Total Film: The Modern Guide to The Movies

Roba Fett · #11 22-02-2011, 01:28 AM

I'm a huge fan of The Thing and very sceptical about this. Sure, the wikipedia blurb is interesting and the idea has its merits, but how satisfying can the film really be when we know, at the end, two guys are gonna die chasing a dog? I'm with Porkchop that less is more. We already know what happened in Norge town... how the events unfolded is unimportant.

How much love is there for Carpenter's The Thing? I've yet to meet a film fan who doesn't rate the movie very highly. Any haters out there? By my reckoning The Thing would win a poll of 'film loved by most Total Film forumites' by a country mile.

Projectionist · #12 22-02-2011, 02:14 AM

The thing and robocop would be joint top :-)

Roba Fett · #13 22-02-2011, 02:38 AM

You're probably right mate, Robocop's very popular on here.

It's a great film but I definitely favour The Thing... burly, bearded, belligerent blokes tied to a couch amidst flaming, flailing mutated flesh is hard to beat.

Jeffbiscuits · #14 22-02-2011, 03:01 AM

You can't beat a random bit of alliterating either. That was weird but nice

whitezombie · #15 22-02-2011, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roba Fett

I'm a huge fan of The Thing and very sceptical about this. Sure, the wikipedia blurb is interesting and the idea has its merits, but how satisfying can the film really be when we know, at the end, two guys are gonna die chasing a dog? I'm with Porkchop that less is more. We already know what happened in Norge town... how the events unfolded is unimportant.

How much love is there for Carpenter's The Thing? I've yet to meet a film fan who doesn't rate the movie very highly. Any haters out there? By my reckoning The Thing would win a poll of 'film loved by most Total Film forumites' by a country mile.

The Thing is probably my favourite horror film. It has it all:
Great characters, great gore, great scares and paranoia, isolation...etc!

However, who is to say that all of the Norwegians died, we only see a snapshot of what, 48 hours of time in The Thing?
Who's to say that someone else survived, be they human or otherwise.
In the novelisation of the film of The Thing, there is a sequence where several characters set about chasing, I THINK, husky dogs for several hours to kill them. Who's to say that the helicopter guys were the only Norwegians left?

Jeffbiscuits · #16 22-02-2011, 09:12 PM

The Thing is one of my favourite films too and I balk at the idea of anyone tainting my enjoyment of it but to be honest, I have been interested since I first heard news of this film. If the makers don't go the fan boy route and make the movie THEY want, but instead respect JC's original and make a natural continuation of the Thing's universe, then it could be really good. Emphasise COULD though. In other words, I'm really interested but kind of expecting the worst at the same time.

Roba Fett · #17 24-02-2011, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitezombie

The Thing is probably my favourite horror film. It has it all:
Great characters, great gore, great scares and paranoia, isolation...etc!

However, who is to say that all of the Norwegians died, we only see a snapshot of what, 48 hours of time in The Thing?
Who's to say that someone else survived, be they human or otherwise.
In the novelisation of the film of The Thing, there is a sequence where several characters set about chasing, I THINK, husky dogs for several hours to kill them. Who's to say that the helicopter guys were the only Norwegians left?

You have an interesting point. But other Norwegian survivors / carriers would render the dramatic struggle of Kurt and the gang redundant. And if the film makers are going to take the route of additional Norge town escapees, surely they'll end up rehashing the originals downbeat (and all the better for it) ending; are they human and therefore humanity saving heroes, or is one or both of them the Thing?

Though I hope I'm proved wrong I believe no good can come of this. Most modern sci-fi / horror films are just teen friendly vehicles full of dumb dialogue, frenetic (often indiscernible) action, close-ups, slow-mos, and absolutely no sense of tension whatsoever. I fear this will not make a good companion piece to the awesomeness of The Thing.