• Genre: Science Fiction, Horror
• MPAA Rating: R
• AMG Rating:
• Regional Coding: 1
  USA and territories, Canada

John Carpenter's The Thing is both a remake of Howard Hawks' 1951 film of the same name and a re-adaptation of the John W. Campbell Jr. story "Who Goes There?" on which it was based. Carpenter's film is more faithful to Campbell's story than Hawks' version and also substantially more reliant on special effects, provided in abundance by a team of over 40 technicians, including veteran creature-effects artists Rob Bottin and Stan Winston. The film opens enigmatically with a Siberian Husky running through the Antarctic tundra, chased by two men in a helicopter firing at it from above. Even after the dog finds shelter at an American research outpost, the men in the helicopter (Norwegians from an outpost nearby) land and keep shooting. One of the Norwegians drops a grenade and blows himself and the helicopter to pieces; the other is shot dead in the snow by Garry (Donald Moffat) the American outpost captain. American helicopter pilot MacReady (Kurt Russell, fresh from Carpenter's Escape From New York) and camp doctor Copper (Richard Dysart) fly off to find the Norwegian base and discover some pretty strange goings-on. The base is in ruins, and the only occupants are a man frozen to a chair (having cut his own throat) and the burned remains of what could be one man or several men. In a side room, Copper and MacReady find a coffin-like block of ice from which something has been recently cut.... That night at the American base, the Husky changes into the Thing, and the Americans learn first-hand that the creature has the ability to mutate into anything it kills. For the rest of the film the men fight a losing (and very gory) battle against it, never knowing if one of their own dwindling number is the Thing in disguise. Though resurrected as a cult favorite, The Thing failed at the box office during its initial run, possibly because of its release just two weeks after Steven Spielberg's warmly received E.T.: The Extraterrestrial. Along with Ridley Scott's futuristic Alien, The Thing helped stimulate a new wave of sci/fi horror films in which action and special effects wizardry were often seen as ends in themselves. ~ Anthony Reed, All Movie Guide

Bonus Features

• cc All-new digitally remastered picture
• Feature commentary with Kurt Russell and director John Carpenter
• John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape, an 80-minute original documentary featuring interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, special effects make-up designer Rob Bottin, legendary matte artist Albert Whitlock, plus other members of the cast, crew and special effects team
• Stop motion animation cut from the film
• Exclusive work-in-progress visual effects footage
• Behind-the-scenes location footage
• Original theatrical trailer
• Outtakes from the film
• Behind-the-scenes photographs
• Storyboards and conceptual art
• Annotated production archive

Actors

Kurt Russell, Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Joel Polis, Norbert Weisser, Larry J. Franco

Director

John Carpenter

Producer

Larry J. Franco, Lawrence Turman, David Foster

Violence, Not For Children

• Sound : DD5.1/DD2
• Language : Eng/Fre
• Subtitles : Fre

• Screen : WSE
• Dar : 2.35:1

Review

Absolutely frightening in every way, John Carpenter's remake of the 1950s monster romp is a grotesque exercise in how to scare the living socks off of even the most jaded viewer. Cold, claustrophobic, and expertly realized, The Thing creeps under your skin and doesn't let up until the last credit rolls. Carpenter, who was still on fire after such hits as Halloween, The Fog, and the fantastic Escape From New York flexes his horror muscles once again and arguably surpasses the original with equal parts originality and completely fearless filmmaking. Equally worthy of praise is the amazing work of the still young FX guru Rob Bottin. With free reign to let his imagination run as wild as he wanted, Bottin (fresh off of The Howling) spent a little over a year living at Universal's backlot creating some of the most horrific images audiences had ever seen. The outrageously surreal and bloody work he created (with the brief help of another young lad named Stan Winston) has been a benchmark for practical makeup effects since its release in 1982. With a constant level of tension provided by the Carpenter-esque electronic score from Ennio Morricone thumping in the background, matched with Dean Cundey's brilliant camerawork, The Thing has a look and feel all its own. Also note-perfect are the amazing performances from the ensemble across the board. From the chilling Blair (Wilford Brimley) to the cool of Childs (Carpenter fave Keith David), these guys are meaty characters facing a no-win situation -- with the bearded Kurt Russell as MacReady leading the motley crew. Russell is one mean machine once again for his old director chum, making MacReady another instant classic character in their reign of films together. The Thing didn't flop at the box office, but it found its real audience through cable and video sales, and has ranked as one of Universal's best-selling DVDs -- surely a testament to the blood and sweat put in from Bottin, Carpenter, and everyone involved. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, All Movie Guide

• Release Date : October 26, 2004
• Length : 109 Minutes
• Dvdsides : 1
• Dvddiscs : 1
• Upc : 025192543722