Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a bloodthirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost.
- Awards
- 1 win
- Dr. Ambrose
- (uncredited)
- Tex Richards
- (uncredited)
- Dr. Chapman
- (uncredited)
- Dr. Redding
- (uncredited)
- Lee - a Cook
- (uncredited)
- Dr. Vorhees
- (uncredited)
- Dr. Wilson
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe skeleton crew at the South Pole Telescope station have a tradition every winter-over of watching this movie, and the other two adaptations on the very first night after the departure of the final plane of the season.
- GoofsAs the flying saucer explodes, the camera tilts up to follow the blast, revealing the top of the Arctic backdrop built around the set.
- Quotes
Ned "Scotty" Scott: All right, fellas, here's your story: North Pole, November Third, Ned Scott reporting. One of the world's greatest battles was fought and won today by the human race. Here at the top of the world a handful of American soldiers and civilians met the first invasion from another planet. A man by the name of Noah once saved our world with an ark of wood. Here at the North Pole, a few men performed a similar service with an arc of electricity. The flying saucer which landed here and its pilot have been destroyed, but not without causalities among our own meager forces. I would like to bring to the microphone some of the men responsible for our success... but as Senior Air force officer Captain Hendry is attending to demands over and above the call of duty... Doctor Carrington, the leader of the scientific expedition, is recovering from wounds received in the battle.
Eddie: [Softly] Good for you, Scotty.
Ned "Scotty" Scott: And now before giving you the details of the battle, I bring you a warning: Everyone of you listening to my voice, tell the world, tell this to everybody wherever they are. Watch the skies. Everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.
- Crazy creditsOnly technical and production credits precede the film, no acting credits.
- Alternate versionsThere is a version which shows Dr. Carrington wandering through his "nursery" of baby "things" on his way to the generator to shut it down as the others prepare to fry the creature. The "things" have grown to a height of over 12 inches.
- ConnectionsFeatured in House of Horror: The Thing (1957)
Like many people (I assume) I saw the 80's remake before I saw the original, so I came to it with an idea already formed about what the `thing' meant to me. So it was good to step back to the original and see what made this film stand out from a raft of `reds in the bed' type sci-fi's that were around at the time. The plot is intelligent and interesting enough to sustain interest despite the fact that direct conflict with the thing is limited to a few key scenes. The tension is helped by the thing being sufficiently unseen to create a sense of unknown menace and the shadows are well placed.
The action can't compare to the remake in terms of effects, but it is well staged. As I just said, the limited view of the alien we have means it doesn't lose impact due to poor effects. One scene in particular is very good the fire scene in the room. It is dramatic and well staged for maximum effect. If the film does have a weakness it is that it is a Hawks film. Most of his touches are good the romantic banter, the group theme but for me his political view was a tad heavy.
In many sci-fi's we see the aliens come to earth in peace and it is only mankind's own violence that puts us at risk. Here mankind attacks any alien immediately without any idea of peace or preserving the specimen. The only character who puts this line forward is made to look weak and foolish compared to the rest. No, Hawks is no dove! His line is that any outsiders must e treated with fear and dealt with as strongly as required. I don't agree with this line of reasoning so it took away from the film for me, but the rest of it was very enjoyable.
The acting is top rate a mix of banter and B-movie, strong jawed American heroes! Overall this may be seen as dull or slow for the generation that has grown up on Kurt Russell freezing in the final scene but it is a classic in it's own right and is a much more accomplished piece of work for my money. Despite some weaknesses in Hawks personal beliefs this is a atmospheric and tense piece of sci-fi.
- bob the moo
- Dec 7, 2002
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Howard Hawks' Production The Thing from Another World
- Filming locations
- Glacier National Park, Montana, USA(second-unit footage)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,600,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 27 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1