The Thing vs. The Thing From Another World

[Kam]

TTFAW was on TCM the other night, and then The Thing was on the Starz network, so got to watch both of them on the same night and really compare the two. Both, I think, are great movies but for different reasons.

The original brought in this great human fight amidst the fight against the thing. The scientist, when you actually listened to him, had completely valid and understandable reasons for wanting to study and keep the thing alive, he was just played with such malice and seemingly evil intent that you thought he should be the badguy, but really wasn't. Really brought home the fight within humans, our struggle for knowledge vs. our struggle for survival. The characters, and a large number of them, were fleshed out better in the original i think. While a few were more stereotypical 'types' (the photojournalist, and a few of the doc's helpers) most had some duality to them, the doctor, the captain, others all interesting characters.

Carpenter's remake had far more gore/suspense than the original in great scenes like the blood testing scene, and then the mystery of who is human vs. the hiding thing. even after having seen it so many times, completely forgot who was human and who was the thing, i always thought the bearded dude, the dog handler was one of the things, and even while watching it this time i thought he was too, along with the Garry too (the guy who played the president in Clear and Present Danger). There was no 'real' human vs. human conflict as everyone was really trying to figure out who was human and who was alien, but still very enjoyable element that wasn't in the original. The characters here seemd a little more one-dimensional. Which, given the fact that the gore/effects are going to take up FAR more screen time than in the original, something had to be sacrificied, and making the characters motivations easily pigeonholed is a quick way to save time (ala angry black man, hardnosed army man, weasel coward man, etc).

But, between the two, if i had to pick, I'd give a slight nod to the original. It had more elements to it. While primarily a 'sci-fi/suspense/thriller' it also had comedic moments, drama, and even a romantic element that worked its way in there nicely without too much cheese. More of a complete movie. For flat out suspense/sci-fi/horror, the remake gets the nod, but watching them one after the other, defintely each very enjoyable in their own way.

Next up in my remake vs. original: The In-Laws vs. The In-Laws and Flight of the Phoenix vs. Flight of the Phoenix

peace
k2

[dean_martin]

What a great idea for a thread!!! If this one's been done here before, it's been a long time.

The original/remake that came to mind is Le Femme Nikita/Point of No Return. It's been a while since I've seen these movies, but I watched them within a short time for comparison. I preferred Le Femme Nikita. It wasn't close. Based on what stuck with me, Nikita was better in style and the lead character was more convincing as a down-and-out druggie/killer turned high-society-secret agent-asassin. I thought PONR was flat. The most memorable performance for me was Gabriel Byrne's simply because of his cool demeanor.

Can anyone post on the recent American horror/suspense remakes of original Japanese films? I know The Ring is one, but I believe there's a more recent remake of a Japanese film - maybe Butterfly Effect?

[Worf101]

You'll see "The Thing From Another World" there every single time. It is, except for perhaps "The Day the Earth Stood Still" the best 50's Sci Fi film ever. It's direction is credited to Christian Nyby but it has Howard Hawks written all over it. It's the signature interweaving dialogue that I love sooo much. And Kam, you're so right about the juxtaposition of "men of science" vs. "men of action". I don't think Dr. Carrington was "evil" per se, just blind to practicality. Much like some of the men who invented the A-bomb, they only asked "could we" not "should we".

Carrington asked himself if he could breed a creature from another world, not should he breed a creature that was litterally killing his colleagues. I fear that there are many scientists and industrialists who don't care if their name are attached to something infamous, as long as it's remembered.

John Carpenter's "The Thing" is a different from the original as two stories bearing the same name and local can be. It's much closer to the original premise of the short story "Who Goes There?" Talk about friggin paranoia. But JC'sTT did produce the first Special Effects that had me slacked jawed and babbling "WTF?" Just some simply amazing visual stuff.

I like JC'sTT but I love TTFAW. There's just no getting around it. I watch it whenever it's on no matter what I'm doing at the time. Thanks for bringing up this thread.

Da Worfster

"You want me to open the door again?"
"No!!!!"

[Worf101]

What a great idea for a thread!!! If this one's been done here before, it's been a long time.

The original/remake that came to mind is Le Femme Nikita/Point of No Return. It's been a while since I've seen these movies, but I watched them within a short time for comparison. I preferred Le Femme Nikita. It wasn't close. Based on what stuck with me, Nikita was better in style and the lead character was more convincing as a down-and-out druggie/killer turned high-society-secret agent-asassin. I thought PONR was flat. The most memorable performance for me was Gabriel Byrne's simply because of his cool demeanor.

Can anyone post on the recent American horror/suspense remakes of original Japanese films? I know The Ring is one, but I believe there's a more recent remake of a Japanese film - maybe Butterfly Effect?

I feel that LFN is by far the superior film. There's no getting around it. There are several remakes that make no sense to me. Why do frame for frame remake of "Psycho" like they did a few years back? Why remake "The Manchurian Candidate"? I just don't get it. Do you really think you're gonna do it better? At least "The Magnificent Seven" was in a different time and place from "The Seven Samurai" and as such carved some new territory. Some of the others... sigh...

Da Worfster

[shokhead]

The fire fight in the org for 1951 was pretty dam suspensefull. Dewey Martin is great. The remake had the alien shape-shift as was written in the book. Hawks didnt go with that.