise in terror that is as chilling today as it was when first released. Despite a disappointing offering of bonus material that omits a lot of the film’s previously-released supplements, the impressive video and audio presentations still warrant a high recommendation.


Here’s a note about the apparent duplicate Buy Guide. Our I.T. people are still hard at work on a large project and have not yet had the time to modify the underlying site database formatting code to accommodate the new 0-to-10 rating scales. So until they do, for HD on disc, I’ll insert this note and a Buy Guide at the end of the review text and leave the conventional 0-to-5 Buy Guide blank.