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The Thing
The ultimate in alien terror.
( Horror / Mystery / Sci-Fi )


The Thing Poster



US Runtime: 109 min

Country of Origin: Canada / United States of America

Premiere Date:
Jun 25, 1982   [USA]
 
Director: John Carpenter
 
Writer: Bill Lancaster   [Screenplay]
 
Producers: Stuart Cohen   [Co-Producer]
David Foster   [Producer]
Larry Franco   [Associate Producer]
Wilbur Stark   [Executive Producer]
Lawrence Turman   [Producer]
 
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
 
Edited by: Todd C. Ramsay
 
Music Composed by John Carpenter
Alan Howarth
Ennio Morricone
 
Production Design: John J. Lloyd
 
Casting by Anita Dann
 
Production Companys: Province of BC, Ministry of Tourism, Film Promotion Office
The Turman-Foster Company   (US)
Turman-Foster Company
Universal Pictures   (US)
 


Plot Summary:

    A research team in Antarctica is hunted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of its victims.

Cast: (First 20, for the rest click 'Show All Cast & Crew' below.)

Kurt Russell
MacReady
Keith David
Childs
Wilford Brimley
Blair
T.K. Carter
Nauls
David Clennon
Palmer
Richard Dysart
Dr. Copper
Charles Hallahan
Norris
Peter Maloney
Bennings
 
Richard Masur
Clark
Donald Moffat
Garry
Joel Polis
Fuchs
Thomas G. Waites
Windows
Norbert Weisser
Norwegian
Larry Franco
Norwegian Passenger with Rifle
Nate Irwin
Helicopter Pilot
William Zeman
Pilot
 
 

Show All Cast & Crew

Miscellaneous Companies:

Pickwick/Maslansky/Koenigsberg, Inc.
special publicity
RGB Optical
opticals
 
Universal Title
end titles
 

Special Effects Department:

Dreamstate Effects
Motion Graphics
computer graphics
Stan Winston Studio
 
Universal Title
optical effects
Visual Concept Engineering (VCE)
visual effects
 

Filming Locations: (Now With Clickable Links To Location On Google Maps)

 

Tech Info:

Budget:
$15,000,000
Revenue:
$19,629,760
Color Info:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
Cinematographic Process:
Panavision
Film Negative Format:
35 mm
Printed Film Format:
35 mm / 70 mm
Shooting Dates:
Jun 1981 - ????

Quotes:

  • MacReady: First goddamn week of winter.
     
  • [Last line]
    MacReady: Why don't we just wait here for a while... see what happens.
     
  • Childs: You're gonna have to sleep sometime, MacCready.
    MacCready: I'm a real light sleeper, Childs.
     
  • [Norris' head grows legs and tries to walk away.]
    Palmer: You gotta be fucking kidding.
     
  • Palmer: I was wonderin' when El Capitan was gonna get a chance to use his popgun.
     

Trivia:

  • This is the first film in what John Carpenter calls his Apocalypse Trilogy. The other two are Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness.
     
  • At the beginning of the film the Norwegian with the rifle screams in Norwegian: "Stop, get the hell away! It's not a dog - it's just an imitation of a dog, it's a kind of thing. It imitates. Get the hell away from the dog you fucking idiots!"
     
  • In the close up shot of the United States National Science Institute Station 4 sign, a 'Smokey the Bear' sign can be seen.
     
  • The Norwegian camp scenes were actually the charred remains of the American site from the end of the film. Rather than go to the expense of building and burning down another camp, Carpenter re-used the destroyed American camp.
     
  • In the scene where Norris' (Charles Hallahan) head separates from his body, special-FX designer Rob Bottin used highly inflammable materials for the construction of interior of the head and neck models. During the shoot John Carpenter decided that, for continuity reasons, they needed some flames around the scene. Without thinking they lit a fire bar and the whole room, which by now was filled with inflammable gasses, caught fire. Nobody got hurt, but the entire special effects model, on which Bottin had worked several months, was destroyed.
     

DVD Easter Eggs: (Hidden So You Don't See Anything You Don't Want To See)


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