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The Thing
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - Hong Kong - Intercontinental Video Limited Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (31st March 2012). |
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The Film
 John Carpenter did such an impressive job with "The Thing" (1982) that it's hard to fathom a remake/re-imagining/prequel would make even a small impression on fans. The 1982 version itself is a remake of "The Thing from Another World" (1951), and in the opinion of this reviewer is the best way to remake something - don't take a classic film or one that is beloved by fans to remake, instead find something that wasn't that good to begin with and remake that, make it better. Carpenter took that "B" film and made it better, he delivered a tense and horrific film. Filled to the brim with a now iconic monster, a pulsating score from the legend Ennio Morricone and Kurt Russell, being his usual 1980's era bad ass self. This newer version could be considered a prequel, although has some elements that can also be categorized as a remake, with some aspects similar to the 1982 version. In this version of "The Thing" we follow a Norwegian Antarctic team who discovers an alien spacecraft buried deep in the ice. An alien life form is found embedded in a giant slab of ice. It's uncertain how long the ship has been buried there. The life form is taken back to the outpost and scientific experiments are undertaken, but drilling into the ice to take a tissue sample has unleashed the creature, which not only wreaks havoc on the entire group, mimicking them and killing them off one by one. Survival is now key as paranoia and fear takes hold. The first impressions of this film are that the makers are fans of the Carpenter classic, the same level of tension and attention to detail is employed in this film. The most striking element is the photography which looks appropriately dated, the filmmakers used 80's era lenses (Panavision E series Anamorphic Prime Lenses, which where introduced in the 1980's) to capture a similar look to the Carpenter incarnation. Colors are appropriately cold and help to immerse viewers into the antarctic environment. Tension is largely created from the isolation these characters face, after all it's Antarctica, there aren't many places to run to and help is far away. Making this a perfect location for a horror/suspense film. The alien creature gets to fully wreak an appropriate amount of damage here as our heroes are put through a terrifying and emotional ringer. Performances from the cast are top notch, noticeable cast members are Joel Edgerton (who plays Sam Carter) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (who plays Kate Lloyd) and both hold their own. I'm constantly being impressed by Edgerton's skills, his turn in the Independent darlings "Animal Kingdom" (2010) and last year's "Warrior" (2011) were stand outs, while he doesn't have as much meat to work with with his role, he does a solid job taking us through this ride. There's a couple of downsides, after all it can't be perfect, one of my main problems was the monster reveal was too quick and showed way too much of it, I felt like a bit more tension could have been developed had they not revealed the creature so early and in so much detail (however it was cool to learn the creature was created using a combination of live-action practical effects and CGI). The other problem I have with the film is its ending, WHAT FOLLOWS IS A SPOILER ALERT - do not keep reading if you don't want the ending spoiled: I felt the ending was a let down, in the end Sam is revealed to be an alien and Kate burns him alive, this is all after he helps her destroy the creature and also the spacecraft... it felt like a cop-out ending that was both weak and unnecessary. What would have been a better ending is to have Sam sacrifice his own life to save Kate's when she was confronted and cornered by the creature. It would have given the film a much more powerful ending that plays on viewer emotions, especially since we like Edgerton's character, his death would have meant something. Instead it doesn't mean anything for him to die. Flaws aside, I found this new version of "The Thing" to be largely enjoyable, it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated and ended being a decent thrill ride, it still won't replace the awesomeness of the 1982 version but it doesn't sh*t on its legacy either.
Video
Presented in the film's original theatrical ratio of 2.40:1 this transfer comes to Blu-ray in HD 1080p 24/fps and mastered using VC-1 compression (wow, I didn't think anyone still used VC-1 codec anymore?) This disc, although distributed by Intercontinental Video Limited in Hong Kong - it's the same release from the UK, Holland and Australia/NZ (complete with UK, Irish, Dutch and Australian film rating logos on the disc). Overall I liked the image presented here, the filmmakers clearly tried to mimic the 80's era style photography even going as far as using 80's era panavision lenses, which all suites the film and its aesthetic perfectly. However, there are flaws as a result of using these techniques, softness can be an issue, especially around the fringes of the frame, facial features and details can appear slightly patchy. I noticed some digital noise reduction (DNR) applied here, not sure what the point of that was, but I've read reports that this was present in the original theatrical release and that was carried over to the Blu-ray presentation. It's as if the producers were afraid that their "film-looking" film was looking too much like film so they decided to smooth it out scrubbing grain and texture away. It's baffling really. Aside from that, the starkness of the image is nicely replicated, colors are appropriately cold, detail did look great in certain shots, skin tones appear natural and black levels (although had some noise) looked decent enough.
Audio
Six audio tracks are presented here in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround mixed at 48kHz/24-bit, as well as standard DTS 5.1 tracks in French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. For the purpose of this review I chose to view the film with its DTS-HD audio. Unlike the image, the audio is fantastic. It's rich, robust and brilliantly mixed. Dialogue is clear and distortion free, but it's the ambiance that really sets this one apart. The film is a tension pot boiler with some action thrown in as well, the sound reflects this perfectly. With immersive ambiance that places viewers in the barren stark location of the film. The dynamic range of the track also works well, with directional effects sounding natural and never out of place. The action scenes pop off the screen, with the roar of the flame throwers and the incredible sound design of the alien. It's terrific, pure and simple. Optional subtitles are included in English, Cantonese, Traditional Mandarin, Korean, French, Italian, German, Portuguese and Spanish.
Extras
The extras included on this disc feature an audio commentary, a collection of deleted scenes, two featurettes plus a U-Control picture-in-picture video commentary. Below is a closer look at these supplements. The disc features a feature-length screen specific audio commentary with director Mathijs van Heijningen and producer Eric Newman. The track has a sombre tone to it, as these two offer up some informative trivia about the making of the film. They chat about the production, working with the cast and the various challenges as well as share some funny anecdotes. It's not exactly an engaging track but if you make it through there's some decent info for fans to sink into. There's also a Blu-ray exclusive feature, U-Control picture-in-picture video commentary for profile 2.0 only players. This is an interactive feature that includes pop-up video taken during the film's production as well a featuring the film's producers Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, short burst tend to pop up offering viewers a closer look at some production aspects. Sadly these clips are really too short and leave a lot to be desired sometimes. I wish they included more expansive clips that delved deeper into the production. Next up is a collection of seven deleted scenes (1080p) that can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' option, these scenes could have used an audio commentary, some of these scenes were cut for obvious reasons in that they weren't necessary to the story, but some are actually quite good and could have been left in the final film, the scenes included are: - "2 Phone Calls" which runs for 21 seconds. - "It's True" which runs for 59 seconds. - "Come In, Over!" which runs for 29 seconds. - "That's Not Karl" which runs for 1 minute 26 seconds. - "Colin" which runs for 1 minute 15 seconds. - "Two Heads" which runs for 1 minute 17 seconds. - "Start the Helicopter Now" which runs for 2 minutes 47 seconds. The first of the two featurettes is entitled "The Thing Evolves" (1080p) which runs for 14 minutes, this is the standard EPK clip, which features key cast and crew personnel talking about why it's great they're making this film and on the production in very general terms, nothing too detailed. The second featurette is "Fire and Ice" (1080p) which runs for 4 minutes 47 seconds, This clip takes a look at the stunts and effects for the film, it's short and to the point, but was the only extra that I truly loved, I just wish it was longer... sigh...
Overall
This disc can be purchased at Yesasia.com. Your source for Asian films on Blu-ray.
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