My Top 25 Sci-Fi Movies of all Time - #24
by Ken Parker
This could be a controversial pick or perhaps more accurately, a controversial
omission. The following film is often placed in the horror category
but because of the amount of sci-fi elements, I felt it belonged
here.
Before I continue I want to mention
something about my estimates on how many times I have seen a movie.
First off, the number of times someone has seen a film doesn't
dictate how much they may like a it. Sometimes one may be content in
only seeing the movie a few times or even once. People generally do
see a movie more often when they like it but that is not always the
case. Concerning my amounts – to the best of my knowledge they are
rough estimates that are relatively close but you may notice the
numbers may be low compared to other people who claim to have seen
certain movies hundreds of times. My estimates are based on the
number of years the film has been out and how familiar I am with the
movie. Some movies I see every couple of years while others rarely.
These numbers are watching the movie completely and not just watching
a few minutes here and there. Oh, and very few of these have I seen
in the theater, most have been on TV.
Now for #24
24 - The Thing (1982)
One of my favorite directors is John
Carpenter and this is the first of two movies of his on this list.
Story
Summary - From IMDB - An American scientific expedition to the frozen
wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad
Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the
dog crashes leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night,
the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the
team that investigate. The team soon realises that an alien life-form
with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they
don't know who may already have been taken over. Written
by Goth
<brooks@odie.ee.wits.ac.za>
The Thing conveys incredible
paranoia and tension, more so than many films. Immersed in the
sci-fi element, the horror of some unseen creature imitating people
and potentially infesting the world is a powerful idea. The
atmosphere of the movie builds right off the bat with an incredible
performance by that dog who doesn’t quite act normal. Little by
little we see the world around this small Antarctic base crumble into
chaos. The viewer loses track of who is who and who might be
infected. In the end we don’t trust anyone and it is hard to root
for one hero because we aren’t sure they are human or not.
The original The Thing From Another
World (1951) is
certainly a classic and for those who feel that the original version
of any remake has to be better, I cannot argue. The original film
has its merits but it was from a different time. The 1982 version
captures the emotion and tension but also presented us something so
grotesque and alien that all we could do was just watch in horror as
these half formed shapes splashed onto the screen. The effects are
outstanding and are one of the many examples why sometimes CG effects
are not as convincing.
One of the reasons I include this film
in this list is my initial reactions to watching it. Not being able
to shake the imagery from my everyday thoughts and constantly
thinking about the film and remembering how shocked and scared I was
are definitely some good reasons why it is placed here.
First time I saw the movie – When it
first aired on HBO
How Many Times have I seen it – 10-15
Do I have a copy on DVD/ Blu Ray –
um, no….. I know, I am embarrassed.
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