I’m a massive John Carpenter fan and The Thing is one of my favourite films so when Arrow Video announced they were releasing a 4K restoration of it on Blu-ray I had to take a look. So without further ado here’s my The Thing Blu-ray Review.
- The Thing (1982) 4K Restoration
- Running Time: 109 Mins
- UK Rating 18
- Discs: 1
- Released By Arrow Video
- Blu-ray Released: 20 November 2017
Plot
The Thing (1982) External Reviews. Showing all 341 external reviews. 20/20 Movie Reviews Richard Cross 25 Years Later Vincent Greene 500 Days Of Film Jane. 'The Thing' has always seemed like a somber film full of overcast, wintery exteriors and grim, moody interiors, enlivened only by a few sporadic flashes of color. This Blu-ray will continue to dispel that notion, as the Blu-ray offers an appreciable upgrade in terms of richness and purity of color. Mar 10, 2017 Such was the critical consensus surrounding John Carpenter’s 1982 The Thing, about a shape-shifting alien coated in “creamed corn, Jell-O, mayonnaise, microwaved bubblegum, and five-gallon. Oct 21, 2017 John Carpenter's seminal 1982 sci-fi horror classic, The Thing, gets the deluxe treatment courtesy of Arrow, who deliver up a lavish set packed to the gills with extras, both old and new, and boasting a brand new 4K-remastered video presentation and a great choice of soundtracks. Whether you already own it or not, you simply have to pick this.
When a Norwegian science station in Antarctica finds something in the ice it turns out to be their worst nightmare. Anxious to kill one of their dogs they take to the air and attempt to shoot it and in doing so fly over the American Antarctica research station before crashing.
The American station personnel take the surviving dog into their camp but just what have they let in?
Maybe a visit to the Norwegian science station will reveal more… Kingdom hearts 2 ultima weapon plus.
The Thing 1982 Review
Style / Direction
John Carpenter treats us to the ultimate tense claustrophobic horror film you could ever imagine with the staff of a scientific research lab left stranded in their Antarctica camp. This really ramps up the tension and when The Thing is revealed it’s a true horror. The special effects work really well and have you somewhat panic-stricken.
Dean Cundey provides the cinematography on The Thing and he also deserves credit for helping to make the film so stylish and terrifying.
Music / Audio Effects
Ennio Morricone provides an excellent score although listening to it I would have said it was one of John Carpenter’s it I didn’t know otherwise so maybe he gave some instruction to Ennio Morricone on the style of music required.
Acting / Characters
The acting in The Thing has to be good and is as the film centres around the tension the men stranded in the Antarctica begin to feel. With every one suspecting each other as being the alien imposter there’s plenty of paranoia and this is where the film really shines with everyone at each others throat.
Kurt Russell plays MacReady the helicopter pilot turned leader and he is quite superb in the role. He decides to take the lead and discover who’s who and his performance is exactly what the film needs.
Keith David plays the role of Childs another strong character and rival / ally of MacReady, the two work well together.
A. Wilford Brimley takes on the role of Blair a doctor who works out what’s hell is going on and he’s not very happy with what he discovers. His is yet another excellent performance as we see him begin to lose his mind.
In fact there’s not a bad performance in The Thing everyone adds a little something to proceedings.
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Conclusion: The Thing Film Review
The Thing is a terrifically tense and alarming film that does exactly what you what from a sci-fi horror, it terrifies. I consider it a masterpiece in filmmaking and its a film that hasn’t dated it still works as well today as it did back in 1982. The acting really is superb with Kurt Russell the pick of the actors.
Put simply The Thing is a must see film.
Conclusion:The Thing Blu-ray Review (4K Restoration)
Arrow Video’s 4k restoration is truly outstanding, trust me there nothing to complain about here. The print is clean and free from any specks of dirt, the colours a perfect and the image sharp.
This Blu-ray version is a must have for all fans of John Carpenter work.
Now to the extras included and again I really don’t think there is anything to complain about. The pick of the extras is the “Who Goes There? In Search of The Thing” documentary which is a very comprehensive look at the origins of the story and the original film before moving on to the John Carpenter film. It all incredibly interesting and a must watch for fans of The Thing.
Extras
- Who Goes There? In Search of The Thing (78 mins)
- 1982: One Amazing Summer (27 mins)
- John carpenter’s The Thing: Terror Takes Shape (84 mins)
- NoThing Left Unsaid: Texas Frightmare Panel (55 mins)
- The Thing 27,000 Hours (6 mins)
- Fans of The Thing
- Production Archive
- Trailer
- Audio Commentaries
- Booklet
- Reversible Sleeve
On to my movie rating for The Thing (1982)
- Movie Rating: MUST SEE
- Blu-ray Picture: PERFECT
- Extras: EXCELLENT
The Thing (1982) is available now on Blu-ray.
Amazon UK Links
- Blu-ray:
Film Trailer
For those of you yet to see the film I’ll leave you with a little taster…
Clip may not be representative of the Blu-ray version
So that’s The Thing Blu-ray review, if you have any thoughts on this film you can leave them in the comment section below:
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Summary: The Thing Blu-ray Review (1982) 4K Restoration
Director(s): John Carpenter
Actor(s): Kurt Russell, Keith David, A. Wilford Brimley, Richard Masur, Thomas Waites, Donald Moffat
Genre: Sci-fi, Horror
- Movie Rating
- Blu-ray Picture Rating
- Extras
5
Summary
The Thing 1982 123 Movies
John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror masterpiece now looks even more stunning on this new Blu-ray release.
07 Nov 1982
109 minutes
18
A parasitic alien infiltrates an arctic research centre in John Carpenter's 1982 body horror classic. 'You've got to be fucking kidding.' Not only one of the great 'zinger' lines of all time, but pretty much the reaction of slack-jawed audiences who either gazed in shock at John Carpenters' The Thing, or more likely, as the film was pretty much a flop on its first release, picked up their popcorn and flounced into the next screen where there was some girly alien or other trying to phone home.
Myanmar font for mac. In fact, The Thing is a peerless masterpiece of relentless suspense, retina-wrecking visual excess and outright, nihilistic terror, placing 12 men at an Antarctic station while a shapeshifter takes them over one by one. The slimy effects stand up to this day, Ennio Morricone's score is fantastic and the ensemble acting is played entirely straight as suspicion and paranoia overwhelm the characters. If you have seen it you'll know where that zinger comes from. If you haven't, well just do. And try to keep your head. And the menus are accompanied by Ennio Morricone's fantastic score
The Thing 1982 Review Full
Back in 1997 Carpenter told Empire that 'You'll never, ever, see anything like The Thing again.' Like MacReady and Childs we're still waiting. We might be for a long time yet.