Reviews (135)

The Finest Thing Movie Ever!
The Thing From Another World is the mother of all aliens attack the world films. Most people think immediately of John Carpenter's version of this story. It is an unfortunate comparison because the two films could not be further apart in story, style or intent. Where the modern version relies on gory effects and the star power of Kurt Russel to carry the day, the original film has none of that. The great director, Howard Hawks, is probably best remembered for his westerns, and his work with John Wayne. As Producer, Hawks brings a masters touch and a history of being one of the greatest storytellers in American cinema to this film. Even though Christian Nyby directed the film, Hawk's style is evident in the retstrained pacing, crisp banter and short but absolutely stunning action sequences. The viewer barely sees The Thing, played by a younger James Arness except in brief and savage action sequences. We have to wait until finally in the film's exciting finale he is revealed in full. The creature is unlike the modern take on the alien lifeform. The Thing is human in design, with a minimal approach the the make up. No spewing orifices, shooting mandibles or acid blood here. This Thing is a relentless, intelligent being who keeps upping the stakes, staying one step ahead of the heroes in a tense game of cat and mouse, with the fate of the entire world in balance. The cast is one of the great ensembles of all time. The dialogue is terse, witty and sparse. All of the archetypical heroes are here, the brave Army officer, the beautiful ex-girlfriend, the scientist who is so naive and trusting that he would be willing to risk the world in the pursuit of knowledge. The setting, an isolated, weather whipped outpost on the continent of Antartica is a wonderful, eerie backdrop for the grim proceedings to come. There are so many cinematic and entertainment reasons to enjoy this masterpiece that it would be easy to overlook the messages that Hawks delivers with this seemingly straight forward film. Science for science's sake can be destructive. A people must be aware of external threats and be prepared to defend against them. A nation must work together and recognize that strong leadership is necessary when a crisis is looming. All favorite themes of the times when this film was made. It was made at the inception of the Red Scare in America. In a sense it is a facist piece of work, but taken as a whole, it is so exciting and so crisp in execution that one can forgive and overlook the undercurrent of paranoia that permeates the work. Every generation of science fiction fans should be required to see this film, The Innocents and The Bride of Frankenstein so they can see how it was all done first, and in many cases better.

The classic 1950's science fiction film of cold war paranoia
"The Thing From Another World" remains the best of the 1950's black & white science fiction films, avoiding both the fake monsters of "Them," its ideological counterpart, and the piety of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I still remember the first time I saw this movie and realized that here were characters who talked as fast as I did. I know Robert Altman and "M*A*S*H" get the credit for "inventing" over-lapping dialogue, but that seems a bit absurd to me after watching the conversation and group discussions throughout this film. I am teaching a Science Fiction literature class for the first time this semester and I wanted them to also watch an example of a classic 1950s science fiction film and this film was my immediate choice.

As John Carpenter reminded us in his 1982 "remake," the 1951 version is not even remotely faithful to John W. Campbell, Jr.'s classic sci-fi short story, "Who Goes There?" Campbell wrote of a stranger visitor from another planet who could take on human appearance, so that the problem was that you never knew if the guy sitting next to you was your buddy or the monster. "The Thing" offers a monster from outer space, but with atmosphere, pacing and wit rarely seen on the silver screen. Charles Lederer gets screen credit for the script, but we know know both Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht had a hand in the writing as well (you can find Lederer's original script on line to check out the differences for yourself), and it has been taken as gospel for years that Hawks had some hand in the direction as well (as did Orson Welles according to some). After all, this was Christian Nyby's first screen credit as a director and he went on to direct mostly television series from "Gunsmoke" to "Kojak." Whatever the background of the story, what is important is that this film manages to combine claustrophobia, xenophobia, paranoia and hypothermia into a first rate chiller.

The story is relatively simple. Something crashes in the arctic near a scientific station and Air Force Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his crew fly on up to see what is going on. The station is run by Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), who may well be the haughitest scientist on the planet. Just to make things interesting Hendry has a relationship with the good Doctor's secretarial assistant, Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan, technically the "star" of the film). The group heads out to the crash site, where they find something buried in the ice. In one of the most famous (not to mention inexpensive) special effects shots of all time, the group traces out the shape of the buried object and discover'it is round. When attempts to use thermite to thaw out the space ship only end up destroying it, the crew finds the "pilot" has been thrown clear and frozen in a block of ice, which they obligingly take back to the station and where an electric blanket used so the armed guard does not have to look at that thing in the ice serves as the deus ex machina for getting the creature out and about. Mayhem then ensues. Note: I remember people referring to the Thing (played by James Arness, who avoids monster makeup as the heroic FBI agent in another classic 50's sci-fi film, "Them!") as the "carrot monster" movie because the creature is more like a sentient vegetable than any animal.

Unlike "Them" where the military willingly listens to the nice elderly scientists to get the big bad giant ants, "The Thing" has a more complex socio-political sub-text. Dr. Carrington declares "Knowledge is more important than life" and pontificates about how "There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied." Offering a more objective point of view is Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spenser), a reporter who came along for the ride and stumbled onto the story of the century, who pointedly asks, "What can we learn from that thing except a quicker way to die?" Thus we have a conflict in the group between the scientists and the military men, although in the end it is Carrington alone who refuses to see the errors of his freethinking ways. But more importantly, Captain Hendry is not the true hero of the piece, and one of the great running gags of this film is that he is always trying to catch up with the plots of his crew, especially Bob (Dewey Martin) the crew chief, whether in regards to finding a way of dealing with the carrot monster or trying to get their captain to settle down with Nikki. Another great thing about this film is that the romantic subplot is one of the most unromantic subplots in movie history, having to do mostly with what may or may not have been said during a drinking engagement on a previous weekend.

This is one of those science fiction films where if you do not love it then you probably have not seen it, although you have probably seen people watching "The Thing" since it pops up in both "Halloween" and "Scream." Not until "Alien" do we have such a superb combination of science fiction and horror, and I would still pick the simple elegance of this 50 year old film over the special effects of Ridley Scott's film. Just compare two scenes from these films to prove by point: the chest-buster scene from "Alien" and the gieger-counter scene from "The Thing." In 2001 "The Thing" was added to the National Film registry, which is a totally appropriate piece of timing. Finally, remember: "Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"

Terrible
I saw all the wonderful reviews of this "classic" film and decided to go out and buy a copy. Was I dissappointed. Don't let anybody fool you about this film. Perhaps it was good compared to other horror films released in its time but even that is hard to believe. Now, I don't claim to be a maven of the "horror" genre but this film just didn't live up to its expectations. Aside from the fact that I found the plot development to be rather slow and drawn out, the acting really turned me off. I didn't find the acting to be natural as others seem to believe. The acting was so contrived it was disturbing(and not in a horrific way). I felt like the dialogue was rushed and that each character felt they needed to churn out their lines as fast as possible, which really made me nervous listening to it. And in this hurried fashion, the characters interrupted each other often resulting in much of the dialogue being muffled and lost. This was my main concern with the movie. It lacked the emotion and convincing acting necessary to enthrall the viewer in the characters' dillema. One thing's for sure. I'm never watching this movie again.

The scariest movie I have ever seen
This is one movie that really scared me as a kid when I first saw it and still gives me the creeps. I love the actors, dialog, scenery and the story. This movie will give anyone the "willies". Everytime it is on tv I get caught up again watching it. Hollywood cannot make movies like this anymore. The new movies I watch (maybe) once and forget about them. The Thing I can watch over and over. Margaret Sheridan is so cute.

"Keep your eyes on the sky"
The Thing from Another World is a highly entertaining mix of the horror and sci-fi genre with a perfect blend of the two. In the North Pole, a team of scientists reports the crash of an unidentified spacecraft near their base camp. The Air Force sends a team in to investigate what happened. Once there, they find an alien spacecraft, but it is destroyed while they are trying to remove it from the ice. However, the group does find a passenger frozen in ice which they take back to the research laboratories. When the creature accidentaly thaws from the ice, the Air Force pilots and the researchers are in for more than they bargained for. What makes this movie enjoyable is that the Thing is not seen for much of the movie allowing the viewer to imagine what it possibly looks like which makes everything a little more tense and nerveracking. Made on a low budget, The Thing is quickly paced with sharp dialogue that never slows down. A classic sci-fi/horror movies from Howard Hawkes that shouldn't be missed.

Kenneth Tobey stars as Captain Patrick Hendry, the by-the-book, courageous leader of the Air Force team sent in to investigate the crash of the spacecraft. Robert Cornthwaite plays Dr. Carrington, the scientist who wants to preserve the Thing because he holds progress in science above all else. Douglas Spencer plays journalist, Scotty, who wants to break the big news to the world. Margaret Sheridan plays Nikki, the love interest for Captain Hendry. Hendry's crew includes James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, and William Self. James Arness of future Gunsmoke fame plays the Thing. The movie also stars Eduard Franz, John Dierkes, Nicholas Bryon, George Fenneman, and Paul Frees. The DVD offers fullscreen presentation and the theatrical trailer. For an exciting, well-made horror/scifi movie, check out The Thing from Another World! ... Read more

Description

Jack is the sole survivor of a Japanese attack on his squad at Guadalcanal. Because of his heroism and the fact that he is still alive, he becomes a Medal of Honor hero. He returns to train new recruits for the Marines and falls for a girl named Peggy. When training and marriage leave him with an empty feeling, he decides on a transfer back to the front lines. Soon he will find that marriage and life will change his outlook on the grueling battles that lie ahead. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Disappointed !
I was hoping this movie would have more grit and substance but was very unhappy to see that it was a weak production with many flaws and long tedious sequences that had absolutely nothing to do with combat...A definate "thumbs down" affair...

First to Fight
As a former Marine I enjoyed the action drama of combat. The island hopping campaigns of the U.S. Marines during World War II were inspirational to me. Chad Everett played a very good part in this movie along with Gene Hackman. A must see movie for all Marines. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

LASSIE:Martians at the Martins
I think this show was really good. It took a monkey from
out of space working a collie and young child, Jon Provost.
Everybody loves Lassie. I don't have a collie I have a sheltie
name Katie and she is my best friend and my companion. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Mainly on the Plains is tops
The episode "Mainly on the Plains" is one of the best in the series and most literate. Boris Karloff steals the show by playing a made scientist who while traveling with our intrepid heroes from Seville to Madrid, plays out episodes from Don Quixote. There are some East German bad guys, but who cares. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Great Double Episode!! The Cool Spies Rule!!
In the First Episode-Bet Me A Dollar-Alexander Scott(Bill Cosby)races against the clock to find Alexander Scott(Robert Culp) within 24 hours to give him an antidote from anthrax poisoning caused by a knife fight that could prove fatal.In the 2nd episode-Happy Birthday Everyone-Gene Hackman guest stars as Frank Hunter(an insane explosives expert)seeking revenge after escaping from a mental institution to stalk down Tom Matthews(Jim Backus)a retired State Department Agent who turned him in.It's up to Secret Agents Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson to save Matthews as they try to diffuse Hunter's ingenious scheme of revenge.These are superb classic 1968 episodes filmed on location in Mexico.The Cool Spies Rule!!

I Spy/Robert Culp
Robert Culp & Bill Cosby took the world by storm with their wry humour and impulsive reactions that came across so chemically balanced on screen. In my book, Robert Culp is a very much under-rated actor whose abilities exploded with his acting, writing and directing capabilites in the emmy winning I Spy series. I'd love to meet the man face to face just to express my appreciation for his remarkable talents. Hats off to a great acting team of Culp&Cosby... ... Read more

Amazon.com essential video

With its modest special effects, lean plot, and small cast of lesserstars, this 1951 thriller remains a sturdy blueprint for fusing horror andscience fiction. The formula has been employed countless times since, fleshedout with more extensive and elaborate production values, and manned by higher profiled marquee names, but the results have yet to improve on The Thing from Another World, Howard Hawks's lone foray into sci-fi.

The story begins as military airmen are dispatched to a remote Arctic research station where scientists have detected the crash of a spacecraft.An effort to retrieve the saucer-shaped vehicle fails, but the team returns to the station with the frozen body of its sole occupant. When the extraterrestrial pilot is accidentally thawed, the crew, headed by a tough-talking pilot (Kenneth Tobey), grapples with a massive, chlorophyll-based humanoid (James Arness) thirsty for blood and in no mood for galactic diplomacy.

Hawks takes only a production credit for this low-budget exercise, but his filmmaking style transcends Christian Nyby's nominal direction: rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue, an ensemble of comrades whose professionalism is tempered by wisecracks, and unsentimental female characters (embodied by feisty romantic interest Margaret Sheridan) recall Hawks's signature works, while propelling the plot over any potential gaps in credibility. It's hardly surprising, then, that The Thing from Another World remains among the most influential science fiction movies ever shot, or that it remains exciting entertainment a half century later. --Sam Sutherland ... Read more

Reviews (135)

The Finest Thing Movie Ever!
The Thing From Another World is the mother of all aliens attack the world films. Most people think immediately of John Carpenter's version of this story. It is an unfortunate comparison because the two films could not be further apart in story, style or intent. Where the modern version relies on gory effects and the star power of Kurt Russel to carry the day, the original film has none of that. The great director, Howard Hawks, is probably best remembered for his westerns, and his work with John Wayne. As Producer, Hawks brings a masters touch and a history of being one of the greatest storytellers in American cinema to this film. Even though Christian Nyby directed the film, Hawk's style is evident in the retstrained pacing, crisp banter and short but absolutely stunning action sequences. The viewer barely sees The Thing, played by a younger James Arness except in brief and savage action sequences. We have to wait until finally in the film's exciting finale he is revealed in full. The creature is unlike the modern take on the alien lifeform. The Thing is human in design, with a minimal approach the the make up. No spewing orifices, shooting mandibles or acid blood here. This Thing is a relentless, intelligent being who keeps upping the stakes, staying one step ahead of the heroes in a tense game of cat and mouse, with the fate of the entire world in balance. The cast is one of the great ensembles of all time. The dialogue is terse, witty and sparse. All of the archetypical heroes are here, the brave Army officer, the beautiful ex-girlfriend, the scientist who is so naive and trusting that he would be willing to risk the world in the pursuit of knowledge. The setting, an isolated, weather whipped outpost on the continent of Antartica is a wonderful, eerie backdrop for the grim proceedings to come. There are so many cinematic and entertainment reasons to enjoy this masterpiece that it would be easy to overlook the messages that Hawks delivers with this seemingly straight forward film. Science for science's sake can be destructive. A people must be aware of external threats and be prepared to defend against them. A nation must work together and recognize that strong leadership is necessary when a crisis is looming. All favorite themes of the times when this film was made. It was made at the inception of the Red Scare in America. In a sense it is a facist piece of work, but taken as a whole, it is so exciting and so crisp in execution that one can forgive and overlook the undercurrent of paranoia that permeates the work. Every generation of science fiction fans should be required to see this film, The Innocents and The Bride of Frankenstein so they can see how it was all done first, and in many cases better.

The classic 1950's science fiction film of cold war paranoia
"The Thing From Another World" remains the best of the 1950's black & white science fiction films, avoiding both the fake monsters of "Them," its ideological counterpart, and the piety of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I still remember the first time I saw this movie and realized that here were characters who talked as fast as I did. I know Robert Altman and "M*A*S*H" get the credit for "inventing" over-lapping dialogue, but that seems a bit absurd to me after watching the conversation and group discussions throughout this film. I am teaching a Science Fiction literature class for the first time this semester and I wanted them to also watch an example of a classic 1950s science fiction film and this film was my immediate choice.

As John Carpenter reminded us in his 1982 "remake," the 1951 version is not even remotely faithful to John W. Campbell, Jr.'s classic sci-fi short story, "Who Goes There?" Campbell wrote of a stranger visitor from another planet who could take on human appearance, so that the problem was that you never knew if the guy sitting next to you was your buddy or the monster. "The Thing" offers a monster from outer space, but with atmosphere, pacing and wit rarely seen on the silver screen. Charles Lederer gets screen credit for the script, but we know know both Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht had a hand in the writing as well (you can find Lederer's original script on line to check out the differences for yourself), and it has been taken as gospel for years that Hawks had some hand in the direction as well (as did Orson Welles according to some). After all, this was Christian Nyby's first screen credit as a director and he went on to direct mostly television series from "Gunsmoke" to "Kojak." Whatever the background of the story, what is important is that this film manages to combine claustrophobia, xenophobia, paranoia and hypothermia into a first rate chiller.

The story is relatively simple. Something crashes in the arctic near a scientific station and Air Force Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his crew fly on up to see what is going on. The station is run by Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), who may well be the haughitest scientist on the planet. Just to make things interesting Hendry has a relationship with the good Doctor's secretarial assistant, Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan, technically the "star" of the film). The group heads out to the crash site, where they find something buried in the ice. In one of the most famous (not to mention inexpensive) special effects shots of all time, the group traces out the shape of the buried object and discover'it is round. When attempts to use thermite to thaw out the space ship only end up destroying it, the crew finds the "pilot" has been thrown clear and frozen in a block of ice, which they obligingly take back to the station and where an electric blanket used so the armed guard does not have to look at that thing in the ice serves as the deus ex machina for getting the creature out and about. Mayhem then ensues. Note: I remember people referring to the Thing (played by James Arness, who avoids monster makeup as the heroic FBI agent in another classic 50's sci-fi film, "Them!") as the "carrot monster" movie because the creature is more like a sentient vegetable than any animal.

Unlike "Them" where the military willingly listens to the nice elderly scientists to get the big bad giant ants, "The Thing" has a more complex socio-political sub-text. Dr. Carrington declares "Knowledge is more important than life" and pontificates about how "There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied." Offering a more objective point of view is Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spenser), a reporter who came along for the ride and stumbled onto the story of the century, who pointedly asks, "What can we learn from that thing except a quicker way to die?" Thus we have a conflict in the group between the scientists and the military men, although in the end it is Carrington alone who refuses to see the errors of his freethinking ways. But more importantly, Captain Hendry is not the true hero of the piece, and one of the great running gags of this film is that he is always trying to catch up with the plots of his crew, especially Bob (Dewey Martin) the crew chief, whether in regards to finding a way of dealing with the carrot monster or trying to get their captain to settle down with Nikki. Another great thing about this film is that the romantic subplot is one of the most unromantic subplots in movie history, having to do mostly with what may or may not have been said during a drinking engagement on a previous weekend.

This is one of those science fiction films where if you do not love it then you probably have not seen it, although you have probably seen people watching "The Thing" since it pops up in both "Halloween" and "Scream." Not until "Alien" do we have such a superb combination of science fiction and horror, and I would still pick the simple elegance of this 50 year old film over the special effects of Ridley Scott's film. Just compare two scenes from these films to prove by point: the chest-buster scene from "Alien" and the gieger-counter scene from "The Thing." In 2001 "The Thing" was added to the National Film registry, which is a totally appropriate piece of timing. Finally, remember: "Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"

Terrible
I saw all the wonderful reviews of this "classic" film and decided to go out and buy a copy. Was I dissappointed. Don't let anybody fool you about this film. Perhaps it was good compared to other horror films released in its time but even that is hard to believe. Now, I don't claim to be a maven of the "horror" genre but this film just didn't live up to its expectations. Aside from the fact that I found the plot development to be rather slow and drawn out, the acting really turned me off. I didn't find the acting to be natural as others seem to believe. The acting was so contrived it was disturbing(and not in a horrific way). I felt like the dialogue was rushed and that each character felt they needed to churn out their lines as fast as possible, which really made me nervous listening to it. And in this hurried fashion, the characters interrupted each other often resulting in much of the dialogue being muffled and lost. This was my main concern with the movie. It lacked the emotion and convincing acting necessary to enthrall the viewer in the characters' dillema. One thing's for sure. I'm never watching this movie again.

The scariest movie I have ever seen
This is one movie that really scared me as a kid when I first saw it and still gives me the creeps. I love the actors, dialog, scenery and the story. This movie will give anyone the "willies". Everytime it is on tv I get caught up again watching it. Hollywood cannot make movies like this anymore. The new movies I watch (maybe) once and forget about them. The Thing I can watch over and over. Margaret Sheridan is so cute.

"Keep your eyes on the sky"
The Thing from Another World is a highly entertaining mix of the horror and sci-fi genre with a perfect blend of the two. In the North Pole, a team of scientists reports the crash of an unidentified spacecraft near their base camp. The Air Force sends a team in to investigate what happened. Once there, they find an alien spacecraft, but it is destroyed while they are trying to remove it from the ice. However, the group does find a passenger frozen in ice which they take back to the research laboratories. When the creature accidentaly thaws from the ice, the Air Force pilots and the researchers are in for more than they bargained for. What makes this movie enjoyable is that the Thing is not seen for much of the movie allowing the viewer to imagine what it possibly looks like which makes everything a little more tense and nerveracking. Made on a low budget, The Thing is quickly paced with sharp dialogue that never slows down. A classic sci-fi/horror movies from Howard Hawkes that shouldn't be missed.

Kenneth Tobey stars as Captain Patrick Hendry, the by-the-book, courageous leader of the Air Force team sent in to investigate the crash of the spacecraft. Robert Cornthwaite plays Dr. Carrington, the scientist who wants to preserve the Thing because he holds progress in science above all else. Douglas Spencer plays journalist, Scotty, who wants to break the big news to the world. Margaret Sheridan plays Nikki, the love interest for Captain Hendry. Hendry's crew includes James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, and William Self. James Arness of future Gunsmoke fame plays the Thing. The movie also stars Eduard Franz, John Dierkes, Nicholas Bryon, George Fenneman, and Paul Frees. The DVD offers fullscreen presentation and the theatrical trailer. For an exciting, well-made horror/scifi movie, check out The Thing from Another World! ... Read more

Reviews (135)

The Finest Thing Movie Ever!
The Thing From Another World is the mother of all aliens attack the world films. Most people think immediately of John Carpenter's version of this story. It is an unfortunate comparison because the two films could not be further apart in story, style or intent. Where the modern version relies on gory effects and the star power of Kurt Russel to carry the day, the original film has none of that. The great director, Howard Hawks, is probably best remembered for his westerns, and his work with John Wayne. As Producer, Hawks brings a masters touch and a history of being one of the greatest storytellers in American cinema to this film. Even though Christian Nyby directed the film, Hawk's style is evident in the retstrained pacing, crisp banter and short but absolutely stunning action sequences. The viewer barely sees The Thing, played by a younger James Arness except in brief and savage action sequences. We have to wait until finally in the film's exciting finale he is revealed in full. The creature is unlike the modern take on the alien lifeform. The Thing is human in design, with a minimal approach the the make up. No spewing orifices, shooting mandibles or acid blood here. This Thing is a relentless, intelligent being who keeps upping the stakes, staying one step ahead of the heroes in a tense game of cat and mouse, with the fate of the entire world in balance. The cast is one of the great ensembles of all time. The dialogue is terse, witty and sparse. All of the archetypical heroes are here, the brave Army officer, the beautiful ex-girlfriend, the scientist who is so naive and trusting that he would be willing to risk the world in the pursuit of knowledge. The setting, an isolated, weather whipped outpost on the continent of Antartica is a wonderful, eerie backdrop for the grim proceedings to come. There are so many cinematic and entertainment reasons to enjoy this masterpiece that it would be easy to overlook the messages that Hawks delivers with this seemingly straight forward film. Science for science's sake can be destructive. A people must be aware of external threats and be prepared to defend against them. A nation must work together and recognize that strong leadership is necessary when a crisis is looming. All favorite themes of the times when this film was made. It was made at the inception of the Red Scare in America. In a sense it is a facist piece of work, but taken as a whole, it is so exciting and so crisp in execution that one can forgive and overlook the undercurrent of paranoia that permeates the work. Every generation of science fiction fans should be required to see this film, The Innocents and The Bride of Frankenstein so they can see how it was all done first, and in many cases better.

The classic 1950's science fiction film of cold war paranoia
"The Thing From Another World" remains the best of the 1950's black & white science fiction films, avoiding both the fake monsters of "Them," its ideological counterpart, and the piety of "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I still remember the first time I saw this movie and realized that here were characters who talked as fast as I did. I know Robert Altman and "M*A*S*H" get the credit for "inventing" over-lapping dialogue, but that seems a bit absurd to me after watching the conversation and group discussions throughout this film. I am teaching a Science Fiction literature class for the first time this semester and I wanted them to also watch an example of a classic 1950s science fiction film and this film was my immediate choice.

As John Carpenter reminded us in his 1982 "remake," the 1951 version is not even remotely faithful to John W. Campbell, Jr.'s classic sci-fi short story, "Who Goes There?" Campbell wrote of a stranger visitor from another planet who could take on human appearance, so that the problem was that you never knew if the guy sitting next to you was your buddy or the monster. "The Thing" offers a monster from outer space, but with atmosphere, pacing and wit rarely seen on the silver screen. Charles Lederer gets screen credit for the script, but we know know both Howard Hawks and Ben Hecht had a hand in the writing as well (you can find Lederer's original script on line to check out the differences for yourself), and it has been taken as gospel for years that Hawks had some hand in the direction as well (as did Orson Welles according to some). After all, this was Christian Nyby's first screen credit as a director and he went on to direct mostly television series from "Gunsmoke" to "Kojak." Whatever the background of the story, what is important is that this film manages to combine claustrophobia, xenophobia, paranoia and hypothermia into a first rate chiller.

The story is relatively simple. Something crashes in the arctic near a scientific station and Air Force Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his crew fly on up to see what is going on. The station is run by Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite), who may well be the haughitest scientist on the planet. Just to make things interesting Hendry has a relationship with the good Doctor's secretarial assistant, Nikki Nicholson (Margaret Sheridan, technically the "star" of the film). The group heads out to the crash site, where they find something buried in the ice. In one of the most famous (not to mention inexpensive) special effects shots of all time, the group traces out the shape of the buried object and discover'it is round. When attempts to use thermite to thaw out the space ship only end up destroying it, the crew finds the "pilot" has been thrown clear and frozen in a block of ice, which they obligingly take back to the station and where an electric blanket used so the armed guard does not have to look at that thing in the ice serves as the deus ex machina for getting the creature out and about. Mayhem then ensues. Note: I remember people referring to the Thing (played by James Arness, who avoids monster makeup as the heroic FBI agent in another classic 50's sci-fi film, "Them!") as the "carrot monster" movie because the creature is more like a sentient vegetable than any animal.

Unlike "Them" where the military willingly listens to the nice elderly scientists to get the big bad giant ants, "The Thing" has a more complex socio-political sub-text. Dr. Carrington declares "Knowledge is more important than life" and pontificates about how "There are no enemies in science, only phenomena to be studied." Offering a more objective point of view is Ned "Scotty" Scott (Douglas Spenser), a reporter who came along for the ride and stumbled onto the story of the century, who pointedly asks, "What can we learn from that thing except a quicker way to die?" Thus we have a conflict in the group between the scientists and the military men, although in the end it is Carrington alone who refuses to see the errors of his freethinking ways. But more importantly, Captain Hendry is not the true hero of the piece, and one of the great running gags of this film is that he is always trying to catch up with the plots of his crew, especially Bob (Dewey Martin) the crew chief, whether in regards to finding a way of dealing with the carrot monster or trying to get their captain to settle down with Nikki. Another great thing about this film is that the romantic subplot is one of the most unromantic subplots in movie history, having to do mostly with what may or may not have been said during a drinking engagement on a previous weekend.

This is one of those science fiction films where if you do not love it then you probably have not seen it, although you have probably seen people watching "The Thing" since it pops up in both "Halloween" and "Scream." Not until "Alien" do we have such a superb combination of science fiction and horror, and I would still pick the simple elegance of this 50 year old film over the special effects of Ridley Scott's film. Just compare two scenes from these films to prove by point: the chest-buster scene from "Alien" and the gieger-counter scene from "The Thing." In 2001 "The Thing" was added to the National Film registry, which is a totally appropriate piece of timing. Finally, remember: "Watch the skies, everywhere! Keep looking. Keep watching the skies!"

Terrible
I saw all the wonderful reviews of this "classic" film and decided to go out and buy a copy. Was I dissappointed. Don't let anybody fool you about this film. Perhaps it was good compared to other horror films released in its time but even that is hard to believe. Now, I don't claim to be a maven of the "horror" genre but this film just didn't live up to its expectations. Aside from the fact that I found the plot development to be rather slow and drawn out, the acting really turned me off. I didn't find the acting to be natural as others seem to believe. The acting was so contrived it was disturbing(and not in a horrific way). I felt like the dialogue was rushed and that each character felt they needed to churn out their lines as fast as possible, which really made me nervous listening to it. And in this hurried fashion, the characters interrupted each other often resulting in much of the dialogue being muffled and lost. This was my main concern with the movie. It lacked the emotion and convincing acting necessary to enthrall the viewer in the characters' dillema. One thing's for sure. I'm never watching this movie again.

The scariest movie I have ever seen
This is one movie that really scared me as a kid when I first saw it and still gives me the creeps. I love the actors, dialog, scenery and the story. This movie will give anyone the "willies". Everytime it is on tv I get caught up again watching it. Hollywood cannot make movies like this anymore. The new movies I watch (maybe) once and forget about them. The Thing I can watch over and over. Margaret Sheridan is so cute.

"Keep your eyes on the sky"
The Thing from Another World is a highly entertaining mix of the horror and sci-fi genre with a perfect blend of the two. In the North Pole, a team of scientists reports the crash of an unidentified spacecraft near their base camp. The Air Force sends a team in to investigate what happened. Once there, they find an alien spacecraft, but it is destroyed while they are trying to remove it from the ice. However, the group does find a passenger frozen in ice which they take back to the research laboratories. When the creature accidentaly thaws from the ice, the Air Force pilots and the researchers are in for more than they bargained for. What makes this movie enjoyable is that the Thing is not seen for much of the movie allowing the viewer to imagine what it possibly looks like which makes everything a little more tense and nerveracking. Made on a low budget, The Thing is quickly paced with sharp dialogue that never slows down. A classic sci-fi/horror movies from Howard Hawkes that shouldn't be missed.

Kenneth Tobey stars as Captain Patrick Hendry, the by-the-book, courageous leader of the Air Force team sent in to investigate the crash of the spacecraft. Robert Cornthwaite plays Dr. Carrington, the scientist who wants to preserve the Thing because he holds progress in science above all else. Douglas Spencer plays journalist, Scotty, who wants to break the big news to the world. Margaret Sheridan plays Nikki, the love interest for Captain Hendry. Hendry's crew includes James Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols, and William Self. James Arness of future Gunsmoke fame plays the Thing. The movie also stars Eduard Franz, John Dierkes, Nicholas Bryon, George Fenneman, and Paul Frees. The DVD offers fullscreen presentation and the theatrical trailer. For an exciting, well-made horror/scifi movie, check out The Thing from Another World! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

".....HE WAS A BOLD ADVENTURIN'MAN!"
FOR SHEER NOSTALGIA AND TO SEE A CHILDHOOD HERO, THIS TAPE WAS WELL WORTH THE PRICE. JIM BOWIE AND THE BOWIE KNIFE, THE MYTHICAL "IRON MISTRESS".... WHAT MORE COULD A 53-YEAR-OLD KID WISH FOR? THE ONLY THING THAT COULD HAVE MADE IT BETTER WOULD HAVE BEEN FOR THE FIRST EPISODE TO HAVE BEEN INCLUDED. ... Read more