Seriously, though, John Carpenter's The Thing should be on everyone's top ten list of movies.

[Rabrrrrrr]

It's right up there with Citizen Kane, Lawrence of Arabia, Casablanca, and those other few rare movies that simply work perfectly on every level like a Shakespeare play.

I find sad that a lot of people will discount it simply because it's a "horror" movie, which it is not. Like all great art, it defies it's actual genre by going beyond the conventions and capturing human truths and becoming a parable or prophetic critique or a magnificent mirror that is not afraid to show us who we are.

For all of you who would discount The Thing because it's a horror movie, or too intellectual, or too dark, or because it "might make me feel bad, boo hoo, whine whine, I want a perfect world of Precious Moments figurines and blond haired savior men who swoop down on white horses and make love to me like Jesus" - I commend this movie to you with the most forceful commanding voice I can muster. Watch it. And be witness to some of the best cinematic art that's ever been made.

I can only sit in stuperfous wonder to think what The Thing could have been if Carpenter could have teamed up with Orson Welles.

[RebelOne]

1. It's one of my all-time favorite sci-fi movies.

I have a video tape of it.

[Taverner]

2. It's good. Carpenter has made some great flicks

The Thing
Escape from New York
Halloween
John Carpenters Vampires
In the Mouth of Madness


...just to name a few

[EstimatedProphet]

3. You forgot They Live

His best IMO, because although it was intended as fiction, it's really a documentary.

[bridgit]

4. with Rowdy Roddy? was watching that a bar TV the other day...

it seemed to play very well

[Bucky]

6. While prescient political metaphor, it cannot trump the genius of "Hell Comes to Frogtown"

[meegbear]

5. The world needs a pair of those glasses ..

[Taverner]

11. OMG I can't beleive I forgot that

That fight scene over the glasses has to be one of the best fights in movie history

[quip]

15. And you forgot his best, IMO, Starman

Love that film.

[TommyO]

7. I watch the movie at least once a year

Whenever we have the first snowstorm that truly keeps me from getting out of the house, I watch it. The snow outside enhances the isolation of the camp.

[raccoon]

8. It scared me silly, I know that. Good psychological horror. nt

[mopinko]

9. i watched frankenstein the other day. the kenneth branaugh (sp?)

robert deniro one. also so great on so many levels. i rarely get to watch movies more than once, cuz i rarely find the time for movies. sad, i know. but i watched this one for the second time, and it is not only terribly scary, it is really beautifully made, and so, so true to the book.
usually the inconsistencies in movies kinda bother me, which is why i don't usually enjoy horror flicks that much. but i had no trouble swallowing allllll of them in this one. and there are many. but it is so great. a real must see.

[DS1]

10. There's a hell of a lot of good movies, so maybe in the top 30 for me

but in the top 5 for horror movies.

[electron_blue]

12. I saw it in the theater and didn't like it at all and thought it was boring.

Your post makes me wonder what I missed. Maybe I'll check it out sometime.

I loved the original "The Thing", btw.

[RebelOne]

18. The remake was lousy.

The original was fabulous. I think I have watched it about 10 times.

[electron_blue]

21. I'm confused - above you say it's one of your all time faves.

Did JC do more than one version of the thing? The one I liked was not JC and was from 1951

[mike_c]

13. one of my all time favorites!

Great movie.

[bidenista]

14. no way!

"The Thing" is OK, but there are far better horror films out there:

+ The Shining
+ Ring (Japanese version)
+ The Evil Dead

etc.

I think John Carpenter's "The Fog" and "Halloween" were better than "The Thing", to be honest.

[DS1]

19. The Evil Dead? That's more of a comedy

:shrug:

[bidenista]

20. yeah

But it's still a horror film. I mean, it's not exactly "warm glow" stuff.

[Orrex]

16. Hell yes, it's a horror movie, and a damn good one!

Kubrick's 2001 is a science fiction film, for that matter. All fiction is genre fiction, and it is vanity to exclude a film solely based upon the genre to which it broadly conforms.
The blood-wiring scene is unbearable--when the creature starts freaking out and they're all strapped into the chair with it. Horrifying!

And the ending, in which either survivor might be the creature, is IMO far more disturbing than the question of whether Deckard is a Replicant.

[Swede]

17. It's in my top ten.

Works on so many levels.

[jus_the_facts]

22. Just watched it again last weekend actually....

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

....the commentary on the DVD extra features with John and Kurt is HILARIOUS too!!! :rofl: