The Thing Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Thing Blu-ray Movie Review

Units still remain from Scream Factory's limited edition (count of 10,000) 4K SteelBook of John Carpenter's THE THING (1982). The three-disc set can be purchased from Amazon.com (by clinking the main link above) or through Shout! Factory's official product page. Region "A" locked.

On the two prior US releases of the film, you can read the thoughts and analyses by my colleagues Marty Liebman and Jeff Kauffman's on the 2008 Universal BD-25 and Scream Factory's 2016 two-disc Collector's Edition.

The Thing Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is the second BD package of The Thing that Scream has put out in the last couple years. Shout!'s subsidiary label has added an all-new disc containing a 4K scan from the original camera negative. It is sourced from the same 4K restoration that Arrow used for its 2017 single-disc Special Edition. What is not noted by Scream is that the final grading of the 35mm camera negative was supervised and approved by director John Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey at Deluxe in Culver City, CA. I've interleaved a slew of screen captures of the Universal, the two Scream's, and Arrow so you can appreciate the differences between each. The basic characteristics of the new Scream and Arrow are similar but the framing on the Scream seems wider and stretched. The grain on the Scream is consistent but there is some sharpening. The image on the Arrow is a little more detailed and displays a more organic and authentic presentation to the original theatrical appearance. But when examined side by side, the color schemes between the two are very similar. Where you'll see notable discrepancies, however, is in light and density when comparing them to the old Shout! and Universal. The MPEG-4 AVC encodes on both BD-50s sport a mean video bitrate of 35000 kbps.

Screenshots 1-15, 19, 23, 27, & 31 = Shout! Factory 2017 4K Scan
Screenshots 16, 20, 24, & 28 = Universal Studios 2008 Blu-ray
Screenshots 18, 22, 26, & 30 = Shout! Factory 2016 2K Scan
Screenshots 17, 21, 25, & 29 = Arrow UK 2017 4K Restoration

The Thing Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Both the 2K and 4K versions of The Thing come with three DTS-HD Master Audio tracks: a 4.1 audio mix created from the original 70mm six-track Dolby Stereo sound track, a 5.1 mix, and a generic 2.0. There are very small disparities between each track's audio bitrates on both transfers and they sound practically identical to my hears. I prefer listening to either the 5.1 or 4.1 mixes, each of which really bring out Ennio Morricone's rising-in-pitch synthesizer. Carpenter opted to employ the "Main Title" theme as an ostinato throughout the film.

Optional English SDH have been provided on discs one and two for the main feature.

The Thing Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Thing has enjoyed a fruitful life on home video going back Universal's "Signature Collection" LaserDisc in mid-1990s. There aren't any new extras on this SB package, though.

DISC ONE: 2017 4K Scan of the Feature Film (1:48:34)

DISC TWO: 2016 2K Scan of the Interpositive (1:48:34) Supervised and Approved by Director of Photography Dean Cundey

• Audio Commentary with Director of Photography Dean Cundey

• Audio Commentary with Co-producer Stuart Cohen

• Audio Commentary by Director John Carpenter and Actor Kurt Russell

• Behind-the-Scenes Gallery (4:47, 1080p)

• Lobby Cards and Press Stills Gallery (4:18, 1080p)

• Programs Gallery (1:44, 1080p)

• Posters Gallery (1:59, 1080p)

• Storyboards Gallery (2:34, 1080p)

• Production Artwork Gallery (1:24, 1080p)

• Two Theatrical Trailers (3:27, 1080p)

• German Theatrical Trailer (1:47, 1080p)

• Teaser Trailer (1:22, 1080p)

• TV Spots (1:35, upscaled 1080p)

• Radio Spots (2:27)

• Network TV Broadcast Version of THE THING (presented in 1.33:1, 480i)

• Requiem for a Shape Shifter – An Interview with Director John Carpenter in Conversation with Filmmaker Mick Garris (28:39, 1080p)

• The Men of Outpost 31 – Interviews with Keith David, Wilford Brimley, David Clennon, Thomas Waites, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur and Joel Polis (51:14, 1080p)

• Assembling and Assimilation - An Interview with Editor Todd Ramsay (11:09, 1080p)

• Behind the Chameleon: The Visual Effects of THE THING – Interviews with Visual Effects Artists Peter Kuran and Susan Turner, Special Make-up Effects Artist Rob Burman, Brian Wade and Stop Motion Animators Randall William Cook, and Jim Aupperle (25:26, 1080p)

• Sounds from the Cold – Interviews with Supervising Sound Editor David Lewis Yewdall and Special Sound Effects Designer Alan Howarth (14:53, 1080p)

• Between the Lines – An Interview with Novelization Author Alan Dean Foster (15:58, 1080p)

• Back into the Cold: A Return to the Shooting Locations of THE THING An Animated Photo Gallery – Narrated by Todd Cameron of Outpost31.com (11:16, 1080p)

• The Art of Mike Ploog Gallery (12:21, 1080p)

• John Carpenter's THE THING: Terror Takes Shape – A Documentary on the Making of THE THING Featuring Interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, Special Effects Make-up Designer Rob Bottin, Legendary Matte Artist Albert Whitlock, and More! (84:03, upscaled to 1080i)

• Outtakes (5:19, upscaled to 1080i)

• Vintage Featurettes from the Electronic Press Kit Featuring Interviews with John Carpenter, Kurt Russell, and Rob Bottin (13:20, 480i)

• Vintage Featurettes – The Making of a Chilling Tale (5:14, 480i) and The Making of THE THING (9:20, 480i)

• Vintage Product Reel – Contains a Condensed Version of the Film with Additional Footage Not in the Film (19:38, 480i)

• Vintage Behind-the-Scenes Footage (2:02, 480i)

• Annotated Production Archive (54:12, upscaled to 1080i)

The Thing Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Unless there is an UHD of The Thing on the horizon (and I haven't seen any indications from Shout!, Arrow, or Studio Canal that there will be), then this 3-disc SteelBook (along with Arrow's remastered release) remain the definitive packages. There are a lot of overlapping bonus materials on both editions but they each also contain unique and exclusive extras. True fans will want to have both in their collections. MY HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION.