Review:
The Thing is hands down Carpenter's best film, and with the exception of Big Trouble in Little China, the last really good movie he's made. Now I'm not saying that the stuff that he's made since has been shit, I'm just saying that it doesn't seem to be on the same level (Vampires, They Live, Escape from LA anyone?).

Even though I said that this is "Alien in the Antarctic", lets just make one thing clear. The Thing is based on a story first published in 1938, and Carpenter's 1982 film is the second time it's been made for the big screen (the first time being 1950's classic "The Thing from another Planet"). So in all truth Alien is a rip-off of this movie (set in space), even though Alien was made first. Does that make sense?

I guess what I like so much about this movie is its sense of reality. Now, I'm not saying that I actually believe that this shit really happened, I'm just saying that the characters in this movie react in a way that's logical under the circumstances (especially the ending, which is hardcore).

For the record, I've always liked The Thing better than Alien. The way I see it, The Thing has everything that Alien does, plus an added level of tension due to the fact that the creature could be the guy beside you. When you get right down to it, Alien is just Jaws in space (I still love those 70's panties though).

Special Features :
This thing is stacked like a mofo, and if you're a fan its all worth taking a look at.

The commentary track featuring Carpenter and Russell was great. These to guys laugh it up all the way through the movie. They even take a shot at Wilford Brimely for making those oatmeal commercials. I'm really looking forward to hearing the Big Trouble C-track when it comes out.

The 80-minute original documentary made for this DVD was quite extensive. It touches on every aspect of pre- to post-production. In fact after watching this doc you'll realize as I did that it basically summarizes every other special feature on this disc.

Which are; production background archive, cast production photo's, production art and storyboards, location design, production archive, the saucer, the Blair monster, out-takes, post production, production notes, cast and filmmakers, we blinks and theatrical trailer.

With the exception of the trailer, the saucer, the Blair monster and out-takes, everything else on this disc is text and photographs. I'm not going to get into every little thing, I'll just say this; it's a lot of reading.

The trailer is quite good for the time it was made. It didn't give too much of the story away, which is a problem now a days. The saucer section shows you how live action was used in conjuncture with matt painting in the scenes where Kurt and pals are out at the crash site.

The Blair monster section presents the original stop-motion ending monster that was cut because Carpenter felt it looked too cheesy. It also provides the storyboards of what happens to Nauls, who just disappears in the movie without any notice. It's nice to know that he gets killed too. I needed closure.

Most of the out-takes presented are extended takes of scenes that are still in the movie. To make matters worse; the few sections that weren't in the movie are mood scenes or still photograph of things cut out. After watching this section I felt kind of ripped off. I guess Carpenter used almost everything he filmed.

Video and Audio:
The transfer on this disc was fairly well done. A few dust specs can be seen from time to time, but it's nothing worth crying about. The Dolby 5.1 does a stand up job in creating the right mood for the story.

"You gotta been fucking kidding me!!" - Palmer

-Nicky Eyes