THE THING - 4K UHD Coming This Fall

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

#31 Post by Monterey Jack »

What a GORGEOUS transfer...I've honestly never noticed the wire holding up the Blair-Monster's arm during the climax before! :shock: Fantastic extras, too...loved all of the alternate versions of Bottin's F/X shots included in the "Promo Reel". Skimmed through the TV version searching for nuggets of unused shots, but it was mainly a wash, although the "airline dialogue" and ridiculous narration was quite funny, and I laughed out loud when Blair pops around the corner and sticks his hand through Garry's mouth, and they overdub him yelling, "NOBODY gets outta here...!" while his lips don't move. :lol: I hope Shout's Carrie release looks this good (my copy is hopefully arriving tomorrow).

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

#32 Post by Monterey Jack »

One demerit to this release is that the "Terror Takes Shape" documentary from the original DVD looks terrible...for some reason, all of the film clips are so dark that you can barely make out what's happening. :? One more reason to hold onto that old disc (along with the unmolested Carpenter/Russell commentary).

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

#33 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:Carpenter talks about Keith David's hand in the cast but there's no comment about stealing cars. Nor is there a line about race in TK Carter's rollerskating scene.
FYI, you can hear the censored "racist" Carpenter line from the audio commentary at 11:27 here (just audio, but you get the idea).



They seriously needed to edit out that? :?

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

#34 Post by Monterey Jack »

Looks like Arrow's releasing their own UK version later this year, with possibly their own set of extras. If they include the 1951 Thing (in HD) as a bonus, I would definitely double-dip for that. :)

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... ow.351076/

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

#35 Post by AndyDursin »

Shout's transfers, as we've said before, have improved immeasurably over time, but I'd still be up for seeing what Arrow has up their sleeve here. The Shout special features though are so extensive, this is probably a case of a release that would compliment instead of supplant Shout's edition.

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

#36 Post by Monterey Jack »

This video is cute...nice to see that "the kids these days" still appreciate the classics. :)



Still trying to get my teenage nephew to sit down and watch this with me on one of our now-regular Movie Nights (this week it was Pulp Fiction)...I'm DYING to show it to someone who has never seen it before, just to anticipate the reaction to certain scenes. :shock:

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

#37 Post by KevinEK »

Does anyone know at what point the Russell/Carpenter commentary was edited?
I had originally purchased the first DVD release of The Thing in 1998, but sold that copy when Universal re-released it with an anamorphic transfer a few years later.
I continue to have the anamorphic DVD copy up in my attic, but retired it to there when I picked up both the American and UK blus of the title.

I'm also wondering if there were any other edits to the commentary or if that was it.
And if anyone knows why the edits were done - meaning that I wonder if this was done at the request of Carpenter or Russell.



It would actually be interesting if someone started a website around banned and/or censored commentary tracks. Or lost ones.
I admit to having located and enjoyed the Criterion Bond commentaries, which were supposed to have disappeared when the Bond producers didn't find them amusing in the 90s.
And I have a few old Criterion lasers specifically for their commentaries, which never ported over to DVD or anything else.
And there's a special DVD that A&E did for Space: 1999 Series One, that included three commentaries on different eps that have never appeared anywhere else.

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

#38 Post by mkaroly »

I think Eric Paddon posted the link to those lost Bond commentaries somewhere - Eric, what was that link?

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

#39 Post by AndyDursin »

And if anyone knows why the edits were done - meaning that I wonder if this was done at the request of Carpenter or Russell.
I believe the THING commentary was edited between the DVD & Blu-Ray transition, and it's just an innocuous comment about gambling and the TK Carter character (or something along those lines) that I would imagine Carpenter and Russell would never have requested be edited out. Just my guess though! Monterey Jack would know more.

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

#40 Post by Monterey Jack »

They edited out a handful of Carpenter quips about actor T.K. Carter (who played Nauls) being "Afraid that he'd get up there and find out we were all racist", and musing that Keith David broke his hand "While stealing cars, or something". I can't believe that anyone would be offended by these remarks (it's obvious that Carpenter and Russell were enjoying a few brewskies while recording the track), so it's probably Universal in politically correct Cover Your Ass mode. That's why I've had to hold onto the old DVD...that, and the fact that the "Terror Takes Shape" documentary looks awful on the Scream Factory disc...the film clips are so dark you can barely make out what's going on! :?

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

#41 Post by Monterey Jack »

Been having double-feature movie nights with my teenage nephew for the past few months...will be showing him a Kurt Russell / John Carpenter apocalypse twofer with Escape From New York and The Thing this week, and will report back with his thoughts. 8)

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

#42 Post by Monterey Jack »

Monterey Jack wrote:Been having double-feature movie nights with my teenage nephew for the past few months...will be showing him a Kurt Russell / John Carpenter apocalypse twofer with Escape From New York and The Thing this week, and will report back with his thoughts. 8)
The nephew really dug both films, and jumped about three feet during the "blood test" scene. :shock: :lol: He really enjoyed the creative craziness of the Rob Bottin effects, but was not so enamored of the ambiguous finale ("That's it?!"). Still, I give the kid credit for sticking through the gristlier passages and getting into the underlying paranoia and tension, which still holds up today. The Mad Max and George Romero Living Dead movies are next on the docket... 8)

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

#43 Post by AndyDursin »

That's awesome. Really think that movie does hold up, though I wonder how kids today, accustomed to loud CGI endings, would deal with a conclusion like that...not only that it's ambiguous, but that if there isn't 20 minutes of bombast, it's probably like an art-house movie to them. lol Guess I'll find out when Theo is old enough, though I hope to raise him on some of the old favorites first!

Arrow, by the way, tweeted this out today:


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

#44 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:That's awesome. Really think that movie does hold up, though I wonder how kids today, accustomed to loud CGI endings, would deal with a conclusion like that...not only that it's ambiguous, but that if there isn't 20 minutes of bombast, it's probably like an art-house movie to them. lol
I have the best nephew in the world...he genuinely has an avid interest in pre-CGI f/x techniques, and has the patience to not squirm and fidget during the talkier passages of 80's genre faves like Innerspace, Robocop or Die Hard (a movie where the first gunshot doesn't go off until roughly fifteen minutes in! :shock: ). It's been a gift to expose him to all of these classics for the first time, partly because experiencing these films through a fresh pair of eyes helps make them feel fresh for me as well. 8) Since he's on an apocalypse kick, I suggested the Mad Max and George Romero Dead films for our forthcoming movie nights, and will keep you all posted on his thoughts. :)
Arrow, by the way, tweeted this out today:

[SNIP]
Personally, I think the SF release looks incredible, so it'd take some really nice new extras to get me to buy this movie for the umpteenth time. If they included an HD print of the 1951 Thing From Another World, I'd buy it in an instant, though.

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

#45 Post by AndyDursin »

Will be interesting to see what Arrow can do with THE THING -- in general I'd take one of their transfers over Shout, though Shout has improved their game of late. Still, if this is a 4K restoration as opposed to what Shout was doing, it may yield some slight if noticeable technical benefits.

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