John Carpenter's The Thing dvd

[Heckalaska]

I've been meaning to pick this disc up for a long time and it recently dropped from 25 bucks to 15 and I was on it like white on rice! What an amazingly great package this thing is!

Not only is it a really great movie, but the disc is packed with extras. The 80 minute documentary is really quite good and covers loads of technical and non-technical aspects as well as interviews with lots of principals. The commentary between Carpenter and Kurt Russell is hilarious and highly entertaining! There's lots of other stuff as well. Best purchase I've made in a while.

The only parts of that film's effects that look dated to me are the very end scene when they use stop-motion effects for "the Thing". Russell is quite the badass in here too. The panoramic scenes painted by the master that did work on Hitchcock's The Birds among others, is amazing! Anyhow, I just spent a load of time on this dvd and wanted to share. Anybody who doesn't already own this masterpiece looking for something cheap to pick up, I highly recommend it. 12 Monkeys CE also was chopped down to $15 and falls into the same kickass category.

[fuddo]

I thought 12 Monkeys was being reduced on 5/28.

[CocaCola]

only thing wrong with this disc-NON-anamorphic!!!!!!!:rar:

GREAT extra's thou...

[newt]

I think the menu music plays the entire score too.

[Monterey Jack]

Great disc, although I wish the deleted scenes were presented in widescreen (plus, in one of the deleted scenes where Garry is examining the dead body of the Norwegian he shot, you can clearly see the "corpse's" eye blink! ). The Carpenter/Russell commentary is one of the best I've heard.

[Filmmaker]

Probably my favorite isolated music track in my DVD library, though I wish track skipping was possible...as far as the rest of the disc, the adjective voluminous only begins to scratch the surface--if it was anamorphic, this would be the disc to beat!

[gachamann]

Super DVD. But I was very disappointed in the non-anamorphic transfer. I knew I would be getting a widescreen tv (which I have now, a 55" ws hdtv), so it's even harder to take now.

But the supplements kick ass and the movie is classic.

On a side-note, I wrote a couple years back to DVDSavant about a scene I remember seeing on TV. It was an alternate ending and everyone swears they don't know what I'm talking about. I was so hoping when I first got this disc that it would be mentioned, but it wasn't.

The alternate ending goes like this. Instead of the chopper arriving like it does the next day or whatever (been a while since I watched it, heh) the chopper arrives and you're in the helicopter with the guys and they're searching around the camp which is of course smoking from the explosion. One of them points out seeing something, the camera closes in towards the site of the explosion where they're looking....and you see the dog (husky) coming out just like in the beginning of the movie! All innocent looking and obviously about to dupe these poor bastards just like the Thing did before. As soon as it zooms into closeup of the dog running up to meet the helicoptor, that foreboding theme music starts playing and it fades to black.

ARRGGGHHH!!!! No one believes me. It's a conspiracy I tell you! How could I possibly make up something that cool? Waitaminute, I just insulted myself When I do and enter the great beyond my first question won't be about the meaning of life..it will be what happened to that farking ending!

[Filmmaker]

gachamann, in the interests of your psychological well-being , I tracked this down at the Internet Movie Database:

The version broadcast on television in the eighties ended with a few shots of a dog running, stopping to look around and heading off into the distance, leading the spectator to believe the Thing had survived. Also, the scene where a man's head tears itself apart from his body, grows legs and eyes and runs off, was cut.

Feeling a little less out of the loop now?

[Underpants]

I just bought this as a gift for a friend, and on his recommendation, rented it for myself. I had only seen a crappy pan & scan HBO version when I was quite young so it was basically like seeing it for the first time.

One of the coolest, creepiest, and genuinely good thrillers I've ever seen. The scene where they're testing everyone's blood and *something happens* literally made me jump about 3 feet out of bed.

I haven't gotten into the extras yet but I will today. Definitely one for my wishlist, after the official price drop on the 7th (glad you found it early Heck )

Interestingly, apparently some actual discs (not packaging) are mislabeled 'anamorphic'. My friend's disc was, but the one I rented wasn't. So don't get your hopes up if you find one saying anamorphic.. it's not really

[AnonomusBob15]

Underpants, I got this from a friend as well. And mine did indeed say anamorphic on the disc, but not on the packaging. It was not anamorphic though. Hmm....

But the movie itself is great. CGI has nothing on Bottin's makeup effects and the atmosphere just really adds to the suspense. I found the commentary more enjoyable than the doc, but both were great.

The lack of anamorphic here, to me, is really a minor issue, the film looks great!

Easily one of my top five disc. And as Filmmaker mentioned, the cool isolated score is a feature in itself!! Pick it up.........now.

[gachamann]

I can't believe I didn't think to look at IMDB after so many people saying I "just don't remember it right".

I wasn't crazy, I knew it!!!! Even the famous DVDSavant from that other website didn't know WTF I was talking about. THANK YOU FilmMaker, you're a wonderful human being and will come back in your next life as....I dunno, something really cool
My life is now complete *transforms into pure energy, really dramatic music plays and he vanishes into nothingness*

Not enough sleep I guess

[Filmmaker]

Wow, going from the top of DVDFile's Most Hated list to transforming gachamann into pure, rapturous energy all in one day...it's enough to make a guy seasick...

Seriously, glad I could help...

[Heckalaska]

Underpants, glad to hear you checked it out and dig it. It makes me wonder what in the hell has happened to John Carpenter and Kurt Russell in the last 10 years... I know they've got some more cool films in them, but where are they!??

If every dvd that came out had this kind of treatment (plus anamorphic of course), the world would be a perfect place....

[Filmmaker]

Originally posted by gachamann:
I was so hoping when I first got this disc that it would be mentioned, but it wasn't.

Since I just can't leave a good thing alone...

When you first posted this statement, it kind of tickled my "Hey, wait a minute!" bone--I could have sworn that the disc did mention this deleted footage, so I popped the DVD in and, sure enough, found the following in the Outtakes/Frame-by-Frame section (this is a direct transcription):

Various short sections of dialogue and other fragments were also cut from the film. Some were included in the syndicated television version, including additional shots of the dog added to the very end of the picture. This version, which also contained narration explaining some of the characters and the setting (taken from Lancaster's script), was not endorsed by John Carpenter.

Okay, so that'll be the end of that!

[Underpants]

Filmmaker, I have some good news.. I think, assuming you didn't know this. The score music is accessible with fairly accurate (but not perfect) chapter skips in the documentary section.

In that area, go to launguages and you'll see a music score button. Click that and the score plays over the documentary, and you can skip ahead

After awhile it seems to repeat.. I don't know the specifics because I don't really have time to listen before returning my rental.

I couldn't figure out the score on menu deal. They all seem to be repetitive loops or something.. the main menu is particularly annoying IMO.

[Hollow Man]

This really is quite a good movie. I had never seen it before I caught it on the Sci-Fi channel last year in letterbox. I was amazed that it was much better than I assumed it was.

The fact that it's going down to $15 MSRP next month is awesome; I'm going to pick up a copy then.

Edit: Actually, I just noticed on http://www.davisdvd.com that it's going down to $20 in May, not $15. I know I originally heard this was going to $15 - did Universal change their minds?

-HM

[Filmmaker]

Origianlly posted by Underpants:
In that area, go to launguages and you'll see a music score button. Click that and the score plays over the documentary, and you can skip ahead

True, but on my disc, pressing skip in this mode appears to skip me to the next chapter of the "making of" documentary playing in the background, not the next track of the music score. A few times, I've pressed skip, only to end up in the middle of a score track. Is this not how your disc works...?

[Underpants]

Originally posted by Filmmaker

True, but on my disc, pressing skip in this mode appears to skip me to the next chapter of the "making of" documentary playing in the background, not the next track of the music score.

I suppose it does I'm afraid I'm not that familiar with the score... when I skipped ahead, it appeared to be starting a new music selection, though a few of them seemed like the timing was a little off and they were already a couple seconds into the track. I dunno

Just thought I'd mention that since it seemed semi-hidden on the disc.