*THE THING* Was Such an Intense Ride (IN A GOOD WAY!) 

Not to mention he might have hit it multiple times.....it would just heal up

Also, he's probably not a very good shot. Maybe it's the 'Merica in me, but it seems like a lot of people from other countries have no idea how to handle a firearm. Don't get me wrong, neither do I, but I have at least shot before.

@@deanwinward7469 That's my running theory personally.

Super stressed, no sleep, he watched a few people he knew got torn to bits... He's doing well to fire a rifle

@@josephcline3652 I used to do training where I’d run for a few minutes to get my heart rate up and then start shooting. Massive difference. His heart rate, stress, the fact that it’s freezing and he’s on a chopper, shooting at a moving target, wearing gloves, lack of sleep.

And typically it's the former.

Mostly (but not always) it seems to be the ladies who worry most about the hound. Even as a kid (I first saw The Thing when I was 14 ish) my reaction was "they're shooting at the dog, I wonder what's wrong with the dog?"

I agree, Edd. First time I saw it, I wondered what was wrong with the dog. But whenever anyone watches this for the first time, they always ask "why are they shooting at the dog?" and I tell them that, chances are, if they watch the movie, they'll find out.

@@Fizbin1701 and that is great advice mate.👍

The dog was creepy as shit even before the reveal.

People still talk about it today . That means it's a damn good ending

There is a comic series that's the actual conclusion to the story. Highly recommend reading or listening to a summary

People that think the ending scene is anticlimactic, didn't really watch the scene. You can see Mac's breath, but not Childs'. MacReady hands Childs the bottle he's drinking and Childs take it and drinks from it, when they aren't supposed to share food items.

John Carpenter apparently deliberately made the end ambiguous, through the whole movie any of the characters could have been infected by the alien. Fear and paranoia added to the tension, and sitting in the freezing ruins of the camp either Childs or MacReady (or both) could have been The Thing.

@@Fizbin1701 But you can see Childs' breath, especially in the higher quality director's cut. Also, if the thing truly mimics all your cells, why would it not have breath? That fan theory does not make any sense imho. Also, in those potentially last moments, knowing you will die, do you think you'd really care about sharing a drink lul? :)) But yeah, watch the comic that Paul mentioned, it's pretty good.

Omg that's so interesting! I had no idea... thanks for sharing!!!! ❤️

He's running around on a horse shooting bad guys as Jean Claude Van Damme's badass uncle in "Hard Target" over a decade after this movie.

Never underestimate old man strength, lol

He was also someone who always looked old. He was 47 when they shot The Thing, but he looks 55-60.

Yes, he was only 47 when they filmed this. Not old.

LOL

It's only one of the best horror movies of all time

@@geekgirl616 Agreed

These three may not know about movies or what it is like to actually watch an intense movie without their buddies talking the whole time.

@@heavyvacation ummm that’s the whole point of these commentaries. To listen their thoughts and opinions throughout the movie. They’re going into this completely blind and unaware of background info to give a genuine reaction. I don’t know every damn thing about every movie I watch and the only reason why most people know a lot about this movie is because of how iconic it is. So I don’t think it’s actually fair to insult them based on that.

@@dakingbey Yes I get it. I'm sorry I was kinda being caught up with the movie itself and being a brat. Sorry. Keep it up.

There's only one way to blow shit up in a movie. Blow that shit up for real!

Similarly in Sorcerer (1977) they blow up a huge tree to clear the road. Real tree, real dynamite, real full-size massive explosion!

Thank you! So may people don't get that the Thing's objective is to get to someplace it can "infect" more lifeforms.

Add the intelligence of all the life forms it’s imitated and gleaned throughout the universe, so it is possible in that regard

@@waterbeauty85 how do we actually know this? Why not just leave the planet?

@@youtubeistrash953 To be fair, we're never told what it is the Thing built, but it's easier to believe a boat than a spaceship, and why leave the only world within billions of miles that's full of lifeforms and technology I can use for my survival and reproduction?

@@waterbeauty85 I just think it's left ambiguous on purpose. How do we know it assimilates on instinctual command ? We really don't know... the damn Thing might just be trying to survive and decided the friendly way with humans and this planet thus far wasn't an option. I'm just saying I see no evidence for either side, though why make a spaceship to get to another continent when you could just fix the helicopter lol.

As i remember very clearly going to see it in the cinema with my mates ... lord I am feeling old :lol:

What is the debate? MacReady is Human, Childs is The Thing. It's very cold. You can see MacReady's breath every time he breathes. Childs' breath? Not at all.

Childs still got his earring on his ear. The Thing can't make inorganic matter such as metals. So he can't be the thing.

@@scotthewitt258 as others have pointed out, Carpenter himself stated that it's just because of the angle of filming. Further, Bennings-thing clearly breathed, so that theory makes no sense given the information from the movie.

Truly a timeless movie - scaring people for generations more. Loved watching this video

Well said my friend!

There's a truth. There is a series of comic books depicting what happened to them both.

@@Justin977 But Carpenter endorsed the PS2 "The Thing" video game as canon, and it contradicts the "The Thing From Another World" comic. Keep in mind that the company that publish "The Thing From Another World" also published a comic book series featuring the continuing adventures of Newt from "Aliens," but "Alien 3" would reveal that Newt died as a 6 year old girl without ever coming out of the cryosleep she went into at end of "Aliens." They would later publish a comic showing that Newt's adventures were just a dream that she had while in cryosleep, but point is that their movie comics can't be taken as canon.

There's a very interesting article about how The Thing was made in the edit. Originally, there was more creature featured and the audience was "in-the know," i.e., more like a regular slasher movie. Carpenter wasn't happy, so he took some downtime (I think there were funding problems?) and edited the movie in a way that you never see the creature take over people and ti's always unclear who is infected and who isn't. Best. Desicion. Ever.

@@Justin977 The comics were after the fact. What happened to them was filmed but not used in the release.

Personally I think they're both human at the end

It has been confirmed (officially) that Childs was the Thing, as if you take careful notice, MacReady was like a choochoo train when he talked and breathed in the frigid cold, while Childs was literally cool as a cucumber with no steam whatsoever. ;)

I seem to remember Carpenter or someone on the filming team said that it was the lighting. The way the scene was shot. Childs is clearly exhaling.

@@chrisrabideau9910 No, you can see him breathing in the shot, and regardless, that would make no sense as a tell as we clearly see Bennings thing breath very frosty breath earlier in the movie when he is wailing. The movie established that the thing is a perfect imitation, with all the internal organs and everything. Like the 'gasoline' drink theory, which relies on the Thing arbitrarily having no sense of taste or smell, both again which are not established, it just doesn't fit with what we know of the thing in the movie. 'Officially' Childs would be human in the scene, but I use 'officially' here very loosely as there really isn't anything truly official. There has been some claims that the filmmakers were intending for Childs to be a thing, but there is also Carpenter endorsing the sequel game which has Childs as human. There is also a sequel comic where Childs was human at least initially, and if you want to use the prequel, both mechanisms to detect a thing from the prequel confirm Childs is human (he has a visible earring, and if you look close you can see he still has his filling, which does feel deliberate on the part of the prequel makers). In the end, it is still ambiguous, to the point that both could be things that just aren't sure of the other.

@@chrisrabideau9910 you could see Childs earring

ehm. hej greetings from germany. if dont get it wrong: it was the black guy. he just took a nip from the bottle mcready gave him. and mcready drunk before out of it. both now it could be evrybody and taking just a bit of dna of this thing turns you into one of those.

Exactly! I'm glad someone else understands 🤣

Kurt Russell says in the commentary that the hat was chosen for the character before he signed on

@@jt1929 They had shot the B-role footage of the helicopter pilot who was his stunt double already. The pilot loved the hat and wore it in every scene so Kurt had to wear it for continuity’s sake.

@@tashatipton2141 gl r

@@tashatipton2141 g

And RoboCop

He was only 21 or 22 years old when he made The Thing special effects also, amazing

@@zachhoward9099 He was 21 at the time, Mr. Howard

Amanda Seyfried is wise.

@@commandercaptain4664 Wisdom is a recessive trait in that family-skips two generations.

There was also an older movie based on that, but I forget the name of it.

Who Goes There? was seriously abridged when it was originally published. It was finally restored just in the last few years, the full novella is called Frozen Hell I believe.

@@kickstart_1.3 The Thing From Another World (1951)

@@kickstart_1.3 Also called "The Thing" from 1951, produced by Howard Hawks.

Just that title is creepy.

Yeah he is amazing. He has worked on so many superb films. As a person he has a great sense of humor and has a laid back demeanor...though he works like a devil. Great guy. One of the best effects Masters,

@@galleryphotogenie4999 agreed. A friend of mine did a documentary called Fantastic Flesh (it’s on RU-vid) and interviewed him. Can confirm everything you said.

He was 23

Rob Bottin is God.

This guy and others he worked with had to have been great to work with. Young and creative.

Maybe he's begging them not to kill him in one of many languages it knows

That wasn't Bennings.

@@SamuelBlack84 I know assimilating causes it excruciating pain...I read the novelization and it mentioned it was like giving birth to the thing from every orifice and it took on any medical illness of the animal or human it assimilated Cause you can hear it screaming in the dog kennel before it was shot

Diabetic us Diabetic people quick to Anger lol

Well, it helps to see the bigger picture. Those guys were just surviving.

omg I'm so glad i found this comment. And I found it wow just wow

I'm glad I read your comment...now to track that book down

Yeah, that story was chilling!

@@Kainlarsen and Norris having a heart issues and the thing intentionally wanted to "get out of his body mass"

@@Chuck_EL Well no, it's that the Thing, as a shapeshifter, simply can't comprehend the idea of a defective organ.

CLAP CLAP CLAP!! Great description! The thing is similar to the Goa'uld of Stargate. They were worms...no technology. This is one of my top 10 films. Anyway thanks again.

I wonder if it can simply infect another organism and grow inside them until taking over completely. Blair kept putting his hands in the thing when they were doing autopsy after autopsy. I wonder if cells from the thing could have gotten into his skin and slowly taken over him like an infection. Quite the ultimate organism.

@@Mortismors After living through a pandemic, we're watching these guys and wondering how they survived ten minutes. He's got surgical gloves on, but he's reaching inside the thing up to his elbows...

Actually, Stuart Cohen, one of the producers of the movie, said that Blair was a Thing when he went Berzerk, so that he would be isolated from the others and be able to plant evidence and build the ship in peace while the others were suspicious of each other.

@@Mortismors There is also the question of how much control the creature can assert from a small start. An individual infected by a few cells may take a considerable period of time to be taken over. Perhaps this is what happened to Blair. Realising that it was aboard, he goes crazy trying to fight back. His calmness returns as its hold on him grows.

I could build one in LESS than 48 hours!.....I just don't want to.

The Thing was able to build this in a CAVE! With a box of SCRAPS!

@@jherrenor And it's almost finished! It just needs to scrounge up an old antimatter generator and a makeshift warp drive... To be fair, what it built was impressive, but we never saw a sign that it built a WORKING spacecraft from scraps. Of course it is pretty likely that given time it might be able to recover the rest from the crashed ship.

It's not smart at all. It burrows info from the saucer aliens it took over. It's pure instinct and survival, using the knowledge of its victims to blend in and survive.

@@NiceGuyEddy12 something we don't actually know but okay lol

I got no problem with him digging the hole, but where did he put the dirt?

You were not the only one. ;)

It depends on which decade of horror movies you begin with. 90's and 2000's avoided killing kids and animals. It wasn't till streaming we started killing kids and pets consistantly again

@@kyleellis9177 killing kids and pets is so in right now 😂

Rational people noticed the dog was suspicious.

whys the dog getting gross......

I want Wyatt to be in Escape From Earth and Big Trouble in Little Italy.

@@commandercaptain4664 🤣🤣🤣🤣

@@commandercaptain4664 he sounds exactly like his dad when he was jack in big trouble in little china Imagine Ego and John Walker meeting up

Well, Norris and Palmer - who were also infected - could’ve contributed to it without anyone noticing, so perhaps you aren’t too far off with that conjecture. The creepiest thing about this movie isn’t that the creature can take the form of any living thing, but the fact that there can be multiple of them.

Tied with The Howling and the original Salem's Lot for me. Great flick!

Tied with A L I E N for me.

@@commandercaptain4664 Another all timer for sure.

Tied with Candyman (1992) for me.

@@littleredhen8205 Ah yes!....one of my best friend's favorite movies! She had such a HUGE crush on Virginia Madsen. Very creepy atmospheric flick.

What does cgi have to do with anything? Most endings tend to not be ambiguous this isn't something that only modern movies have pretty much most stories have an ending like that with a resolution it was like that even when the thing came out as well. Why do dumb comments get so many upvotes?

The reason is because the creature blowing up was not important, the encounter of macready and childs is what is important

Yup, it can take the form of everything it has ever consumed, and by the looks of it, lots of non earthly alien life forms before it hit earth.

Ultimate Organism

Its actually DEVOLVING into lesser lifeforms in order to stay hidden. Before it even crashed in the ice sheet the thing had assimilated life forms so far in advance of anything on this planet. Thats what makes it so scary. Its collectively all the creatures it has ever encountered at once. Yes it can act in a basic animalistic manner such as the head after Norris cpr and the sample during the blood test. But the assimilated Blair clearly had access to a collective knowledge. Enough that he could try to build a rudimentary craft to get him closer to civilization. If you watch Palmer and Norris closely knowing they have already been assimilated they act in such perfectly human fashion. Norris isnt brave enough for leadership and Palmer continues his wisecracking personality. Also his face as he is about to be test is great: the thing clearly knows its about to be exposed.

That's the main reason why I got scared of this and A L I E N. It's Gumpian horror: you never know what you're gonna get.

It was actually building a vehicle to just get away from that installation, not go to space. Kurt and gang were on to it so it was trying to escape them and begin assimilating somewhere else on the continent - and then the world.

Yeah I thought it was snow craft to get to the ship.

Oh my, how extraordinary your intellect must be in order to ascertain the idiocy of not just one, but three individuals based solely upon a 30 minute, over-acted video. Oh kind sir, please forgive our vacuous and slow-witted reaction that will no doubt forever mar your own reaction to this masterful film.

That's too much work and talent nowadays...

CG is used now because it's cheaper, quicker, most of the good practical effects artists are not with us anymore, and most of the movie-going public don't really care. They'll gladly eat up whatever garbage the studio shovels at them, like Godzilla vs Kong for example. It might be technically amazing (and it is) but at the end of the day, it just looks like a video game to me.

@CYB3R2K30 Something subjective can't be "false". Recent example -- "Godzilla vs Kong". The effects and visuals on that were praised as amazing. I think they look like what they are, computer generated imagery. Yes, it is cutting edge and looks better than anything before it. But, they still look fake as hell. At least if I see a puppet on a screen, I know that was a real object, in a real physical location, doing real things. CGI just looks like a damn video game to me. It could look really nice, but it looks like GRAPHICS, because that's all it is.

@CYB3R2K30 The proof of how wrong you are is their reaction. Practical fx are visceral. CGI is great on the large scale but they just don't feel real the way practical does.

@CYB3R2K30 Yes, I agree. And they can look great. Because it does, for what it is. But at the end of the day, they all scream to me "this was generated by a computer" which completely takes me out of the story being told. I'd much rather watch an old Ray Harryhausen movie, like Jason and the Argonauts, or Clash of the Titans. Now that's good stuff. I don't care about technical wizardry. I care about the story and how the story is being told, not that my eyes are being blasted with realistic light scattering or bajillions of textured polygons. Sure, it's very impressive, and it looks nice, and I know it took a team of people months to do it, but it's all style and no substance to me. There's no right or wrong here, it's just personal preference.

You should watch the 2011 version. It explains what went on at the Norwegian camp and literally ends where this version begins. However, there is no Kurt Russell and it's a bit predictable in some spots. But it's a worthy prequel, even though they could've done a LOT more with it.

@@Diskoboy1974 I really enjoyed it for explaining what happened. The massive 'The Thing' fan in me is very irritated by their lack of continuity when it comes to the alien ship and how it was discovered, etc. (They used film from the original 'The Thing from Another World' in the scene where McCready is watching the Norwegian tapes.) The effects were mildly irritating in that the CG was used over the already present, and apparently awesome, practical effects.

For real. 😂

I think he got a low level dose of the alien early on from his autopsies and it took time to establish control. He realises what is happening and goes berserk trying to prevent it going beyond him. When they lock him up, he still has enough control to rig the noose, but is thwarted in his desire to die when the alien establishes control. The later calm Blair is the "Thing".

Except for the actual monster; the legendary giant carrot, played by James Arness...

_John Carpenter's The Sus_

Fire In The Sky

Just imagine knowing every fact about the entire universe

It wasn't a "space ship" The Thing in Blair built. It was a transportation vehicle to get it safely to a more populated area.

@@eddiepolo6047 literally everywhere I've looked, which includes the original script calls it a spaceship or ufo, so stop being so picky. Besides they say in the movie it was trying to freeze so someone would come pick it up and bring it to a populated area, so the blair thing wouldn't need it own transportation device unless it was trying to get off world

LOL... no kidding huh?

Cats are great survivors, look at Jones!

I wouldn't want a cat anywhere near "The Thing". Just imagine the alien assimilating a cat, with all it's speed, predatory instincts and agility. 🐈 A cat/thing would have killed/assimilated everyone in the first half hour of the movie. 💀

Why didn't it remove the noose? Unless, it was psychological to make the others worried that he might try to kill himself and let him out

@@SamuelBlack84 hi, the writer/direct left the noose to give us viewers, a clue, to know that dr. blair he was compromised. enraged & hopeless human-blair, knowing how earth was endanger, would had committed suicide. also leaving the noose, was probably an accident. keep in mind, it's agitated alien. it's not going to think like us.

Seriously. That miniseries was horrifying and superb.

True

I've heard this is a myth from people that worked on the film

Nope. The pencil eraser never goes into the remains. He simply uses the eraser as pointer. "That's not dog". Points. You see the shadow if the pencil hovering over it, if you really watch it. If you believe in the cellular theory that it can take over you slowly. Blair is literally elbow deep in the autopsies or even better. Look at the scene when they unravel splitface on the table. Look at Blair, hes the only one to get a whole lot of thing gloop on his hand from the sheet. Watch him, he literally looks at it and then wipes his hands on the corner of the sheet. He could have been the first infected.

I honestly thought the hat was awesome but it was still funny at the same time haha

@@tashatipton2141 Yeah Tasha! Yeah! Will you still think it's funny when a helicopter pilot in a batsh*t crazy hat saves you life from a shape shifting, virus like alien hellbent on World domination...I don't think so Mister! 🤣🤣🤣

@@eddhardy1054 maybe later I would laugh about it but definitely not in that particular moment 🤣

@@tashatipton2141 ...and that is the correct answer. 👍👍👍

It is actually similar to Robert Duvall's cavalry Stetson from Apocalypse Now, just a tad battered...

They Live is that the one with Rowdy Roddy Piper

It is a very effective little horror movie with no supernatural elements or aliens on the loose.

That movie has one of the most unnecessarily grotesque and inhumane deaths in cinema. Like there was no reason to make it that gruesome other than the shock factor.

I must also be an alien as I would happily sacrifice humanity to save myself 🙂

I love that it's a mean horror movie, not some happy go fun fun time that too many "horror" movies tend to be. This movie is out for your sanity.

@@commandercaptain4664 Lovecraft would be proud.

The defibrilator scene was pretty crazy, I thought. His "stomach" opens and is a giant fucking mouth. Insane...

Yes! I was going to mention Who Goes There?. It really is a classic.

@@benlee8436 ...👍

I'm still traumatized by that scene!

The Descent definitely deserves a look. Event Horizon, while visually horrific isn't a particularly well told story. I am neutral on 28 Days Later'

The Descent, yes. Also Frank Darabont's The Mist (2007), and Candyman (1992).

Descent is horribly underrated

Yeah, I typically correct the people who thing the 2011 movie is a remake, and then point out that they must not have been paying attention of they thought it was a remake. Lol

@@thelazygamer1639 I wish someone would react to the 1951 version because it's really good, but it's almost impossible to get millennials to do a 1950s movie. Look at "The Day the Earth Stood Still," "North by Northwest," "The War of the Worlds," "Stalag 17," "Forbidden Planet," "Shane," "Some Like it Hot," "Vertigo." All masterpieces. I suggest these things from time to time to various reactors, but I guess they think I'm lying.

@@brandonflorida1092 I can say I've at least seen the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, watched it in 5th Grade. I actually have a DVD that had both the remake and the original. No idea where it is now though.

@@thelazygamer1639 If you can possibly swing it, see the 1951 "The Thing From Another World." It's different, but it's very good. One thing it shares with the 1982 version is that the alien is smart enough to cooperate with Earth beings, but has zero inclination to do so.

What is hilarious is that a lot of 'analysts' refer to the whole 'Thing' thing as a metaphor for Cold War paranoia, when the original story long predates the Cold War.

If they did do a big, dramatic, marvel like ending I would never watch the movie again. It would completely ruin everything the movie was setting up.

Answering the question destroys the theme. That the ending matches the theme in such a clever way is a big reason why we are still talking about it.

@@Ocrilat One of the big problems with fiction and fandom nowadays is that some folks absolutely insist on knowing all of the 'lore' of a story, when the story is actually better served by viewer ignorance. You are supposed to be seeing this from the point of view of a bunch of scientists/technicians/tradespeople on the ice when an unfathomable creature attacks, not experts in all thing 'Thing'. For the story to have the desired effect, your knowledge needs to stay limited.

@@jamiegagnon6390 Hmmm...I would dispute that, or at least qualify it (if I am getting the point you are making). I think some fiction can only be enjoyed if the viewer 'turns off his brain'. But quality fiction, imo, is not that. That is the kind of fiction that makes you think, exercises your brain, and leads to discussions. The Thing is a film like that. We are still talking about films like The Thing, or The Shining, because they engage your brain, have something to say, and make the viewer work for it. Car crashes, jump scares, and explosions alone just don't do that.

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed the video!!! Oh man I never wanted to watch the alien movies but I feel like there will probably be some good reactions from us so I will have to suck it up haha we will definitely add those to the list. Thanks for the request and coming along for the ride! ❤️

@@tashatipton2141 The Thing.... Rob Bottin, in his early 20s at the time, and they would require so much work from the young FX wizard that he eventually landed in the hospital with exhaustion at the close of filming.

@@tashatipton2141 The Thing en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jed_(wolfdog) Born 1977 Bellingham, Washington, United States Died June 1995 (aged 17-18) Acton, California, United States Ethan Hawke and Richard Masur (Clark) were two of the few human co-stars Jed (wolfdog) allowed to become close friends. www.imdb.com/name/nm1058600/bio Owner Gerhardt "Gary" Winkler 1977-1981,Henry Winkler's second cousin aka The Fonz... :):)

@@tashatipton2141 here's some movies for you to react to A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984) Scream (1996) The Omen(1976) Carrie(1976) The Shining(1980) Phantasm (1979) Christine (1983) Pet Semetary (1989) The Lost Boys (1987) Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) Candyman (1992) Child's Play (1988) An American Werewolf In London (1981) The Howling (1981) Poltergeist (1982)

Yay! I'm so glad you are enjoying the videos!!!! ❤️