The Thing (2011)

Originally posted by Mr Parker
another pitiful remake this time a remake of a remake that bombed on opening weekend.

Prequel.

Prequel.

Pre-quel.

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Understand?

yeah idiots go read the plot for this one....

it mentions "part of a team of Norwegian and American scientists who discover an alien buried deep in the ice of Antarctica,"

Originally posted by roughrider
Prequel.

Prequel.

Pre-quel.

PrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequelPrequel.....

Understand?

Dude, who even cares? This looks dumb, so I might as well just go re-rent Carpenter's version.

^ It was better than the commercials show.

Just because a movie doesnt do well at the box office that doesnt mean it sucks.

The fact that they named it the thing I guess would be misleading...but yeah it's a prequel...

Originally posted by Myth
^ It was better than the commercials show.

Is it? Well, that's good, but I still won't go out of my way to watch it. If I see it on TV or at a cheap theater on a boring day, I might give it a shot though.

Should've named it 'The Thing: The beginning' something like that.

Originally posted by Kazenji
Should've named it 'The Thing: The beginning' something like that.

I agree, I keep thinking that it's a remake, too, despite knowing it's a prequel. The thing about the "Thing" no pun intended, is that Carpenters 80's film was so well made, that people, especially fans, would be hard-pressed not to compare them.

There is also the "CGI Effects VS the Traditional Effects" vibe to this, but I for one, look forward to seeing the new film - the Prequel with an open mind. It seems from trailers that they really stuck to the Norwegian Outpost story line. -- Did they?

Not as good as 1982, but good enough and it tied in well to Carpenters film.

I liked that they dwelled a little bit into the alien's ship and there's definitely room to expand into another film/they left another open-ended ending.

Originally posted by Kazenji
Should've named it 'The Thing: The beginning' something like that.

In principle you're right, but I think the marketing department found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place.

Making a very faithful prequel to a 1980's horror movie that became a classic only over time, not when it first opened. Do they try to bring the hardcore faithful of that film, or try to appeal to new fans who regard movies from that long ago as 'old'?

If they take the word 'Thing' out of the title, would people get the relationship with the other film if it was called, say, Who Goes There? (The name of the original short story.) If you call it The Thing From Another World - like the VERY first film - it sounds too 1950's cheesy. Adding a second title - The Beginning, Discovery, Arrival, Awakening, Contact etc. - would look awkward. I think the makers of Tron Legacy had a similar problem, but had the advantage of being a sequel, not a prequel. I don't know where I would have gone with it.

And though I have been harping on some people who continue to call this a remake, I will acknowledge that they tried to have it both ways with this film. Make an official prequel that in several ways just remakes parts of John Carpenter's film.

Originally posted by Kazenji
Should've named it 'The Thing: The beginning' something like that.

I'm sure they didn't want to do that for marketing purposes. With a title implying that it is a prequel, and then only people who saw the original would see it. With the current name, I'm sure their hope was to draw in a mix of old fans and new viewers. Unfortunately, their marketing didn't work very well given the low amount of money it pulled in.

Saw it last weekend. No where nearly as well executed (edited?) as the 1982 version. The only thing (pun intended) this film may've added (and I doubt it was intentional) was that it might've given good cause for the Thing's aggessive behavior, ie, when the scientists drilled into it to get a tissue sample (and indeed the lead scientist seemed like your typical knowledge-at-all-costs type). I could see the alien then coming to the conclusion that it was on a hostile planet and had to defend itself.

Also, what happened to Kate Floyd at the end of the movie, or the vehicles left at the site, with regard to when Kurt and the Americans got there? Seems these loose ends were ignored.

Originally posted by Mindship

Also, what happened to Kate Floyd at the end of the movie, or the vehicles left at the site, with regard to when Kurt and the Americans got there? Seems these loose ends were ignored.

That's for part 3. She likely heads to the Russian camp that was a few miles away.

^ ooh, I like the idea of that being part 3. Otherwise, I assumed she drove off and froze to death.

I'm not sure if this is a terrible movie, or merely a terrible prequel to The Thing, but I am completely unable to separate this movie from my perceptions of the original. I'm not sure how someone could watch John Carpenters The Thing and then make this movie as a prequel tie-in. The tones of the two films are completely different. The '82 movie is the epitome of a scary, paranoid bottle film... and this new one is just a generic jump scare monster movie (to its credit many of the jump scares are effective and well executed). There is no suspense, the audience is never given a moment to wonder who is infected, and every time they ask the question, someone instantly jumps out and attacks everyone. I was really disappointed, and even laughed a few times at some of the cg special effects (I'm sure everyone who saw the film can guess the parts), but I think that if I hadn't come in expecting it to be like the original I would have enjoyed it more on its own merits.

Spoiler:
Did you guys think Joel Edgerton's character was infected in the end, or did he just lose his ear ring? His body didn't do any crazy monster stuff while it was burning.

Skrull for sure.

Originally posted by srankmissingnin

Spoiler:
Did you guys think Joel Edgerton's character was infected in the end, or did he just lose his ear ring? His body didn't do any crazy monster stuff while it was burning.

Good point. Did he scream crazy though? Can't recall.

Originally posted by Robtard
Good point. Did he scream crazy though? Can't recall.

Spoiler:
No, he did not do the weird creature scream. However: there was an earring in his right ear before they went in; it was not there when they came out (and I don't recall it being ripped out; neither do I recall the guy checking like it had been ripped off). And when Kate mentioned the missing earring, the guy did check his left ear (which is why she said, wrong ear).

I think the film's intent was for us to initially think he was infected, but then to throw us off when he screamed like a human.
Poorly done, methinks. I did not find the scenario satisfying.

I really enjoyed it =) It's nothing on the old one, but I gave up hoping any horror movie ever could beat one of the classics for a long while until CG steps up it's game considerably.

I also liked how apparently the Thing has already killed the Aliens. As it has a improved version of the facehugger, no? =p

So, I was discussing some pointless and trivial detail about the movies with some friends and I wondered if it might be something you guys were interested in.

The Alien spaceship crash landed on Earth. Kind of hard to believe they didn't see it, I mean a whole planet?. So what happened? The easiest answer we figure was that it found a planet full of life forms, great! That's what it wants, right? So of all the planet to pick from, the Antarctic? It leaves a bit of confusion in the air.

Is it instead possible the spaceship doesn't actually belong to the thing at all, and instead belonged to another race the thing attacked, doing with them what it did to us? That would explain the crash a little better I would think. It did seem to be able to replicate human intelligence when it consumed us, so if it did consume the aliens that explains how it was able to build the ship in the original.

Just food for fun thought. What do you guys think? =)