The REAL Original...

Yes you are correct. The whole point of my comment and source of frustration was over so many referring to John Carpenters film as the first adaptation. As the thread progressed it was pointed out that Carpenter was truer to the source material, the book, than the Howard Hawks film; so in fact making it the first actual adaptation. I was not aware of this, not having read the book, and acquiesced to the posters.

Then things got out of hand. The whole I am bigoted, ignorant, etc started. Hey if I was that bad I would not have admitted to not knowing and stuck to my guns, right? But I did admit I was incorrect, unlike some folks on IMDB (SC).

Correct Bill, i already educated the OP on the differences between a remake and a new adaptation of a book.

"If this is torture, chain me to the wall"-Oliver and Company

Nice to see an intelligent non insulting comment after being slammed!

I am so tired of this thread that I wish I had something to add...

Peace!

Actually two old scifi films are credited as being influences related to "Alien".

One is "Planet of the Vampires" (Italian, 1965) where a space ship lands on an alien planet only to find a crashed spacecraft of unknown origin that happens to have creatures that kill and then reanimate the dead. The concept of the alien ship crashed on a desolate planet carrying a succubus type agent being the "Alien" influence.

The other is "It! The Terror from Beyond Space" (American, 1958) where an outpost of astronauts is killed by an alien monster leaving one survivor whom is rescued but then charged with murder. The monster sneaks aboard the rescue ship and proceeds to kill off the crew one by one. The "Alien" influence is obvious.

I saw "Forbidden Planet" with "Star Trek" in mind as it is credited as having been the source of many concepts used in the series. I did not think to watch for "Alien" references or influences.

Both those old films, while of course dated and at times hokey, are quite good and full of atmosphere (especially "Planet of the Vampires"). But then again I am a fan of old movies (not exclusively but in this thread I have been labeled a lover of "crappy black and white" films - though "Planet" is in lustrous 1960's technicolor!).

I'm aware of all versions. However the newest film is obviously a remake of the 1982 film. The 1982 film and the 1951 film are themselves very different films. This one however is a copy of the 82 film.

The 2011 film is a PREQUEL to John Carpenter's The Thing.
Where the 2011 film ends, the 82 film movie picks up (although with a few continuity issues such as switching the Norwegian that gets shot by Gary and the one who explodes).

As for the 1951 film. I don't hate it but I don't think it's that great. Although I never would have seen the Carpenter film if not for the 1951 version. The 1951 version is the one my father saw as a teen and it scared the hell out of him. He would always talk about it, so when I got old enough I sought out the movie called The Thing. What I found was the 1982 Carpenter film and watched it thinking it was the same movie my father saw as a teen, but found out it was not the film, so I saw the 82 film first thanks to my father always talking about this movie called The Thing which scared him as a kid.