MovieChat Forums > The Thing (2011) Discussion > The biggest and arguably only flaw of th...

The biggest and arguably only flaw of this film.

posted 2 years ago by [deleted]
4 replies | jump to latest

Is the few moments of ropey CGI.

The creature effects for 'The Thing' are good for most of the runtime but a few moments are poorly done, such as the reveal on the helicopter involving a face splitting in two.

If anything they showcased 'The Thing' too much in this film and that's what caused the few issues. Compared to the 1982 film which kept it more hidden and very importantly static! This film has it running at people. Even the glorious FX of the 1982 film couldn't pull that off. Doing that practically is supremely hard, doing it with CGI has the issue of looking videogame-esque.

Though upon a third watch in as many years, this film is brilliant in most aspects. Good characterizations, a great story (operates both as a remake and prequel, similar to the 1982 film but with a few surprises) with solid production values (the cinematography and editing are good, I also like the utilization of the bold yellow snowcats, they look gorgeous against the snowy background.)

[–] scannerdarkly (1383) 2 years ago

I have a fondness for this movie as well.

I think we are seeing The Thing acting arrogant with its attacks, until it realizes that humans are not to be underestimated. So by the time it arrives at U.S. Outpost 31, it has learned to remain hidden and sow discord while it slowly takes over the base. Whereas with its first human contact at the Norwegian base, it indiscriminately attacks because it doesnt think we are a threat just yet.

Its a hard truth, that when you see the extras for this movie, you find that they atually were going practical until some studio execs wanted more CGI : (

My favorite part of the movie is the mouth and teeth filling scenes and also of course "Where the F**K is LARS"!!!!

[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

I thought the dental fillings as a test was a great part of this movie. A good revamp of the blood test from the 1982 film. It divided the characters down the middle, created suspicion on who was 'the thing' and as we know it's not a perfectly infallible test. A smart piece of writing.

[–] scannerdarkly (1383) 2 years ago

They needed something new and it worked well! I laughed when her friend said "So now im gonna die just because I took care of my teeth" xD

[–] warrior-poet (1364) 2 years ago

Agreed, although I can live with the CGI. What's great about it is how it recreates locations and sets up several scenes from Carpenter's flick, with the aftermath of events we see in this one discovered when they venture out to the Norwegian base in the original.
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