The Thing from Another World
by Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
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Actor: Douglas Spencer, James Arness, Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheridan, Robert CornthwaiteDirector: Christian Nyby, Howard Hawks
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Producer: Howard Hawks
Writer: Howard Hawks
Producer: Edward Lasker
Writer: Ben Hecht
Writer: Charles Lederer
Writer: John W. Campbell Jr.
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 87 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-08-05
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Turner Home Ent
DVD Reviews of The Thing from Another World
DVD Review: Classic version of John W. Campbell's story "Who Goes There?" looks good but could use some extras-film 5 stars, extras-0 stars
Summary: 4 Stars
Certainly less gory than the remake nearly 25 years later, The Thing is atmospheric fun. Well directed by Howard Hawks and his long time director of photography Christian Nyby, The Thing crackles with much of the energy one would expect from a Hawks film. The film deserves 5 stars but the lack of significant extras 2 stars (we get the trailer).
A spaceship is discovered in the ice in the arctic circle. Hidden in the ice is a frozen alien. While the scientific and military camp suspect they've made an important discovery they haven't a clue; the creature in the ice is still very much alive and plans on surviving at any expense. Suddenly, these isolated scientists and army personnel find themselves threatened by a creature none of them understands. It's clear, though, that the creature has determined they are a threat; he begins picking them off one by one.
Although it isn't exactly faithful to Campbell's story, that's not a surprise given the limited optical effects of the time and that's not necessarily a bad thing. A famous director once said the best way to be faithful to a story (or novel)is to be unfaithful--that is stay true to the themes and color the story but also be willing to sacrifice the way the story is told to make it cinematic and, hence, its equal (films that are too faithful to their source material usually fail for precisely this reason--they try and tell the exact same story but can't portray what you see in your head from reading it).
Still, much of the setting and the general mood of the story. The cold war era/communist subtext is very much of the time and wasn't in Campbell's story that I recall. In many respects, the alien itself could be seen as a cold war era representation of the Soviet threat. What's great about "The Thing" is it deals with so many larger issues than just the conflict between man and alien creature. This is one of the earliest science fiction films that used subtext so well but didn't allow it to impede the action of the film. Every film is truly a product of and about the time it is made in (science fiction, western, drama or comedy) in that it truly reflects that era's mentality and the ethical issues facing people of the time. What's great about "The Thing" is that it manages to transcend that and be both about the time it was made in and be universal enough so that it can be reinterpreted with each new generation like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "The Day the Earth Stood Still". It's what allows pulp fiction and genre films to transcend the limitations of their cinematic ghetto jumping the fence to reach artistry and STILL be scary as heck.
Since James Arness was/is alive, I would have like to see the studio involve him in extras about one of his first major roles in a film and focusing on the history of the film. Since Hawks has been dead for some time (and it's believed pretty strongly now that Hawks directed it but let Nyby put his name on it to earn a credit so he could get into the Director's Guild and get other future directing jobs) and Nyby, a commentary by a film historian would have been terrific (as long as it didn't get bogged down in academia too much).
The Thing is notable for a number of things. It was one of the first films that hard a much darker undercurrent from a major studio (RKO)that viewed aliens as something other than our friends. Regardless of the symbolism the film is still fun to watch. Although many of the effects haven't aged all that well (particularly compared to John Carpenter's much more cynical, powerful and gory remake), the suspense works due to the well written script, crackling performances and sharp direction.
This DVD doesn't have anything in the way of extras (beyond the trailer) to write home about. While it looks pretty decent (despite numerous analog artifacts including hair, dirt, etc), I was hoping for a much more deluxe treatment similar to The Day The Earth Stood Still or It Came From Outer Space. It does appear that this new print was created from a restored negative. While I realize that the resources for the extras were probably limited (if I'm not mistaken nitrate stock was still being used to shoot film during this era so many of the outtakes probably don't exist any longer. Also, studios didn't routinely see any value in keep the outtakes or dailes for films at this time). As Hawks and Nyby are both deceased, it would have been impossible to have a director or producer commentary. Still, a film historian's comments would have been welcome. Even a commentary from a fan of the film (such as John Carpenter) would have been welcome.
While I'm a bit dismayed at the lack of attention given to this fine film, I'm not surprised given the era we live in. Many earlier films are not seen as important when it comes to generating revenue and, as a result, little effort is made to add value to the package. I'm happy this classic film is finally available on DVD but wish the packaging could have been a whole lot better.
Description of The Thing from Another World
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