I saw this movie and it seem to fell in line with the 'Alien' series... The similarities between this film and 'Alien' should be obvious without me having to list them. I don't think they are that fundamentally different. But both films are derived from sci-fi/horror archetypal stories. However, I must say the special effects, especially the Thing puppet/animatronics, is far more impressive and innovative than anything I have seen in the 'Alien' series.
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In my opinion, the basic premise to The Thing - an alien life form that perfectly imitates its hosts, makes it more interesting than the creature in Alien. In Alien, the creature is a parasite when young and a predator when adult - both familiar Earthly concepts and a strictly external threat. In The Thing, you don't know whether the person next to you is human or an alien imitation, which creates a greater sense of dread and mystery than just having a predator on the loose in the ship.
shareIn The Thing, you don't know whether the person next to you is human or an alien imitation, which creates a greater sense of dread and mystery than just having a predator on the loose in the ship.For me, it was a "different sense" of dread than a "greater sense" because I distinctly remember being on edge when Ripley was now alone roaming the ship halls waiting any second to be cornered by the alien. That dreaded anticipation was well played in alien.
Id like to add that the setting for Alien was much more atmospheric and claustrophobic.
shareTrue, but in both films there was no where to go. Either trapped on a planet in the middle of space or in the Arctic. You couldn't just run away like most horror films.
shareThe "Monster in the House" trope:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TenMoviePlots
... there has been technological advancement, but how little man himself has changed.
The "Trapped with the Monster Plot":
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TrappedWithMonsterPlot
Both Alien and Carpenter's The Thing (1982) are specifically mentioned.
... there has been technological advancement, but how little man himself has changed.
100% agree with this. Carpenter knew from the start that he had to go in and change as much as possible to keep the comparisons to 'Alien' at a minimum. With Paranoia being the choice, he succeeded. I definitely felt the same with Ripley as well. The Emptiness of Space scared the crap out of me, ESPECIALLY in 'Alien.' So different from 'Star Wars', it was definitely an experience like none before. Obviously 2001 had the same effect on me as well. Just the feeling of isolation and having no escape, being stuck by yourself, ending up in a Pod just DRIFTING away in Space... Yikes! The ending of 'Alien' is great because while Ripley killed the Xenomorph, it's not a "Happy" Ending. With 'The Thing', the Paranoia isn't more OR less dreadful so to say... It just hit my subconscious a different way. While it shares alot with 'Alien', it maintains its own narrative.
shareYes, both films are similar. Anyway, both are true masterpieces! They don't make films like The Thing/Alien anymore.
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Alien didn't copy The Thing from Another World (1951), not even close but The Thing (1982) took some elements from Alien. They didn't copy Alien but they were influenced by it a little. You can't deny that
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Actually, I was referring to Campbell's Who Goes There, that was the story written four decades before Alien 79. O'Bannon had mentioned he borrowed from several sources including fifties SF movies and Lovecraft to write Alien.
O'Bannon on writing Alien: "I didn’t steal from anybody, I stole from everybody!"
Some have claimed Alien is just a remake of "It, The Terror From Beyond Space."
In 2012 Cinema Dope asked the writer of the It! screenplay, Jerome Bixby, to weigh in. “Frankly,” he answered, “I feel like the grandfather of Alien. There’s a whole roster of similarities between what I wrote and Alien,” he continued.
Bixby, far from feeling outraged or shortchanged, was upright about the fact that It! was also the sum total of many other science-fiction films that had come before. “In all honesty, my story was also derivative,” he told Cinema Dope. “Essentially what I did was take Howard Hawks’ The Thing and play it aboard a spaceship. The Hawks film has long been a model for SF writers.”
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I love Them! but it was a horror film. Ellen Ripley was the first strong heroine in a BLOCKBUSTER MOVIE - BIG DIFFERENCE! If you count strong heroines in horror films, then we should name every single horror film durin 1920-1978. Girl from Them! wasn't a lone survivor, so it doesn't count. The creature didn't have an acid blood, it was just a weapon. Still not the same
Well that goes without saying, most fifties SF creatures now look ridiculous. But this thread's topic is not really about quality, it's about originality. Poor quality cannot be used to dismiss a counterpoint on originality.
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No offense and I've always respected your opinion, but you're trying to cherry pick the criteria to dismiss Medford was a strong heroine in a sci-fi horror film. It doesn't count? What's it matter she was not a lone survivor, she was still a strong heroine in a sci-fi horror film. Ripley was a strong heroine in a sci-fi horror film.
Well, once again I repeat....according to the creator of Alien, Dan O'Bannon........everything.
O'Bannon on writing Alien: "I didn't steal from anybody, I stole from everybody!"
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I'm sorry dear. Sometimes I defend my most favorite movies too hard. Thanks for being tolerant
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By the way, I love The Thing (1982) but it was clearly inspired by Alien. I don't say they stole something. It was an amazing remake with Alien's elements
You cannot qualify “unique.” “Unique” means “one of a kind.” Nothing can be more singular than another singularity. The word you want is “unusual.” All things unique are also unusual, but things that are unusual are not inherently unique.
Words matter.
*sigh* You CANNOT qualify “unique”.
shareExcept Alien established all of the characteristics and dynamics between the characters.
shareThe broad strokes are the same. A group of co-workers in isolation getting picked off one by one by a malevolent sneaky alien. Some of the small strokes are similar too, e.g. the co-workers have been together for a long time, to the point where they can really get under each other's skin and become very snippy and nasty. I always assumed Carpenter saw Alien and thought, "I bet I could do that."
share"the co-workers have been together for a long time, to the point where they can really get under each other's skin and become very snippy and nasty"
This didn't make much sense to me in this movie or Alien -- other movies too that I'm too lazy to look up.
In real life, there are normally procedures carried out in situations like this to ensure that every member of the team has the right profile to get along with their fellow team members and work smoothly together, especially in high stress situations.
In both these movies -- particularly this one -- they start to fall apart and turn on each other almost immediately.
It also takes away some of the emotional stakes. As they end up killing each other -- actually it was mostly McReady doing the killing -- they have little compassion for the loss of their compatriot. So, it's hard for us to feel empathy for them, when they have so little for their fellow characters. If that make sense...
XD
Adorable.
If they did do such a thing, they would have ensured the crew of the spaceship was able to be out in space for extended lengths of time without cracking up. Likewise with the research crew putting in extended months-long shifts at the asshole of the earth. IOW they would have made sure they were capable of doing their jobs and solving the usual problems that come up.
But they wouldn't ensure the individuals wouldn't get snippy or clash with each other on occasion, or freak out and get paranoid after a shapeshifting alien creature infiltrates them.
I think one idea to th Movie - is the plot vs crew,
Is that the crew ran smoothly together - while MacReady was the ignored 'Loner' - remember at the beginning he resides in the shack with all his 'toys' ? - While the rest of the crew are socializing togetrher playing pool / board-hockry, etc ...
While as the movie progresses , the Plot and crew dynamics flips - as MacReady is pushed and takes over socially as the crew Leader.
honestly alien is a bit overrated. like it looks really good on a visual level and has great acting, but the scares are really cliche in the 2nd half. the writing is extremely dated. the thing almost never falls to those cliches and feels timeless.
shareYeah, thing never falls to cliche even when you have characters wandering off like idiots to be picked off by the thing. Lol sure. Also the monster just lets Mcready blow it up without putting up much of a fight.
sharewondering off like idiots??? the only one who does that is nauls and the film focuses on this for like 10 seconds. we also never see his death. meanwhile like 3 people in alien wonder around a hallway like morons and the film thinks it is being sooooo original like "gee, i wonder if he will be okay?"
and a budgetary constraint is not a cliche.
Nauls wanders off, Fuchs wanders off, Gary wanders off, just picked off like morons. That doesn’t happen in Alien. Also what scene are you talking about in Alien, because what you described doesn’t happen.
The fact that Carpenter doesn’t know how to budget a movie properly doesn’t mean it’s not cliche storytelling.
"That doesn’t happen in Alien. Also what scene are you talking about in Alien, because what you described doesn’t happen."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1eF_W_NSWk&ab_channel=TerrorbrosePoltergeist
Alien is an undeniable classic but this is one of the most blatant "guy wonders off like a moron" scenes in horror history. Probably helped start the whole trope.
If it started the trope then it don't count :D
They told him to go look for the damn cat!