Good, but not great.

Boy, that Norwegian was a REALLY bad shot...

My headline is "Good but not great" and the kind of questionable stuff I saw in the opening sequence did not heighten the suspense--It made me question the integrity of the direction--maybe even the script. Can it be THAT tough to kill a dog when you're in the helicopter aiming an automatic weapon?? Ans: Yeah, if you want the dog to live and move the plot along... So, the dog's untouched shot after shot after shot...

Other problems: one editing mistake and one direction mistake wrenches a thinking viewer away from the suspense of THE moment when the three (count 'em, three) team members first see the space craft and rappel down for a closer look. I'd get more specific, but will leave it to astute viewers to spot the problems themselves. Bad, bad, bad.

Much ground-breaking care and attention was devoted to the central challenge here: visualizing the alien--and the rationale behind it. Unfortunately, NOWHERE in the dialogue did I find the really significant reason why the Thing continually looks different and goes through so many transformations. I DID hear it on the excellent "making of" documentary--but, unless I missed it (and if I missed it, how many others do?) there's no quick 1-2 line explanation from any of the Antarctic crew. This is a key element that would have given what we see even more credibility.

And it needed credibility. "Less light, less light," the brilliant man responsible for creating the alien's many transformations pleaded when Carpenter was shooting. He simply wanted to ensure we couldn't see the movie-making artifice. Another reason: it's just too, too fantastic to believe, making it bizarre--but not scary enough.

I do appreciate the fact that director John Carpenter latched onto the key component here: trust amongst the team members. Who is real, who is not? Got it. But he kept sidelining the critical suspense issue with those transformational sequences. Creepy? Not so much. Grotesque? Oh, yeah. Is that enough? Not for me. Which is why I say this is a good movie--but not great.

Want a great movie that gives you EVERYTHING? See the new alien feature, A Quiet Place. Ooooh, boy: now that's what I call GREAT.

This 1982 science/fiction and thriller film is one of the major classics in the horror movie genre. A group of research scientists in Antarctica suddenly are under attack, and end up with a dog. To their surprise, the dog begins to attack others and shape-shifts into its victims. The scientists must try and figure out what this thing is and what it wants before it is too late. This movie is a horror classic because it focuses so much more on what is right in front of it instead of the concept of a ghost or something else. The special effects aren’t perfect and neither is the acting, but it is a horror movie that is tame enough for most people to enjoy. I would rate this movie 3.5/5 stars. @The_Reviewer of the Hamilton Public Library Teen Review Board

Normally I find that remakes are terrible but I think this film is excellent. It has a well done plot and the acting is good. This is not really a remake but a reimagining of the original movie. The book that it is based on is also worth reading.

please get more copies

John Carpenter's sci-fi horror classic- worth watching.

One of the best alien films ever made- not in profoundly deep thoughtful sense [like CONTACT (1997, Carl Sagan", or "The Arrival" (1996) or "Arrival" (2016)], but rather, for the very realistic way characters react to their situation. They quickly grasp their situation, unlike most characters in alien encounter flicks.

Some people call this horror, but it's just as accurate to call it science fiction. And it's pretty good science fiction at that. There are no big plot holes or physics failures here.

In every what I can think of, this film holds up decades later. Even the special FX hold up. It's fun, and is one of the few films you can watch over the years and still enjoy every time.

Similarly to The Shining, this film gets under your skin early on and not once does the tension let up. Essential for any fan of horror or science fiction movies.

Classic !!!!!!! 420

The Thing is a smart horror flick. R.J MacReady (Kurt Russell) is one of twelve men stationed at a scientific outpost in Antarctica. When they encounter something that threatens their lives, they need more than ever to stick together. But paranoia builds, they begin to mistrust each other, and slowly their solidarity begins to disintegrate.
Strong performances here. The characters are believable and act in ways that are reasonable, given their circumstances (which is not always true of these kinds of films). The setting in Antarctica (actually filmed in Alaska) adds both an austere beauty as well as a sense of isolation.

With a thick, thick air of intense paranoia and jaw-dropping monster effects work, The Thing stands as one of the greatest films of both the horror and science fiction genres.