Although
overshadowed in recent years by the John Carpenter version of the same
source story, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD ($20) remains a
masterpiece of paranoid 50’s science fiction. Although the direction is
credited Christian Nyby and the screenplay to Charles Lederer, producer
Howard Hawks’ fingerprints are clearly all over Hawks-ian styled final
product. Adapted from Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell
Jr., THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD tells to story of what happens
when the military investigates a reported crash near an arctic research
station. Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his team are assigned
to fly to the remote station after the research station scientists report
that something has gone down in the nearby vicinity. When the crash site
is found, it turns out that whatever saucer shaped object is buried
beneath the ice is not terrestrial in origin. Unfortunately, efforts to
extricate the spaceship from the ice lead to its destruction. Now, despite
the loss of the ship, the investigative team does manage to return to the
research station with an occupant from the spacecraft- neatly frozen in a
block of ice.
While
lead scientist Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) wants to examine
the extraterrestrial visitor, Captain Hendry decides to wait for orders
from the higher ups before allowing him to proceed. Of course, this
becomes a moot point when The Thing (James Arness) in the block of ice is
unintentionally defrosted and comes to life. After killing several sled
dogs, a remaining tissue sample indicates that The Thing is some form of
sentient plant life, or as they put it in the film, an "intellectual
carrot" that requires blood to survive and reproduce. The situation
quickly turns into a battle for survival at the snowbound artic station,
even though intellectual curiosity and a desire to communicate drives Dr.
Carrington to try save The Thing from those that would destroy it. The
cast of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD also features Margaret
Sheridan, Douglas Spencer, James R. Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols,
William Self, Eduard Franz, Sally Creighton and Paul Frees.
Warner
Home Video has made THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD available on DVD
in a black and white presentation that frames the film in its proper
1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. For the most part, the transfer is quite
nice, but there are some rough patches. A couple of outdoor shots that I
would not deem "stock footage" display heavy blemishes and or
scratches. Additionally, there are other shots that have contrast
problems, which manifest themselves in form of whites that appear blown
out. Again, these problems are relegated to a few individual shots that do
not constitute a significant portion of the film. At almost all times, the
image on the DVD appears pretty sharp and rather nicely defined. Blacks
are accurate and whites look clean. Contrast is generally good, except for
that handful of shots that indicated above. Print damage is pretty minor,
excepted as noted, with some very minor blemishes and scratches being the
being the worst of it. A grain structure is noticeable at various times,
but is never excessive.
THE
THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD features a pretty good sounding Dolby Digital
monaural soundtrack. Since the recordings are more than half a century
old, fidelity is decidedly limited. However, Dimitri Tiomkin’s fine
theremin augmented score sounds perfectly nice with a bit of amplification
applied. Most of the background hiss and other audible anomalies have been
expunged from the track, leaving it rather clean and crisp sounding.
Dialogue is always completely understandable, even the portions that
overlap in typical Howard Hawks’ fashion. No other language tracks are
included on the DVD, although English, French and Spanish subtitles are
provided. Music underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
theatrical trailer.
THE
THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is an out and out science fiction classic
that I am thrilled to have on DVD. The presentation isn’t one hundred
percent perfect, but it won’t give fans much to complain about either.
If you are a science fiction or Howard Hawks fan, then THE THING FROM
ANOTHER WORLD is a must have DVD. Recommended.
Although
overshadowed in recent years by the John Carpenter version of the same
source story, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD ($20) remains a
masterpiece of paranoid 50’s science fiction. Although the direction is
credited Christian Nyby and the screenplay to Charles Lederer, producer
Howard Hawks’ fingerprints are clearly all over Hawks-ian styled final
product. Adapted from Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell
Jr., THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD tells to story of what happens
when the military investigates a reported crash near an arctic research
station. Captain Patrick Hendry (Kenneth Tobey) and his team are assigned
to fly to the remote station after the research station scientists report
that something has gone down in the nearby vicinity. When the crash site
is found, it turns out that whatever saucer shaped object is buried
beneath the ice is not terrestrial in origin. Unfortunately, efforts to
extricate the spaceship from the ice lead to its destruction. Now, despite
the loss of the ship, the investigative team does manage to return to the
research station with an occupant from the spacecraft- neatly frozen in a
block of ice.
While
lead scientist Dr. Arthur Carrington (Robert Cornthwaite) wants to examine
the extraterrestrial visitor, Captain Hendry decides to wait for orders
from the higher ups before allowing him to proceed. Of course, this
becomes a moot point when The Thing (James Arness) in the block of ice is
unintentionally defrosted and comes to life. After killing several sled
dogs, a remaining tissue sample indicates that The Thing is some form of
sentient plant life, or as they put it in the film, an "intellectual
carrot" that requires blood to survive and reproduce. The situation
quickly turns into a battle for survival at the snowbound artic station,
even though intellectual curiosity and a desire to communicate drives Dr.
Carrington to try save The Thing from those that would destroy it. The
cast of THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD also features Margaret
Sheridan, Douglas Spencer, James R. Young, Dewey Martin, Robert Nichols,
William Self, Eduard Franz, Sally Creighton and Paul Frees.
Warner
Home Video has made THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD available on DVD
in a black and white presentation that frames the film in its proper
1.37:1 full screen aspect ratio. For the most part, the transfer is quite
nice, but there are some rough patches. A couple of outdoor shots that I
would not deem "stock footage" display heavy blemishes and or
scratches. Additionally, there are other shots that have contrast
problems, which manifest themselves in form of whites that appear blown
out. Again, these problems are relegated to a few individual shots that do
not constitute a significant portion of the film. At almost all times, the
image on the DVD appears pretty sharp and rather nicely defined. Blacks
are accurate and whites look clean. Contrast is generally good, except for
that handful of shots that indicated above. Print damage is pretty minor,
excepted as noted, with some very minor blemishes and scratches being the
being the worst of it. A grain structure is noticeable at various times,
but is never excessive.
THE
THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD features a pretty good sounding Dolby Digital
monaural soundtrack. Since the recordings are more than half a century
old, fidelity is decidedly limited. However, Dimitri Tiomkin’s fine
theremin augmented score sounds perfectly nice with a bit of amplification
applied. Most of the background hiss and other audible anomalies have been
expunged from the track, leaving it rather clean and crisp sounding.
Dialogue is always completely understandable, even the portions that
overlap in typical Howard Hawks’ fashion. No other language tracks are
included on the DVD, although English, French and Spanish subtitles are
provided. Music underscores the basic interactive menus, which allow one
access to the standard scene selection and set up features, as well as
theatrical trailer.
THE
THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD is an out and out science fiction classic
that I am thrilled to have on DVD. The presentation isn’t one hundred
percent perfect, but it won’t give fans much to complain about either.
If you are a science fiction or Howard Hawks fan, then THE THING FROM
ANOTHER WORLD is a must have DVD. Recommended.