The Thing - A Raving Classic

What makes a movie a classic film? Is it the age of the picture, its relative popularity; does it have to be one particular genre or is it a genre unto itself? Do critics determine what is or isn't classic or is it the movie lovers? Do you have to take film appreciation courses to be able to identify whether or not a movie is classic? We will try to answer those questions for you as we introduce the first review in a new series we're calling, Raving Classics.

Answers:

1. You don't have to take any film classes to be able to identify a classic. We took some of those classes and can assure you they were a giant waste of time.
2. Classics don't belong to any one genre or any one time - they cross all of them. Films released this year could be classics and virtually any type of film might be considered classic - even some documentaries (Capra's "Why we Fight" is a good example).
3. You don't need critics to tell what is a classic, but they can help you find them if you haven't already discovered them on your own.

Classic Criteria: Here are some guidelines that might be used to help assess whether a film is worthy of being called "Classic."

• It's fun to watch.
• It never gets old - you watch it over and over again and still appreciate it.
• It makes you feel something, or think something new, interesting or otherwise thrilling.
• A classic often gets remade, but the remakes to a real classic never measure up to the original (which is perhaps why no one has tried a remake of Gone with the Wind).
• A classic has memorable moments that stay with you and often these become cultural guideposts or pillars that help to define an age.

So there you have it; our criteria for a classic film. With that we will now review our first Raving Classic - just in time for the onset of cold weather but not too long after Halloween. We're reviewing one of our favorite movies ever - John Carpenter's, The Thing.

Things heat up in the coldest place in the world... Poster art for The Thing

John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) is all about atmosphere - it takes us to the end of the world and strands us there with a handful of bearded and ultimately desperate men (this is definitely not a chick flick). The film's understated soundtrack evokes Jaws but at a much deeper level - helping to establish a sense of foreboding that builds steadily as we drive deeper into the mystery and paranoia that ensues. As you may know this film is itself a remake of a 1951 film and has been remade again recently (2011), which makes it a bit unusual as classics go in that the second one hit the jackpot while the first and third tries missed badly.

CPR was never the same after this scene from "The Thing"

 John Carpenter's The Thing succeeded where the others failed for a number of reasons:

1. An excellent ensemble cast with a very strong performances by the lead Kurt Russell and his sort of nemesis, Keith David (who can now be seen in Cloud Atlas).
2. A very neatly wrapped storyline - it wasn't complicated by any means - but seemed perfectly believable. We're dropped right into the situation and accept it instantly.
3. The tension of this film is palpable. Even after watching it more than 10 times it's still there - and the question of whether or not you can trust the folks around you allows us to drop into a temporary paranoid fantasy without having to stay too long (unlike the X-Files).
4. No One Gets Out Alive - How cool is that? No obvious sequels with the same cast anyway.
5. The Big Question - This film doesn't answer the big question -  what happens next and that makes the movie even more menacing. The 2011 remake actually represents a sort of prequel with a focus on the Norwegian team that dug up the monster so we've still never found out what happened when the rescue team returns to the American Research station.
6. The Battle between McCready and the Monsters was Epic - This guy was cool, the hat, the Whiskey and the wits to take on the toughest bastards in the galaxy.
7. Groundbreaking Special Effects - This movie came well before the advent of computer animation. These monsters were handcrafted with lots of love and still look convincing today. Who can ever forget the slime dogs and spider-head guy?  Unlike many monster, alien or horror flicks, these effects truly advance the plot and ensure the believability of the premise. They are among us and they are not nice...

McCready encounters a dead Norwegian (segue to 2011 remake)

The characters in The Thing seem like a very ordinary bunch of men placed in an extraordinary situation which unfolds before their eyes very rapidly. The situation makes them question who exactly their co-workers are in a more profound way than most of us will ever do. And keep in mind, the first two versions of the Thing were still very much Cold War metaphors - placing them both in cold locales was like having your cake and eating it too.  Being paranoid and scared can be a lot of fun, so next time it starts snowing out, turn the lights down low and watch the 1982 version of The Thing.

A really great trailer, but that's to be expected. 

 

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