THE THING - 4K UHD Coming This Fall

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AndyDursin
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THE THING - 4K UHD Coming This Fall

#1 Post by AndyDursin »

Wow this looks awesome. New 2K transfer will smoke the earlier, DNR-ridden presentation too.

In 1982 legendary genre filmmaker John Carpenter (Halloween, They Live) unleashed THE THING–a chilling sci-fi thriller that raised the bar on shocking special effects and terrified movie audiences worldwide. On September 20, 2016, the SCREAM FACTORY™ home entertainment brand is proud to present this landmark horror film in a 2-disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release which includes a brand new 2K scan of the film (supervised by Director of Photography Dean Cundey) and over 5 hours of extras.

Directed by Carpenter, THE THING stars Kurt Russell (Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China) and features special visual effects by Albert Whitlock (Dune) and special makeup effects by Rob Bottin (The Howling, Fight Club). This definitive set includes a collectible slipcover featuring newly rendered artwork and a reversible cover wrap featuring original theatrical key art. A must-have for movie collectors, sci-fi horror enthusiasts and loyal fans, THE THING Collector’s Edition Blu-ray set is available for pre-order now at ShoutFactory.com and will be made available to other fine retailers.

Special features and specs:

NEW 2K scan of the Inter-positive supervised and approved by director of photography Dean Cundey
NEW 4.1 created from the original 70MM Six Track Dolby Stereo soundtrack
NEW Audio Commentary with director of photography Dean Cundey
NEW The Men of Outpost 31 - interviews with Keith David, Thomas Waites, Peter Maloney and more…
NEW Assembling and Assimilation – an interview with editor Todd Ramsay
NEW Behind the Chameleon – interviews with visual effects artists Peter Kuran and Susan Turner, special make-up effects artist Rob Burman and Brian Wade and more….
NEW Sounds from the Cold – interviews with supervising sound editor David Lewis Yewdall and special sound effects designer Alan Howarth
NEW Between the Lines – an interview with novelization author Alan Dean Foster
Audio Commentary by director John Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell
John Carpenter’s The Thing: Terror Takes Shape – a documentary on the making of THE THING featuring interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, special effects make-up designer Rob Bottin, legendary matte artist Albert Whitlock plus members of the cast and crew (80 minutes – SD)
Outtakes (5 minutes - SD)
Vintage featurettes from the electronic press kit featuring interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell and Rob Bottin (12 minutes - SD)
Vintage featurettes – The Making of a Chilling Tale and The Making of THE THING (1982 – 14 minutes - SD)
Vintage Product Reel – contains a promotional condensed version of the film with additional footage not in the film (19 minutes - SD)
Vintage Behind-the-Scenes footage (2 minutes - SD)
Annotated Production Archive – Production Art and Storyboards, Location Scouting, Special Make-up Effects, Post Production (48 minutes - SD)
Network TV Broadcast version of THE THING (92 minutes - SD)
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailers (U.S. and German Trailer)
TV spots
Radio Spots
Still Gallery (behind-the-scenes photos, posters and lobby cards)
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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#2 Post by Monterey Jack »

Looks incredible. :D Pre-ordered in order to get the extra slipcover and posters. I'm willing to splurge on one of my top-ten favorite movies of all time. 8)

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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#3 Post by Monterey Jack »

Hope they include the vintage toy commercials...! :lol:


DavidBanner

Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#4 Post by DavidBanner »

Why does something tell me that toy commercial is a bit, er, suspect? I don't know. Something just feels a little off...

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AndyDursin
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#5 Post by AndyDursin »

LOL pretty funny.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#6 Post by Monterey Jack »

"Where's Blair...?" [AHHHHHH!!!!]

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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#7 Post by Monterey Jack »


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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#8 Post by Monterey Jack »

Good lord, even more extras... :shock:

We have even more for you to get excited about regarding our upcoming 2-Disc Blu-ray release of THE THING: More Bonus Features!
Although we announced most of the below awhile back, we are thrilled to highlight an all-new Carpenter interview conducted by Director and horror vet Mick Garris! Read on for even more surprised too...
DISC ONE:
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive Supervised And Approved By Director Of Photography Dean Cundey
- NEW 4.1 Audio Mix Created From The Original 70MM Six Track Dolby Stereo Soundtrack (5.1 Audio Mix Also Included)
- NEW Audio Commentary With Director Of Photography Dean Cundey
- NEW Audio Commentary With Co-producer Stuart Cohen
Audio Commentary By Director John Carpenter And Actor Kurt Russell
- Teaser Trailer
- Theatrical Trailers (U.S. And German)
- TV Spots
- Radio Spots
- Still Gallery (Behind-The-Scenes Photos, Posters And Lobby Cards)
- DISC TWO:
- NEW Requiem For A Shape Shifter – An Interview With Director John Carpenter In Conversation With Filmmaker Mick Garris
- NEW The Men Of Outpost 31 – Interviews With Keith David, Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Thomas Waites, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur And Joel Polis
- NEW Assembling And Assimilation – An Interview With Editor Todd Ramsay
- NEW Behind The Chameleon: The Visual Effects Of THE THING – Interviews With Visual Effects Artists Peter Kuran And Susan Turner, Special Make-up Effects Artist Rob Burman, Brian Wade And Stop Motion Animators Randall William Cook And Jim Aupperle
- NEW Sounds From The Cold – Interviews With Supervising Sound Editor David Lewis Yewdall And Special Sound Effects Designer Alan Howarth
- NEW Between The Lines – An Interview With Novelization Author Alan Dean Foster
- NEW Back Into The Cold: A Return To The Shooting Locations Of THE THING – An Animated Photo Gallery Narrated By Todd Cameron Of Outpost31.com
- NEW The Art Of Mike Ploog Gallery
- John Carpenter's The Thing: Terror Takes Shape – A Documentary On The Making Of THE THING Featuring Interviews With John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Special Effects Make-up Designer Rob Bottin, Legendary Matte Artist Albert Whitlock Plus Members Of The Cast And Crew (80 minutes – SD)
- Network TV Broadcast Version Of THE THING (92 minutes – SD)
- Outtakes (5 minutes – SD)
- Vintage Featurettes From The Electronic Press Kit Featuring Interviews With John Carpenter, Kurt Russell And Rob Bottin
- Vintage Featurettes – The Making Of A Chilling Tale And The Making Of THE THING
- Vintage Product Reel – Contains A Condensed Version Of The Film With Additional Footage Not In The Film (19 minutes – SD)
- Vintage Behind-The-Scenes Footage (2 minutes – SD)
- Annotated Production Archive – Production Art And Storyboards, Location Scouting, Special Make-up Effects, Post Production (54 minutes – SD)
With the exception of the still-missing "alternate" ending where MacReady is shown surviving, this sounds as definitive a release as we could possibly hope for. :D I only hope the transfer is up to snuff, because I don't want to read forty pages' worth of whining about "Excessive Teal!" at Blu-Ray.com. :roll:

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AndyDursin
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#9 Post by AndyDursin »

Looks spectacular. Seriously, Criterion wouldn't have included that many extras!

I'm not worried about the transfer at all. Nothing could be worse than the DNR-ed waxfest of the current Blu-Ray, which is so bad the HD-DVD (terribly noisy in its way) is better. I already sold off my UK Blu-Ray, seeing as the original doc is on here too.

Shout has also gotten its house in order in terms of compression and encoding, for the most part, of late, so "thing"s should be good indeed! :D

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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#10 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:Looks spectacular. Seriously, Criterion wouldn't have included that many extras!
The funny thing is, I've read a lot of comments at BR.com about how "disappointed" fans are that Criterion didn't get Carrie, when the forthcoming Scream Factory release is RIDICULOUSLY packed with content, much of which Criterion would not have provided. It really is the 'brand name" a lot of collectors crave more than anything else...I can think of dozens upon dozens of releases of movies from every studio that have had truly definitive transfers and copious extras, and yet people are still like, "I hope Criterion gets this some day...!" :roll: Plus, I skip a lot of Criterion extras anyways because they're barely related to the films at hand...who has time to sit through a two-hour concert inspired by the music of Inside Llewyn Davis? Great movie, but I have other things to get through, you know?

I just hope the vintage Carpenter/Russell commentary will be unedited...in the old Blu-Ray, it was weirdly censored in spots, supposedly to remove some "questionable" quips from Carpenter (like when he jokes about the actor who plays Nauls, "T.K. was a funny guy...he said he was afraid that he'd get up there and find out we were all racist." [cue raucous laughter from Russell]). I recently sold off the Universal Blu and the old DVD with the unaltered commentary, and I'd hate to have to buy a new copy of the DVD just for the commentary. :?

DavidBanner

Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#11 Post by DavidBanner »

I had never heard of this commentary being edited after the fact.
I'll have to go back and recheck the Blus I have of The Thing to confirm if anything is missing.

I have to wonder what the heck was going on and why they decided after the fact to edit a commentary like this.


I am aware of an edit in the commentary for Thief, which on laserdisc had gone on for a bit after the movie and credits had ended but on DVD and Criterion came to a halt the moment the movie finished.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#12 Post by Monterey Jack »

DavidBanner wrote:I had never heard of this commentary being edited after the fact.
I'll have to go back and recheck the Blus I have of The Thing to confirm if anything is missing.

I have to wonder what the heck was going on and why they decided after the fact to edit a commentary like this.
I remember the laserdisc commentary for Toy Story being edited on the DVD/Blu-Ray to remove each reference to "laserdisc" and disc sides. Ditto for the laser commentary for Hunchback Of Notre Dame.

Kind of sucky that Political Correctness has become so rampant that a commentary track recorded nearly twenty years ago needed to be nipped and tucked so as not to offend the, what, 300 people who might listen to it? :x

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AndyDursin
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#13 Post by AndyDursin »

I never knew it was edited either. The last time I listened to it was on DVD. Good catch!

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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#14 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:I never knew it was edited either. The last time I listened to it was on DVD. Good catch!
Honestly thought I was going crazy the first time I listened to the commentary on Blu (I had listened to it multiple times on DVD...it's one of the most entertaining commentary tracks I've heard) and kept hearing missing stuff...and, even weirder, new stuff spliced in. :? Later, I A/B'd the two tracks, and all of the missing stuff is basically Carpenter cracking jokes about the black members of the cast, like when he points out how Keith David hides his hand behind Kurt Russell's back when he runs down the corridor while Wilford Brimley is tearing up the communications room and notes the cast on his hand that be broke "...while stealing cars, or something". It's obvious, in both cases, that Carpenter is just joshing around, but I suppose that the PC culture needed to make certain that no one would be offended. :roll: It's so stupid, and I will re-buy the DVD if the Scream Factory disc's commentary track is similarly edited.

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AndyDursin
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Re: THE THING - Shout Factory Sept: New 2K Transfer, Extras!

#15 Post by AndyDursin »

Finally, something worth reviewing in the mail today :)

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