The Thing [Blu-ray]

Director: John Carpenter John Carpenter

Overview

John Carpenter presents another tale of horror as a group of scientists find a buried alien spacecraft in the Antarctic--with an alien still inside. Upon defrosting, the being begins its killing spree. This thriller includes performances from Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, and Keith David. Gory remake of the suspenseful 1951 classic.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/30/2008
UPC:	0025195046107
Original Release:	1982
Rating:	R
Source:	UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:00:00
Sales rank:	1,530

Special Features

480i Standard Definition; English Dolby 2.0

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Kurt Russell	R.J. MacReady
T.K. Carter	Nauls
David Clennon	Palmer
Keith David	Childs
Richard Dysart	Dr. Copper
Charles Hallahan	Norris
Peter Maloney	Bennings
Richard Masur	Clark
Donald Moffat	Garry
Joel Polis	Fuchs
Norbert Weisser	Norwegian
Larry Franco	Norwegian Passenger with Rifle,Actor
Nate Irwin	Helicopter Pilot
William Zeman	Pilot
Wilford Brimley	Dr. Blair
Henry B. Walthall	Actor
Thomas G. Waites	Windows
Adrienne Barbeau	Computer
Jed	Dog Thing
Tony Cecere	Actor
Kent Hays	Actor
Larry Holt	Actor
Melvin Jones	Actor
Eric Mansker	Actor
Clint Rowe	Actor
Rock Walker	Actor
Jerry Wills	Actor
Ennio Morricone	Composer

Technical Credits

John Carpenter

Bill Lancaster

John W. Campbell Jr.

Mick Garris

Tony Cecere	Stunts,Stunts
Kent Hays	Stunts
Larry Holt	Stunts
Melvin Jones	Stunts
Eric Mansker	Stunts
Denver Mattson	Stunts
Clint Rowe	Stunts
Ken Strain	Stunts
Rock Walker	Stunts
Jerry Wills	Stunts
Roy Arbogast	Special Effects
Rob Bottin	Special Effects
John Carpenter	Director,Screenwriter
Michael Clifford	Special Effects
David Foster	Producer
Leroy Routly	Special Effects
Wilbur Stark	Executive Producer,Producer
Lawrence Turman	Producer
Albert Whitlock	Special Effects,Special Effects
Bill Lancaster	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
John Adams	Sound Effects
John W. Campbell Jr.	Screenwriter
Stuart Cohen	Producer
Mick Garris	Screenwriter
Thomas D. Causey	Sound/Sound Designer
Larry J. Franco	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Upon its theatrical release in 1982, John Carpenter's reworking of the 1951 sci-fi classic The Thing from Another World took a drubbing from some outspoken genre devotees who thought it deviated too much from the original and sported unnecessarily gross special effects. In fact, writer-director Carpenter deliberately avoided paying obeisance to Christian Nyby's 1951 film and instead went back to the source material, John W. Campbell's 1938 novella "Who Goes There?" for inspiration. He retained the story's central conceit, making the alien a shape-shifter capable of perfectly mimicking any life form it ingests. The basic premise was the same: a research team working in a remote Antarctic outpost comes across the body of a frozen alien and brings it back to the base, where the creature thaws out and begins killing the men one by one. Kurt Russell, who had felicitously teamed with Carpenter on the preceding year's Escape from New York, is rather subdued as the fatalistic hero R. J. MacReady. The supporting performances of Wilford Brimley, Richard Dysart, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, and T. K. Carter are similarly restrained and lend believability to a patently unbelievable situation. The special effects, while certainly on the repulsive side, are extraordinarily convincing by 1982 standards, although they won't seem quite as impressive to younger viewers weaned on the CGI effects of the last decade. In retrospect, Carpenter's The Thing was a lot better than some of us thought, and it has taken its place among the masterworks of sci-fi cinema. This Collector's Edition includes a commentary by Carpenter and Russell, a making-of documentary titled "Terror Takes Shape," and a host of extras including work-in-progress special effects footage, conceptual art and storyboards, and even some stop-motion animation that didn't make the movie's final cut.