Rating: 
Summary: Might have been good in 1951, but...
Review: The movie tries hard, but has too many laughable situations to really be called "good". It does have mostly good performances and some decent dialog amid the silliness, however.<<SPOILERS to the end>> A round-shaped (of course!) flying saucer is discovered below the surface of the ice near the north pole. How it is determined to be "smooth, with no doors or windows" through the ice is a mystery to me - I can't see through an ice cube. Some air force guys blow up the ice with a "thermite" bomb, and unfortunately the frozen engine (!) of the saucer blows up (!) There is no fall out from the mushroom cloud onto the guys who are scarcely 100 feet away. Groan! Now, the guys look through the ice again (!) and see a large man-shape thing, about 8 feet tall. Even through the ice they can tell it is bald and has weird nails. Groan! They decide to chop a big block of ice out with the thing inside. Three people start whacking the ice with picks, and not a scratch do they make (this is not part of the plot - it just is a noticeable detail). They have to hurry because they only have an hour before the big storm blows in...Groan! So, OK, they get the thing back to base. The one guy designated to "guard" it unwittingly puts an electric blanket over the block. Drip drip drip melts the water (but the blanket never changes shape)...and the guard, who is now facing away and reading a book doesn't notice, but the huskies outside do (!) The guard finally notices the approaching shadow (complete with dramatic music) and shoots the unseen thing, then hysterically runs away, only to be "sobered up" with the cliched glass of water to the face. Groan! The thing is later compared to "some form of super carrot". Really. That's just the first 45 minutes. The other 42 I leave to you.
Rating: 
Summary: I absolutely love this movie
Review: but I have not seen it on DVD yet. I was wondering if this DVD is the standard version that usually shown on television, or is it the version with additional scenes included? A few months ago, I think it was Turner Classic Movies, aired a version of this movie with several additional minutes, restoring originally included scenes and parts of scenes to the version which has been circulating now for about 12 years or so. You could actually tell the difference visually, the re-inserted sections were grainier and had slightly poorer sound quality. Totalled all together the additional sections did not amount to more than about 5 or 6 minutes, and were mostly dialogue -- but it enhanced the movie, I thought, by fleshing out some of the scenes which had always seemed a bit truncated to me. I hope this dvd version includes the "new" footage. In any event, this early 1950's horror/sci fi classic is just about the best of it's kind. Lots of great bantering dialogue, chracters with real personalities, and atosphere, atmosphere, ATMOSPHERE --- something Hollywood has a hard time creating these days. It shifts in relationship studies from the comeraderie of military service to the quiet professional relationships of scientific researchers, changes moods from the cozy feeling of being in a warm building on a cold dark night to the desperate fear of fighting an enemy that can't seem to die. They don't come much better than this flick.
Rating:
Summary: The Thing.
Review: Yeah it's old, it's black and white, but it was done in a time when Hollywood still made darned good movies. Back when folks could string together a sentence without several 4-letter words in it. They were all pro's back then, even in the B flicks. The charicters interact beautifully, the dialogue is quick, witty and is totally devoid of all the profane non-sense that marred the Kurt Russel version done back in the '80s. Great story told in a masterful way, and acted by people who were good at their craft. Something the medeocre, reprobate, losers in Hollywood could never re-create today. Kinda shows you how standards have slipped in the past 50 years! Back when people demanded excellence, even in second tier products.
Rating:
Summary: Great Flick--but No Extras!
Review: At last, after surfing endlessly the web to see when this movie was ever going to be put on DVD, it's here. But--I can see hardly any difference in print quality from my disc than from my video tape. Also, since this is one of the great seminal movies from the 50s, why are there no extras--except a dippy little trailer? So many of the cast members are still alive and well, especially Margaret Sheridan, who was interviewed last year by FilmFax magazine and gave some lively insights to fascinating incidents before and behind the camera. It's frustrating to finally have our great classics appearing on DVD--but without any extra features which would strongly add to their allure for prospective buyers. Fantastic movie but dissapointing DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Some "Thing" to Talk About
Review: Finally! I've waited for this film to appear on DVD ever since I bought my player. This issue of Howard Hawks' film is worth the
wait. Though it lacks for extras (interviews, stills, behind-the-scenes documentaries, etc.), the presentation of the film more than makes up for the spartan package. When I first saw "The Thing," on the late show (oh, so many years ago), it scared the #^%$*&@! out of me. It seemed as though every time someone opened a door, that homicidal, blood-drinking "Super Carrot" was there! I digress... During that first viewing, I saw scenes that somehow "disappeared" over the years. Little snippets of dialogue, etc. vanished. In time I had convinced myself that I had imagined these scenes. Even my VHS copy of the film did not contain them. Well, guess what? I wasn't imagining them. THEY'RE HERE! Someone (my hat's off to you, buddy!) found them, reinserted them and made them as pristine as the rest of this disk. Technical Stuff: Video Quality: Excellent
Audio Quality: Excellent
Extras: Non-existent (except for the trailer) Are you a fan of 50's sci-fi/horror? Do you still enjoy "It Came from Outer Space," "It, the Terror from Beyond Space," "Invaders from Mars,"? If your answer is "yes," then buy this disk, get
yourself a six-pack of Coke, pop some popcorn, call out for pizza and enjoy...
Rating:
Summary: A Film you'll watch over and over
Review: There have been a number of in depth reviews of this film, so I'm just going to say; They're Right---this is a great film, and worth every penny.
I have watched it many times myself and the performances by this cast of character actors is great, and the story is very well written, and I never tire of watching it.
This one of the all time great science fiction film! Which is all the more amazing since it was made in the 50's. Look past that and see this film.
Rating:
Summary: Great Treatment Of A Classic Movie
Review: The picture quality of this dvd is much better than expected. Clear and crisp. Alien terror set in the arctic with a great cast and wonderful direction. Classic sci-fi at its best.
Rating:
Summary: Complete, Complete, Complete.
Review: ... What I will say is that I've been on a quest to find a complete copy since the advent of VHS and Laser Disc and until now the closest was the 50th aniverasry tape ... that is until the release of this DVD. It's sharp, crisp, and pretty clean for a film of it's years, and most importantly to me it was COMPLETE, without jumps, burps, skips, or jitters. The scene segues are the most complete to date, so much so that you can catch a glimpse of the name and nose art of Captain Hendry's C-47. I won't spoil it for you, watch for yourself. You should get a good chuckle out of it considering their location. Warner Bros. did a wonderful job on this title. If you're a die hard fan of this film as I am then you won't be disappointed at all. I highly recommend this DVD version for those looking for the complete copy of The Thing From Another World. This review refers to the DVD release.
Rating:
Summary: One of the all time best
Review: As a kid, my brother and sisters and I would search the Tv guide for the Saturday Creature Feature hoping that The Thing would be shown. This movie has always been in my top ten all time favorites and its easy to see why. Its full of monster movie elements that others have tried to copy but none have done so well. The setting -- an artic outpost cut off from the rest of the world by storms and a broken radio. The romance -- the leading man and woman who won't admit they have a thing for each other. The mad scientist -- played with logic and reason and you almost take the guys side until he endangers everyones life. And the monster -- its big and scarey and almost impossible to kill but when they do, you still can't help but feel a little pity for the Thing. All of this plus snappy dialogue, a great cast and humor that surprises every now and then. If you like classics, or if you want to see where modern day monster movies got their ideas, you've got to have this movie in your library.
Rating:
Summary: Great flick...short on presentation.
Review: You can't beat this movie. Where do you start to praise it, beyond what has already been written by my colleagues in having the hell scared out of us. This was the first film I ever saw by myself at 7 years old and I couldn't sleep without a light on for years! Ah, the wonders of youth!
I really would have enjoyed something in the way of interviews (Tobey or Arness perhaps) or at least, as was already stated, some comments and thoughts from experienced directors. Just a little bit of respect, concerning features and/or extras, for a 50th anniversary film of this magnitude would have been nice.
Too bad...but GREAT film nevertheless! You'll love it if you haven't already. Watch the skies!
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