From: mleeper@optonline.net   
      
   June 25 is the fortieth anniversary of the release of JOHN   
   CARPENTER'S THE THING (not to be confused with THE THING FROM   
   ANOTHER WORLd (1951) or THE THING (2011)).  Given that it is forty   
   years old, and based on a story that is about seventy-five years   
   old, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!  Briefly, this is a logic puzzle mixed   
   with an alien invasion story.   
      
   I started by saying, "My reaction to the opening of this film was   
   different from other people's. This film is based on "Who Goes   
   There?" by John W. Campbell, Jr., opens with a helicopter chasing a   
   dog across a large snowy field.  Now I generally like dogs and with   
   this one my usual reaction would have been rooting for the dog but   
   being very familiar with the story, my reaction was "Get that   
   sucker!"   
      
   For that matter, the Norwegian spoken by the pilot at the beginning   
   of the film gives away the plot, shouting that the dog isn't really   
   a dog, it's some sort of thing imitating a dog.   
      
   While this was not exactly John Carpenter's breakthrough film--it   
   came after after DARK STAR, ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, HALLOWEEN, and   
   ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK--but it may well be his best film.  However,   
   it was a commercial and critical flop at the time, and only over   
   the years has its gained the stature that it has.  (It scores 8.2   
   out of 10 on the IMDB, and 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.)   
      
   The original story, and the first movie, were set in the Arctic,   
   but this movie is moved to Antarctica.  When the story was written,   
   and the first movie made, permanent bases were fairly common in the   
   Arctic, but not in Antarctica.  Moving it to Antarctica gives it   
   some hints of H. P. Lovecraft and the Elder Gods.   
      
   It might help one's understanding of the film if one can remember   
   what characters had what names, but personally I have never found   
   anyone who could keep the characters straight.  Is that perhaps to   
   emphasize how they are all part of a Protean entity with no   
   permanent individuality?   
      
   Jed the dog deserves an acting award.  I'm serious about that.   
   This dog is better than Boris Karloff at appearing menacing and   
   also mysterious.  And he never looked at the camera, the dolly, or   
   the crew (which is a common acting animal problem).   
      
   Here you have a base made up mostly of scientists, and the only one   
   really thinking is the helicopter pilot?  (In the original movie   
   it's the airplane pilot and the secretary.  There seems to be some   
   implication that she has some scientific position, but we see her   
   typing, making coffee, and doing other non-scientific stuff.)   
      
   Childs (Keith David)'s voice may be familiar, since he has narrated   
   many PBS documentaries.  Other than Ken Russell and Wilford   
   Brimley, though, there are not a lot of familiar faces (which may   
   be why it's hard to keep the characters straight).   
      
   Rating: +3 (-4 to +4), or 9/10.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)