SF Debris: The Thing

From 2001 to Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Mikey
Fleet Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 35635
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
Commendations: The Daystrom Award
Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
Contact:

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Mikey »

My bad. It was Heinjningen. del Toro was that awful remake of "The Wolf Man."
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Tyyr
3 Star Admiral
3 Star Admiral
Posts: 10654
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:49 pm
Location: Jeri Ryan's Dressing Room, Shhhhh

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Tyyr »

Yet del Toro made Hellboy, Blade II, and Pan's Labyrinth. I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
Tsukiyumi
4 Star Admiral
4 Star Admiral
Posts: 21747
Joined: Fri Oct 12, 2007 2:38 pm
Location: Forward Torpedo Tube Twenty. Help!
Contact:

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Tsukiyumi »

It was better than I expected. Not nearly as solid overall as Carpenter's film, but it does fit nicely into the story.
There is only one way of avoiding the war – that is the overthrow of this society. However, as we are too weak for this task, the war is inevitable. -L. Trotsky, 1939
User avatar
Graham Kennedy
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 11561
Joined: Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:28 pm
Location: Banbury, UK
Contact:

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Graham Kennedy »

I quite liked the prequel, overall. Where I thought it failed was in being too fast paced at the start. They obviously want to get to the Thing as fast as they can - we first see it within 25 minutes. As a result you really don't have time to get to know any of the characters at all and so you really don't care all that much when they get killed or converted into Things or whatever. Plus the Norwegian leader is a dick, for absolutely no reason except the most obvious one possible.

They do take pains to match what we see in this film with what comes later... mostly. There are a couple of little niggles, and one big one...
In the Carpenter film we see them watching the Norwegian video tapes and we see the UFO exploding on camera, during the daytime, whilst people are watching. In this film, that's not at all what happens. Apparently the makers of the prequel knew this in advance and just decided to ignore it so they could have the ending they wanted. That does bug me, somewhat.
I did like that they came up with quite a new and interesting spin on finding out who is a Thing, though.
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...
Mikey
Fleet Admiral
Fleet Admiral
Posts: 35635
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 3:04 am
Commendations: The Daystrom Award
Location: down the shore, New Jersey, USA
Contact:

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Mikey »

Tyyr wrote:Yet del Toro made Hellboy, Blade II, and Pan's Labyrinth. I'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt.
I don't have a problem with his films in general. Since it was a discussion of remakes, I just added that judgement in, but make no mistake - I don't think anyone could have remade The Wolf Man up to the standards of the Lon Chaney Jr. film.
I can't stand nothing dull
I got the high gloss luster
I'll massacre your ass as fast
as Bull offed Custer
Tyyr
3 Star Admiral
3 Star Admiral
Posts: 10654
Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2009 10:49 pm
Location: Jeri Ryan's Dressing Room, Shhhhh

Re: SF Debris: The Thing

Post by Tyyr »

Point.

Thinking about it I think del Toro is probably a bit too set in on how he likes to do things and how he wants things to look, behave, etc. to do a remake. General plot, some ideas, but it would likely be unrecognizable.
Post Reply