The dog. Signed up for the expedition for the bellyrubs, treats, table scraps, and sayings of "Whosh a good boy." Has not received promised treats or table scraps.
Here's The Thing. It really wanted to land in Tahiti, but was assigned to the barren wasteland of the Antarctic to study the migratory habits of primitive Emperor penguins instead. Hates its mother and has a gambling problem.
So glad they kept the ambiguous ending instead of the narrated one- much creepier and more thought-provoking! Also, was anyone else feeling a distinct 'Twilight Zone'-vibe from the narration?
yea lol they really do release amazing collectors editions (Halloween 2 also included the tv version) I wish they would do a child's play 2-Bride of chucky releases with the tv versions or at least the scenes included as extras same goes for jaws 2
This is excellent, though I think that the 2011 prequel Thule station guys need the character intros, way more than Outpost 13. Since, they're more bland than the Endeavor crew from the 2013 Tomb Raider game. (Seriously, I wanted to know more about Lars, Juliette, and Henrik, beyond the "He can't speak English, but works like a bear.", French scientist, and "Happily married dad that has 2 kids.")
Although interesting, I feel that all this was completely unnecessary. Is it kind of cool to know that a personal tragedy sent the doctor to Antarctica or that Windows hates the cold, etc.? Sure, but does it have an real importance to the story? Not really.
The alternative ending is brilliant, too bad it's not in the movie. On the jacky5111 channel it is without sound. I don't know if the filmmakers, if they decided to have such an ending at all, planned to post it without sound precisely, but if so, it should be just that, without sound. Amazing atmosphere of this scene in silence.
Holy sbit I didn't imagine it. Do you know how many arguments I got into about the ending with the dog running across the Snow? Look at this shit. I don't remember the introductions though.
Davidovar34 Nah, the background information should be sutle, given off by acting and the dialogue, and figured out by the viewer. That's what good art do! Funny enough, the biographies I had for them in my head are bizarrely similar to these intros, meaning Carpenter did a good job.
Medivhmen Well said ThatOneGuy, very rude and a totally unneccessary way to respond to someone's comment. To answer your question Mr Medivhmen, I am neither blind nor retarded. I asked a perfectly good question, to which no-one has yet posted an answer. I'm quite sure you will respond with another abusive comment, but am I bothered?
andyrowlands50029 if you werent blind you would see they were different scenes , its like saying green apple is identical to red apple . Your question was bad and you should feel bad , because it shows you did not watch the movie properly . Everyone I know who loves The Thing recognized it immediately , I think that proves something isnt it . Even the first commenter asked if you were blind so its not only me who feels the same way.
"Lars. Former Stormtrooper working for the Norwegians. can't throw a grenade for shit either. Dead." "Matias. Moron Norwegian Pilot who chases Grenades. Dead."
"And then there's The Thing. 46 (million) years old. Divorced. Suffers from sleep apnea. After a failed suicide attempt, woke up in the Antarctic. Still can't shake the memory of the girl he tried to assimilate, but who got away."
The movie kinda antagonizes him, but let's take a minute to appreciate the fact that Blair actually saved the world when he sabotaged the helicopter and the other vehicles. He was the first to have a clear understanding of the situation.
For sure, Blair's actor was fenomenal in his portrayal of a desperate man of science who lost it after making a terrible discovery. Still, Fuchs is by far the most level headed of the scientists, because regardless if the Thing could assimilate Earth in 27.000 hours or not, he still put every other person in the base in jeopardy, literally EVERYONE panics after Blair destroys the comms array and the vehicles, he should have consulted with say Macready and Fuchs, who were the leaders and most logical of them.
Agreed about the destruction of the vehicles. But I think it was a grave mistake to destroy the radio. Their best chance to save humanity was to guard the radio (and the generator) until they could send a warning signal. The thing doesn't need the radio - the rescue party would eventually come anyway.
whats interesting is that, only 30 years ago or so, people had fistonct regional accents, sometimes down the the neighborhood or even street level... now everyone talks like a mix of 90s "black" dialect and valley girl.
"Cheese Computer, after many months of defeating McCready and also suffering from the effects of isolation, succumbs to alcoholism and dies via alcohol induced electrocution."
The Thing will always be my personal favorite. This is the kind of film I'll watch over and over again a 100 times and never gets boring. I'm so fascinated seeing alternative, lost, deleted scenes. I saw this version when they aired it on TV. Very glad to see this again. Thanks and well done.
I'm pretty sure the introductions are just the character descriptions from the screenplay repeated verbatim...the ending was to try to give it a "Keep watching the skies!" feel like in the original.
Then there's me, the narratah. Scheduled for the voice of ET until a case of laryngitis. Washed up before being cast as the hands on the left side in them Country Crock butteh commercials. After enro, i mean, certain energy company i had stock in went south, took long vacation, also south, and i do mean south.
Man, it's absolutely horrible what this does to the movie as a whole! I mean, I'm very intrigued at this information and would love to read about those kind of extra details that we're never formally shown or told in the movie, but oh man, that voice over xD
I'm surprised not more of these men were in the military. The movie takes place in 1982 and so, only 7 years since the Fall of Saigon and the end of the war, not to mention that most of the men are between their mid thirties and early fifties. Macready could've been a helicopter pilot in Vietnam possibly; Palmer has a patch on his vest that says, US Army; Copper could've been a combat medic and Garry definitely has military experience!!!
Taken from imdb trivia on The Thing 1982: “While discussing the character of MacReady, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell discussed having MacReady be a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot who was involved in some sort of tragedy and since felt disgraced by his service. Because of this, MacReady suffers from PTSD, alcoholism, and severe insomnia. This backstory ultimately did not make it into the finished film, though it explains why MacReady was awake to hear the dogs whining and why he isn't fazed by the grotesque violence. It also adds deeper context to the line "I'm a real light sleeper, Childs."” I think its canon because its a made up story by authors, but im not sure.
"McCready, a top helicopter pilot, worked for Hughes Aircraft as a test pilot, until he got into a confrontation brawl with top management while drunk and was canned and took this assignment."
“Chuck (aka The Thing) just went out to get his wife a carton of milk and himself a pack of cigarettes, hit a patch of wormhole and ended up lost and ran out of gas landing him on earth. Not sure he wants to go back home now because his wife is going to be pissed.”
Thanks for the upload this does appear to be the TV version of the end I saw though I can't figure out why it wasn't included in the DVD version I bought.
I imagine it would've been distracting to hear a narrator pop in to introduce people during the movie. That said, it's interesting that they spelled it out in this that Norris had a heart condition, whereas in the film, it's kinda nebulous as to what exactly it was that was plaguing him. I'd always kinda wondered if his replica body was somehow rejecting its host, if maybe the transformation hadn't gone right somehow.
"Palmer, 3rd rate chopper pilot. Crack mechanic who hopes to start up his own business smuggling marijuana from Mexico upon completion of this assignment."
"Windows. Hates being a radio operator, hates being here. A Charles Manson fan and can't wait to get back to the states. Claims he is the best friend of Bill Gates before he started "Microsoft".
Best horror movie/any movie ever made (my opinion). I didn't even finish the intro - I like: Because The Thing Horror theme aside, how could you realistically combat this Thing and expect to survive?
These character introductions are terrific, and I wish they were in the original film. Whoever had the idea to create them knew what they were doing. This film has a large cast, the characters get no backstory, and what kinds of people work in Antarctica isn't common knowledge. We don't even see the mechanics performing mechanical work, let alone the assistant biologist performing whatever biology work looks like (or even being referred to as a biologist), so how would we know what these people are? (It's not like this is a farm where it is conceivable that everyone in the audience would be familiar with what jobs people do on a farm, and therefore what skills they have.) We certainly never get to know how these characters feel about living in Antarctica or what brought them there, and thereby be able to predict or understand their individual actions and motives better (let alone identifying with them more and therefore feeling their plight more intensely). The film deals with a hidden enemy, thereby making character motivations all the more important as the audience tries to guess who is infected/the spy/the mole/the saboteur/the murderer. The film sets up a "watch everyone carefully for any suspicious behaviour" tone, but that is impossible to do if you don't even know what the characters do for a living, let alone know anything about them personally. Knowing more about the characters heightens the enjoyment of the film, and increases the draw to "watch everyone carefully". "Is that mechanic using biology skills/knows his way too well around the lab? Maybe he is a Thing!" The alternate ending here though can be a bit confusing. All the dogs were killed, so who is this dog? If a Thing has escaped, why wouldn't it take the form of a human? If a dog had been missed, why wasn't it mentioned/shown/hinted at earlier? If we are to believe that a dog form is better than a human form, why did the Thing not simply escape the camp in the beginning of the film as a dog, why stick around to assimilate human form only to find it not as good for its current purpose? Then the alternate ending brings to mind the idea: Why didn't the Thing just run to the ocean as a dog, absorb a fish, and swim to civilization at the beginning of the film? If we are to believe the Thing has bestial intelligence, how could it possibly mimic a human so perfectly as to be undetectable by that human's companions? If it is as smart as a human, why is it not taking advantage of its advantages? If it is eating humans for the sake of food, why not just be a dog and eat dog food? Why not become a fly and just hang out on the wall until the supply ship comes? If the Thing only has the intelligence of what form it currently possesses, what would motivate it to ever change form? A dog has no instinctual urge to absorb a human. And what purpose would this urge serve if not for nourishment? If procreation is the urge, why wouldn't it procreate as a dog does and follow the natural dog instincts in this matter as well? If the Thing is a bioengineered biological weapon, with a programmed urge to desire sentient beings (differentiating them by brain types?), why did it absorb a dog in the first place? If it is programmed to absorb everything, why does it have the urge to leave Antarctica when there are lots of lifeforms there still to absorb? The Thing was shown building a UFO, was its motivation to go back to outerspace? Was every act after construction started simply to keep the humans from finding the UFO? Is that why the Thing hid the generator instead of destroying it, so that it could reinstall it after the humans were dead so its human body could stay alive to finish the UFO? In the original ending of the film it can be assumed that both men die from exposure, and it makes sense for the film to not want to show this. It is more of a downer to actually see the dead bodies of characters we have invested in, then to simply fade to black with them smiling and accepting their fate while still full of life. The ambiguity is only in whether the Thing was actually defeated. Chunks of the Thing are sure to be around. The question then becomes, are the chunks large enough to keep the Thing cells alive, and will the rescue team inadvertently bring those chunks back to civilization (or dissect them there and accidentally touch their mouths without washing first)?
+SeaOfTides It can be assumed that a large enough mass of the Thing can survive exposure, as it did for 100,000 years in the ice. But small masses of the thing are still just cells, the exposure would almost certainly kill them. The real question is whether or not Childs/MacReady was the Thing and there is a very solid argument for Childs being infected Also it is easy to assume the Thing was trying to build a spacecraft but in reality it only needed a half-decent aircraft to get "anywhere but here"
In the original story(book form) even a single cell of the thing organism is enough to assimilate another lifeform..... Humanity had no chance against it.
I know this is an old post but the 'alternate ending" was actually filmed as an alternate opening. The destruction shown was meat to be the Norwegian base (which in real-life was just the U.S. base set being re-used.) The dog was supposed to be the Dog-Thing from the beginning of the film. On some tv re-airings, though, execs didn't want to close on the final shot of the film, and re-used this axed beginning as an alternate ending, apparently not realizing that it actually made the ending more of a downer. Fun fact: originally there was another alternate ending made (although to my knowledge it was never used in any cut of the film, even to test audiences.) This one was a "happy" ending meant in case the ending as seen in the released film didn't go over well. In it, Macready is in an office, after being rescued, and after having passed a blood test.
I'm stunned, given how conservative TV was back then--I mean, even Halloween, which is tame compared to this, had to be edited for violence--that they even prepped a TV version of The Thing. Granted, I only saw it once back in '89 or so and don't remember much (watching an edited version of this doesn't leave much of an impression) but how much did they actually leave in? Ironically, despite it's goofy intrusion, this narration established the characters better than the theatrical version did! Ha!
1:25 "First gol-darn week of winter!" LOLL that's not what he said in the theatrical version! I first saw this movie on TV, I hope it wasn't this bloody awful version. The narration is incredibly annoying!
![[Limbus Company - Teaser] Season5 - Oblivion](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8anKuEeZLeI/mqdefault.jpg)
"Dog. Likes to eat food, lick himself, and pee in the snow. Occasionally pees in people's clothing drawers and watches as another dog gets blamed."
Lol...
“Also likes to drink from toilets and sniffs other dogs’ butts.”
0:57 When they pan to the dog for a really long time I thought they were gonna give him an introduction too.
The dog. Signed up for the expedition for the bellyrubs, treats, table scraps, and sayings of "Whosh a good boy." Has not received promised treats or table scraps.
"The Thing, a creature that enjoys assimilation, long walks in the snow, and tearing through the clothing of others, wanting to leave the Arctic."
And hates guys named Windows.
It’s the Antarctic...
69th like
@@StarryStarryNocturne *HEY, FUCK YOU, THING!*
@@windows2785 ok you window in the ice
Here's The Thing. It really wanted to land in Tahiti, but was assigned to the barren wasteland of the Antarctic to study the migratory habits of primitive Emperor penguins instead. Hates its mother and has a gambling problem.
Dutch Vanderlinde wanted to go to Tahiti too.
"First gawl-darn week of winter."
Windows, an ex member of a Coney Island Gang
"A product of Watts"....classic. "Got his start cooking for old man Sanford and his son."
So glad they kept the ambiguous ending instead of the narrated one- much creepier and more thought-provoking! Also, was anyone else feeling a distinct 'Twilight Zone'-vibe from the narration?
Doctuh Coppah: graduate of Harvard Medical School. Attempts pushing defibrillators through patient's rib cages when performing resuscitation
Scream Factory is including this goofy oddity on their upcoming blu-ray Collector's Edition in full.
yea lol they really do release amazing collectors editions (Halloween 2 also included the tv version) I wish they would do a child's play 2-Bride of chucky releases with the tv versions or at least the scenes included as extras same goes for jaws 2
It kinda makes me sad that this looks like it came off an HD channel, while the version on the blu-ray looks like a really bad VHS copy.
At 2:06 watch dead Norwegian blink his eyes
billy357magnum1 Maybe it was The Thing starting to take control of his body.
He's only sorta dead....
Hala K the Thing can’t assimilate life forms that are dead
Nash this was a unused scene
Hah! I never noticed.
The narrator sounds almost like the late Robb Webb who did the voiceover for 60 Minutes
This is MORE LIKELY to be a SKELETON CREW tasked with upkeep of the outpost during the winter months!
This is excellent, though I think that the 2011 prequel Thule station guys need the character intros, way more than Outpost 13. Since, they're more bland than the Endeavor crew from the 2013 Tomb Raider game.
(Seriously, I wanted to know more about Lars, Juliette, and Henrik, beyond the "He can't speak English, but works like a bear.", French scientist, and "Happily married dad that has 2 kids.")
Did he call Fuchs Pukes?
One of the best films ever
Dammit man the good old days are gone but this platform is the closest thing to a time machine.
This is sad because each of these men had their own their professions and endeavors, they dies letting sure humanity was saved.
0:57 The dog is called Clark ?
While I like learning a little more about the characters, the intro just feels poorly made, stale and doesn't really fit the tone of the film.
0.38 this chess position is won by Black,, White is in check and will be checkmated in a few moves
What alternate ending? The dog just running?
Goremeister100 People are probably confused considering it's just the begging scene at the end.
spencer whippers
it's not the same scene as at the begining. Don't you see the smoke from the burnt up camp??
Shut up, it is!
spencer whippers go check the both this and intro scene , they are not same , kid . This is the alternate ending .
Medivhmen That is the same footage as the dog running from the Norwegian camp. Its the same footage not alternate one bit.
Anybody notice the dead Norwegian blinking when Garry checks his dog tags?
yes, everyone who has ever seen it has noticed that.
2:05 - dead guy blinks WTF?
Although interesting, I feel that all this was completely unnecessary. Is it kind of cool to know that a personal tragedy sent the doctor to Antarctica or that Windows hates the cold, etc.? Sure, but does it have an real importance to the story? Not really.
Completely agree. Personally, comparing this to the normal edit, this version makes it seem corny.
The alternative ending is brilliant, too bad it's not in the movie. On the jacky5111 channel it is without sound. I don't know if the filmmakers, if they decided to have such an ending at all, planned to post it without sound precisely, but if so, it should be just that, without sound. Amazing atmosphere of this scene in silence.
Holy sbit I didn't imagine it. Do you know how many arguments I got into about the ending with the dog running across the Snow? Look at this shit. I don't remember the introductions though.
Nice, hopefully someone owes you some drinks or somethin!
this pronunciation though xd 1:36 dr kappa
Those character introductions are terrible hahah xD i'm glad i watched the original cut
+Ivo Wilson I like them, they give some more background information :)
Davidovar34 Nah, the background information should be sutle, given off by acting and the dialogue, and figured out by the viewer. That's what good art do!
Funny enough, the biographies I had for them in my head are bizarrely similar to these intros, meaning Carpenter did a good job.
2:05 Another deleted scene right there.
“Macraydy”?
So where is the alternate ending? I didn't see one.
dog running. are you blind?
***** Sometimes you gotta be rude when people ask such stupid questions , I dont like talking like that but I had to .
Medivhmen Well said ThatOneGuy, very rude and a totally unneccessary way to respond to someone's comment. To answer your question Mr Medivhmen, I am neither blind nor retarded. I asked a perfectly good question, to which no-one has yet posted an answer. I'm quite sure you will respond with another abusive comment, but am I bothered?
andyrowlands50029 if you werent blind you would see they were different scenes , its like saying green apple is identical to red apple . Your question was bad and you should feel bad , because it shows you did not watch the movie properly . Everyone I know who loves The Thing recognized it immediately , I think that proves something isnt it . Even the first commenter asked if you were blind so its not only me who feels the same way.
Medivhmen I've watched the original movie more times than you've had hot dinners, but you're right, I do feel bad. So so very bad. NOT.
*Awful*
That was worse than Hitler.
"Lars. Former Stormtrooper working for the Norwegians. can't throw a grenade for shit either. Dead."
"Matias. Moron Norwegian Pilot who chases Grenades. Dead."
I LOVE YOU!!! This made me cry!
Laughing my ass off...
Hahahahaha yo this jus mad my day!!!! 😂😂😂
Did anyone tell you you`re a wonderful human being? Well you are.
Ha! Perfect. Dude couldn't hit the floor if he fell down.
"And then there's The Thing. 46 (million) years old. Divorced. Suffers from sleep apnea. After a failed suicide attempt, woke up in the Antarctic. Still can't shake the memory of the girl he tried to assimilate, but who got away."
Nice one Mate.
Aww, poor Thing... I want that movie where it's the protagonist now.
Love it!!!
@@SpruceCampbell there's actually a fanfic by Peter Watts.
@@benthomason3307 link?
The movie kinda antagonizes him, but let's take a minute to appreciate the fact that Blair actually saved the world when he sabotaged the helicopter and the other vehicles. He was the first to have a clear understanding of the situation.
That thing didn't want to be an animal! It wanted to be uussss!
But not in this edit!
For sure, Blair's actor was fenomenal in his portrayal of a desperate man of science who lost it after making a terrible discovery. Still, Fuchs is by far the most level headed of the scientists, because regardless if the Thing could assimilate Earth in 27.000 hours or not, he still put every other person in the base in jeopardy, literally EVERYONE panics after Blair destroys the comms array and the vehicles, he should have consulted with say Macready and Fuchs, who were the leaders and most logical of them.
Agreed about the destruction of the vehicles. But I think it was a grave mistake to destroy the radio. Their best chance to save humanity was to guard the radio (and the generator) until they could send a warning signal. The thing doesn't need the radio - the rescue party would eventually come anyway.
Narration makes it sound like a drug PSA, LOL.
"Blair. Top microbiologist. Tells Childs "I KEEL YEW!". Thinks that throwing an empty pistol might have as good a shot as firing a loaded one."
@@user-73a WHAT fuck you man
The Thing: Assimilating countless planets for 3000 years. Needs more practice flying spaceships.
This is great comment.
I would rather say that the thing broke out in the ship because it was floating around before it crashed down
I love the narrator's accent! Wish they could've used it somewhere in the movie! Doctah Coppah, Palmah, Bla-ah...priceless!
Brett Owen sounds like a transatlantic accent
whats interesting is that, only 30 years ago or so, people had fistonct regional accents, sometimes down the the neighborhood or even street level... now everyone talks like a mix of 90s "black" dialect and valley girl.
"Cheese Computer, after many months of defeating McCready and also suffering from the effects of isolation, succumbs to alcoholism and dies via alcohol induced electrocution."
Nauls. A cook. Just a damn cook. So uneventful at life, his death wasn't even shown.
Lol
Nauls looks like he just graduated, or just got into the army and took this assignment cause it looked interesting. Give him a break.
Hey, he at least made it to be the last person killed!
That's something.
Nails. Rollerblade enthusiast
adds to the paranoia of "who" is the thing
"Blair. Hates diabeetus. Also knows who has diabeetus. Wants you to have that ice cream."
Man, this really dilutes the movie and gives it a "made for tv" type quality. I can see why Carpenter disowned this version.
The movie actually is very "TV like", it's cinematography feels way more documentary-like, which makes the movie feel more real.
"Flamethrower. Mac wants one. Prone to malfunction at critical moments."
windows is like me in school when i was a kid. "Robbie. Hates being in class. Hates being here. Cant wait for the summer."
Youre very unremarkable. Every child ever thought that
@@johnm3907 john m. Points out the obvious nobody was denying or asking for. Kind of a dick.
@@damkylan3 ah dont call yourself a dick. Im sure you have at least 1 redeaming quality
And then after years of indoctrination at school you land your first ”puppet job” and feel the same way. Nothing beats freedom.
The Thing is literally the best movie ever made.
maybe, if this was the only movie you ever saw.
Nah! That title goes to 1978's Dawn Of The Dead! Carpenter's Absolute Classic Thing ranks Second!
@@cornjobb Funny, that's EXACTLY what your parents said about you to your prom date.
It's the best horror film ever made in my opinion, but there are many genres.
Best Horror movie...
Palmer - crack mechanic
Yeeeaaah I bet xD
Plans to start his own crack business huh?
The Thing will always be my personal favorite. This is the kind of film I'll watch over and over again a 100 times and never gets boring. I'm so fascinated seeing alternative, lost, deleted scenes. I saw this version when they aired it on TV. Very glad to see this again. Thanks and well done.
I saw this on TV too.
@@zejaguar They always show a lot of the delete scenes. Also The Thing turns 40.
Mac's blow-up doll: Just wants to be loved. Sprung a leak after a week of use. Now spends its remaining days stuffed in Mac's oil furnace.
I'm pretty sure the introductions are just the character descriptions from the screenplay repeated verbatim...the ending was to try to give it a "Keep watching the skies!" feel like in the original.
Probably an advertising for the theater...
Then there's me, the narratah. Scheduled for the voice of ET until a case of laryngitis. Washed up before being cast as the hands on the left side in them Country Crock butteh commercials. After enro, i mean, certain energy company i had stock in went south, took long vacation, also south, and i do mean south.
👏 🤣
No worder all this was cut. Its hokey as fuck. Its like an old army vid from 50s about how to fire your rifle.
Frozen Norwegian Outpost Scientist: tends to shave a bit too aggressively.
The thing. An alien monster. It want to rule the world. Hate the flamethrower and TNT.
This version aired on TNT years ago and I never saw it again until I found this video. Thank you.
"These character introductions are terrific" "Those character introductions are terrible"
Man, it's absolutely horrible what this does to the movie as a whole! I mean, I'm very intrigued at this information and would love to read about those kind of extra details that we're never formally shown or told in the movie, but oh man, that voice over xD
J&B Scotch, MacReady's drink of choice. Promoted to molotov cocktail.
This would have been perfect for the Hawks version.
lol
I'm surprised not more of these men were in the military. The movie takes place in 1982 and so, only 7 years since the Fall of Saigon and the end of the war, not to mention that most of the men are between their mid thirties and early fifties. Macready could've been a helicopter pilot in Vietnam possibly; Palmer has a patch on his vest that says, US Army; Copper could've been a combat medic and Garry definitely has military experience!!!
Taken from imdb trivia on The Thing 1982: “While discussing the character of MacReady, John Carpenter and Kurt Russell discussed having MacReady be a former Vietnam War helicopter pilot who was involved in some sort of tragedy and since felt disgraced by his service. Because of this, MacReady suffers from PTSD, alcoholism, and severe insomnia. This backstory ultimately did not make it into the finished film, though it explains why MacReady was awake to hear the dogs whining and why he isn't fazed by the grotesque violence. It also adds deeper context to the line "I'm a real light sleeper, Childs."”
I think its canon because its a made up story by authors, but im not sure.
@@IIWolFFinEII new head canon for me, makes too much sense. the lack of a backstory still fit better in the movie i think
*The Thing from another world. Very Grumpy, literally just wants to "get off this worthless rock"*
This reminded me of The Twilight Zone
I get a Criswell vibe from the narrator.
Best movie ever.
I love Gary introduction.
He just goes cowboy shooting with that Norway stranger.
Palmer always my favorite 😍
"McCready, a top helicopter pilot, worked for Hughes Aircraft as a test pilot, until he got into a confrontation brawl with top management while drunk and was canned and took this assignment."
0:57 I almost expected him to just say "A Dog."
“Chuck (aka The Thing) just went out to get his wife a carton of milk and himself a pack of cigarettes, hit a patch of wormhole and ended up lost and ran out of gas landing him on earth. Not sure he wants to go back home now because his wife is going to be pissed.”
Thanks for the upload this does appear to be the TV version of the end I saw though I can't figure out why it wasn't included in the DVD version I bought.
I imagine it would've been distracting to hear a narrator pop in to introduce people during the movie. That said, it's interesting that they spelled it out in this that Norris had a heart condition, whereas in the film, it's kinda nebulous as to what exactly it was that was plaguing him. I'd always kinda wondered if his replica body was somehow rejecting its host, if maybe the transformation hadn't gone right somehow.
Damn this just made me love the movie even more!
"Palmer, 3rd rate chopper pilot. Crack mechanic who hopes to start up his own business smuggling marijuana from Mexico upon completion of this assignment."
It’s amazing how this movie continues to grow.
This is so strange. I'd love to know which executive thought this was a good idea, and why. It just drastically cheapens the entire movie.
I just noticed a lot of differences in the scenes here. Like the "four stitches; barely grazed ya" isn't as close-up to the actors' faces.
Who the fuck is narrating this? Bernie Sanders?
This looks like a better quality version of the TV version of The Thing. I wish they'd added this version instead of the one on the Blu ray.
Palmer. Likes to smoke dope. Mcready. Bad chess player. Short temper. Don't surprise him when he has a revolver
I HAVE actually been wondering what the fuck most of these guys were even employed to do there (especially Palmer)
I was hoping it was going to show the original alternate ending, where MacReady is confirmed to survive and not be a Thing.
0:33 Jim Morrison
This sucks. Spoonfeeding the audience.
"Narrator. Spent World War II saying things like 'give 'em hell, boys' on newsreels."
"Windows. Hates being a radio operator, hates being here. A Charles Manson fan and can't wait to get back to the states. Claims he is the best friend of Bill Gates before he started "Microsoft".
This move is a classic, like tombstone and and Shawshank redemption.
The dead Norwegian blinks!
The true ending is better
Gary ,likes to be tied to couches for long winters, and enjoys Hob Nobs
Holy fuck...this comment section is hilarious! (Love the movie, by the way).
Cheatin' Bitch was the real hero of the movie.
Best horror movie/any movie ever made (my opinion). I didn't even finish the intro - I like: Because The Thing
Horror theme aside, how could you realistically combat this Thing and expect to survive?
The opening voice soundz like one of the KENNEDY brothers..
Yep; those very ones.. Probably from the same area as them.
This gives a great deal of background to this story.
These character introductions are terrific, and I wish they were in the original film. Whoever had the idea to create them knew what they were doing.
This film has a large cast, the characters get no backstory, and what kinds of people work in Antarctica isn't common knowledge. We don't even see the mechanics performing mechanical work, let alone the assistant biologist performing whatever biology work looks like (or even being referred to as a biologist), so how would we know what these people are? (It's not like this is a farm where it is conceivable that everyone in the audience would be familiar with what jobs people do on a farm, and therefore what skills they have.) We certainly never get to know how these characters feel about living in Antarctica or what brought them there, and thereby be able to predict or understand their individual actions and motives better (let alone identifying with them more and therefore feeling their plight more intensely). The film deals with a hidden enemy, thereby making character motivations all the more important as the audience tries to guess who is infected/the spy/the mole/the saboteur/the murderer. The film sets up a "watch everyone carefully for any suspicious behaviour" tone, but that is impossible to do if you don't even know what the characters do for a living, let alone know anything about them personally. Knowing more about the characters heightens the enjoyment of the film, and increases the draw to "watch everyone carefully". "Is that mechanic using biology skills/knows his way too well around the lab? Maybe he is a Thing!"
The alternate ending here though can be a bit confusing. All the dogs were killed, so who is this dog? If a Thing has escaped, why wouldn't it take the form of a human? If a dog had been missed, why wasn't it mentioned/shown/hinted at earlier? If we are to believe that a dog form is better than a human form, why did the Thing not simply escape the camp in the beginning of the film as a dog, why stick around to assimilate human form only to find it not as good for its current purpose? Then the alternate ending brings to mind the idea: Why didn't the Thing just run to the ocean as a dog, absorb a fish, and swim to civilization at the beginning of the film? If we are to believe the Thing has bestial intelligence, how could it possibly mimic a human so perfectly as to be undetectable by that human's companions? If it is as smart as a human, why is it not taking advantage of its advantages? If it is eating humans for the sake of food, why not just be a dog and eat dog food? Why not become a fly and just hang out on the wall until the supply ship comes? If the Thing only has the intelligence of what form it currently possesses, what would motivate it to ever change form? A dog has no instinctual urge to absorb a human. And what purpose would this urge serve if not for nourishment? If procreation is the urge, why wouldn't it procreate as a dog does and follow the natural dog instincts in this matter as well? If the Thing is a bioengineered biological weapon, with a programmed urge to desire sentient beings (differentiating them by brain types?), why did it absorb a dog in the first place? If it is programmed to absorb everything, why does it have the urge to leave Antarctica when there are lots of lifeforms there still to absorb? The Thing was shown building a UFO, was its motivation to go back to outerspace? Was every act after construction started simply to keep the humans from finding the UFO? Is that why the Thing hid the generator instead of destroying it, so that it could reinstall it after the humans were dead so its human body could stay alive to finish the UFO?
In the original ending of the film it can be assumed that both men die from exposure, and it makes sense for the film to not want to show this. It is more of a downer to actually see the dead bodies of characters we have invested in, then to simply fade to black with them smiling and accepting their fate while still full of life. The ambiguity is only in whether the Thing was actually defeated. Chunks of the Thing are sure to be around. The question then becomes, are the chunks large enough to keep the Thing cells alive, and will the rescue team inadvertently bring those chunks back to civilization (or dissect them there and accidentally touch their mouths without washing first)?
+SeaOfTides It can be assumed that a large enough mass of the Thing can survive exposure, as it did for 100,000 years in the ice. But small masses of the thing are still just cells, the exposure would almost certainly kill them. The real question is whether or not Childs/MacReady was the Thing and there is a very solid argument for Childs being infected
Also it is easy to assume the Thing was trying to build a spacecraft but in reality it only needed a half-decent aircraft to get "anywhere but here"
+CJ Syikes If you are skeptical enough there is no conclusive evidence the sky is blue
In the original story(book form) even a single cell of the thing organism is enough to assimilate another lifeform..... Humanity had no chance against it.
read John W. Campbell, Jr.'s novella Who Goes There?
I know this is an old post but the 'alternate ending" was actually filmed as an alternate opening. The destruction shown was meat to be the Norwegian base (which in real-life was just the U.S. base set being re-used.) The dog was supposed to be the Dog-Thing from the beginning of the film. On some tv re-airings, though, execs didn't want to close on the final shot of the film, and re-used this axed beginning as an alternate ending, apparently not realizing that it actually made the ending more of a downer. Fun fact: originally there was another alternate ending made (although to my knowledge it was never used in any cut of the film, even to test audiences.) This one was a "happy" ending meant in case the ending as seen in the released film didn't go over well. In it, Macready is in an office, after being rescued, and after having passed a blood test.
"Childes, a mechanic, who went to trade school to airlines and became a janitor. Non better."
Garry is meant to be 30?
I'm stunned, given how conservative TV was back then--I mean, even Halloween, which is tame compared to this, had to be edited for violence--that they even prepped a TV version of The Thing. Granted, I only saw it once back in '89 or so and don't remember much (watching an edited version of this doesn't leave much of an impression) but how much did they actually leave in?
Ironically, despite it's goofy intrusion, this narration established the characters better than the theatrical version did! Ha!
1:25 "First gol-darn week of winter!" LOLL that's not what he said in the theatrical version! I first saw this movie on TV, I hope it wasn't this bloody awful version. The narration is incredibly annoying!