The Thing HD - Worth a Rewatch?

Aside form the fact that most people who've seen The Thing would be happy to see it again in standard definition, the recent HD push has resulted in decades-old films being re-released in high-def format. No film does this better than The Thing - a tale of an alien life-form slowly infecting and impersonating members of a snowed-in research team - and we'll tell you why.

A commercial flop in 1982, The Thing was hit hard at the box office. Having opened two weeks after E.T., and on the same day as Blade Runner, it wasn't a great time of the year to release a sci-fi survival horror, but the film's amazing special effects and solid story failed to connect with an eighties audience who preferred the cute alien and the dark world of neon and replicants that the other two films offered.

You'll see a lot of freaky things, by the way. This isn't a film for the fainthearted - mutating humans and animals, a lot of gore and tearing flesh as the alien assimilates more and more biological entities... Stan Winston and Rob Bottin, along with a talented crew of SFX wizards really pulled it off, and in high-def it looks even better, the quality of the anamatronics holding up even today.

The high-def format also brings out the best in the small details - names are clearer on clothing, the snow really swirls around the base, the creatures look fantastic, and as a whole the film looks sharper. This film could've been made in 2011, given how neat, well-shot and timeless it appears to be, although the clue to its age mainly lies in the youthful features of Kurt Russell and Keith David.

If there's a better sci-fi horror film, we've yet to see it. Check this out if you've got a HD set-up. You won't regret it. Well, until you're trying to get to sleep, that is.

Category: Science Fiction

Written by Joe Bodia

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