The Thing (1982)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John W. Campbell Jr. (story)
Bill Lancaster (screenplay)

Release Date:

25 June 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Man is The Warmest Place to Hide.

Plot:

Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills.

Plot Keywords:

Dog | Helicopter | Alien | American | Scientist

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Kurt Russell	...	R.J. MacReady
Wilford Brimley	...	Dr. Blair (as A. Wilford Brimley)
T.K. Carter	...	Nauls
David Clennon	...	Palmer
Keith David	...	Childs
Richard Dysart	...	Dr. Copper
Charles Hallahan	...	Vance Norris
Peter Maloney	...	George Bennings
Richard Masur	...	Clark
Donald Moffat	...	Garry
Joel Polis	...	Fuchs
Thomas G. Waites	...	Windows (as Thomas Waites)
Norbert Weisser	...	Norwegian
Larry J. Franco	...	Norwegian Passenger with Rifle (as Larry Franco)
Nate Irwin	...	Helicopter Pilot

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's The Thing (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Norwegian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (1999) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (1989) (cut) | Finland:K-18 (1982) (cut) | Finland:K-15 (DVD rating) (2004) | Iceland:16 | Finland:(Banned) (original rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:18 | Netherlands:16 | Denmark:15 | New Zealand:R16 | UK:15 (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (original rating) | Germany:16 (re-rating) (2009) | West Germany:Not Rated (SPIO/JK) (1984-2009) | Norway:11 (blu-ray) | Sweden:11 (blu-ray) | Australia:MA (DVD release) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:(Banned) (original rating) | South Korea:18 (re-rating) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Kimberley, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

David Foster Productions

Trivia:

"The Thing" came out in the early days of home video with stereo sound. It also came during the time videophiles began to learn how to decode the matrixed surround track encoded on Dolby Stereo films by use of a left minus right decoder with delay applied. The Thing was one of the main films that were recommended to test out the setups due to the aggressively directional surround stereo mix, especially in the opening helicopter chase. The Thing was among the first movies to advertise that it had a "matrixed surround track" on its packaging for the stereo soundtrack versions.

Goofs:

Continuity: Between the time Fuchs talks to Mac about Blair's notes, calling the snowcat 'the Thiokol' (another brand of snowcat) the logo and model changes from a Skidozer 301, with its model name between the headlights, to a 302, with the Bombardier lettering between the headlights and the model name lower down to the left side (screen right). When they take Blair out to be locked up, the snowcat is again a 301 (you can see the blue model-plate between the headlights, not the black-on-yellow of the 302's Bombardier lettering).

Quotes:

Dr. Blair: [smashing up the radio room with an axe while yelling] A Cell gets out, and it will IMITATE EVERYTHING on the face of the EARTH! AND NOTHING CAN STOP IT!
Childs: [appearing from around a doorway] Hey, take it easy, come on, Blair, you don't want to hurt nobody.
Dr. Blair: [Blair whips a pistol out and shoots at him but misses] I'LL KILL YOU!
[fires more shots]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Faculty (1998)

Soundtrack:

ONE CHAIN DON'T MAKE NO PRISON

One of the best scary films I've seen

Hitting the video store late on a Saturday when all of the current films were unavailable, we ran across The Thing in the "classic" racks. I've seen this film at least twice before and truly enjoyed seeing it again. If it lacks plot or character development, the premise is frightening enough to make it an engrossing film. The gross-out special effects don't hurt either. For me, The Thing ranks with Alien as one of the best scary films I 've seen.