Yep, that's been my take ever since my third viewing. I don't think the callback to that scene is coincidental - it purposefully evokes the same sense earlier that despite Mac playing a good "game", he was still one step behind.
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The Thing (1982) celebrates its 40th anniversary - what about that ending?
- Thread starter Wrexis
- Start date
Potentially it goes even further with Childs being black and Macready being white, during the computer chess game Macready had white pieces and the computer had black pieces
That seems boring to me, but it's part of why the Thing works since people can make their own conclusions about it. It may be some parts of the Thing want to survive over the Things and will screw each other over for it. There's also that part when one of them clearly tried to frame Macready with the clothing thing, so one of them have to be aware they are a Thing.
The scene is supposed to tell you MacReady is willing to blow up the game instead of losing.
Also IIRC the computer cheated.
How would you define a "realistic" movie about a thousand year old shape shifting space alien?
They certainly behave that way, especially in the book. One of them is joyously part of the group that attacks and kills one of the Things, only to revealed moments later that he's one too, at which point he fights just as violently to escape. So either it didn't know, or was happily willing to sacrifice another Thing for the chance of its own escape.
MacReady helps defeat the final boss of the game via helicopter, which seems to not really be something he would do if he were a Thing.
Carpenter endorsed the plotline of The Thing (2002 game) and appears there via cameo. One would think he cares just a little bit in that case.
You're right. If I was an alien parasite, I would have picked Tahiti.
It establishes Mac as a sore loser, yes, which is why his ultimatum was blowing up the research facility and everyone dying in the process. The contrast is that even after "blowing up the game", the Thing presumably still emerges victorious after finding a new host to imitate (Childs), playing Mac to a stalemate.
This is also ultimately why I believe Mac is resigned to his fate. He pulled the ultimate rug pull of circumventing the "game" altogether and was still matched in wit. The fact the Thing simply goes into a state of hibernation rather than death in the extreme cold is the "cheat".
Oh that's so interesting - I could have sworn the ending was Childs turning into the giant monster at the end! I am totally wrong.
I should state, too, I don't consider any established rules seen in the prequel because the Thing organism acts so much like an unintelligent mindless monster that it shares very little characteristic similarities with the Thing in Carpenter's movie.
There's just too many fucking dumb scenes in the prequel, with really only one involving the creature even remotely capturing the cunning nature of Carpenter's Thing.
There's just too many fucking dumb scenes in the prequel, with really only one involving the creature even remotely capturing the cunning nature of Carpenter's Thing.
Unless maybe he wanted to get to the mainland? The Thing seems to turn against parts of itself when convenient for it's own survival but I could be misremembering that.
I always thought of the Thing as a sort of Philosophical Zombie, it is such a perfect mimic that it can seemingly act in intelligent ways but it ultimately is simply operating out of pure instinct, no different than a single cell organism.
He was the helicopter pilot. He could have just left for the mainland without getting involved at all.
The Thing • PC » Last Boss
Old-school gaming.★ Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/ropedrink★ Discord ► https://discordapp.com/invite/nauxch6#PC #Gaming #TheThing
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let the final boss kill the Player Character (or not) without his intervention and simply fly off to wherever.
Can't say I agree- hard to reconcile that take with The Thing maintaining a perfect mimicry of Blair in prison to the rest of the crew while also building a starship out of scrap parts to get itself out of there undiscovered.
That's not "pure instinct," its clear evidence of planning, engineering, and subterfuge.
I guess I was overthinking it. Haven't played it since it came out. Can't say I care too much for that blunt of a reveal then. Carpenter endorsed the game too so I wonder if he agrees with that development.He was the helicopter pilot. He could have just left for the mainland without getting involved at all.
The Thing • PC » Last Boss
Old-school gaming.★ Twitch ► https://www.twitch.tv/ropedrink★ Discord ► https://discordapp.com/invite/nauxch6#PC #Gaming #TheThing
let the final boss kill the Player Character (or not) without his intervention and simply fly off to wherever.
He endorsed it and he appears in the game.
Shaun Faraday
Dr. Shaun Faraday was a Medic and the Chief Medical Researcher of Gen Inc that was conducting a research on an extraterrestrial organism known as the Thing. The character appears in the 2002 video-game The Thing and was portrayed by film director John Carpenter in an uncredited role. Dr. Faraday...
The most likely explanation given all that is that Carpenter was perfectly fine with the reveal that MacCready and Childs were both human.
It feels quite naturalistic to me in terms of dialogue and character reactions. The alien is obviously not realistic, but everything surrounding it felt like a very realistic response to such a fantastic situation.
Could lay a claim to being both the best sci-fi and horror film of all time, it is for me, what a film.
I've always interpreted it that neither are the thing at the end.
I've always interpreted it that neither are the thing at the end.
Yep, the callback to Mac's chess game is no coincidence. Even if the thing freezes at the end of the movie, that is still victory if the last surviving witness freezes too. We've already seen what will happen if/when the body is discovered and eventually thawed. The alien thinks it has won, so there's no need to risk an attack.
That's why I like the gasoline theory. IIRC, the original script reveals that Mac has his flamethrower at the ready under his blanket. Who's to say that he didn't torch Childs-thing immediately after that moment?
The reason I believe that Childs was infected is because:
1. The jacket
2. He was alone for too long
3. We know the crew had been instructed to prepare their own meals, so why take a drink from anyone?
The main issue with the gasoline theory and why it doesn't hold up is because John Carpenter specifically made that ending so there was no answer. Theres no hidden clues, there is no telltale sign, he has said time and time again that they deliberately made it so it was entirely up to the viewer. Throughout the movie, the viewer is able to work out who is the Thing because it loses a bit of a gleam in their eyes for whatever reason, and Carpenter said they deliberately left all that in for the final scene because they just do not want anyone to know.
So all this stuff about Kurt Russel smiling when he hands over a bottle of gasoline is just all made up in our heads :P
So all this stuff about Kurt Russel smiling when he hands over a bottle of gasoline is just all made up in our heads :P
I keep reading people refer to The Thing as "infecting" people.
Granted, I'm probably not the biggest expert on this movie (though it's great), but what exactly does this alien do?
It clearly kills people. It clearly can mimic people, but does it also have to consume them? My confusion comes from this discussion that it can merely be in your blood, like a zombie infection in 28 Days Later.
Can it just do all of these things? Consume people/infect people/kill people/assimilate people into its monstrous form?
Granted, I'm probably not the biggest expert on this movie (though it's great), but what exactly does this alien do?
It clearly kills people. It clearly can mimic people, but does it also have to consume them? My confusion comes from this discussion that it can merely be in your blood, like a zombie infection in 28 Days Later.
Can it just do all of these things? Consume people/infect people/kill people/assimilate people into its monstrous form?
It overrides your cells with it's own. Kill and replace, so there is a consuming component when it's in process- it's gory in the inbetween stage.
Considering it was flying a ship, it has some form of it's own but we never see it.
I used to have those comics, but I don't think I do anymore. I should go digging through the collection to see if I can find them.
The book describes the form that it had when it was found in the ice pretty clearly, but it never reveals whether this was its true form or simply a mimic of the race that built the ship.
Totally agree. Among the many things that make The Thing so great - the acting, the music, practical effects, everything - at its core it's a simple, pretty universal tale and one we can all relate to, and easily works outside of its science fiction context (and has been, like in The Hateful Eight). Part of its brilliance is it's so easy to imagine yourself being there and how you'd react.
I always found the way the paranoia slowly ramps up to be all too believable and pretty chilling, especially because nobody in the movie is either an idiot or actively malicious (I'd argue even the Thing itself).
Always loved that particular bit. As a concept it's been used in a few other stories (probably all of which were inspired by Campbell's story).
It just makes sense and it makes the Thing (the creature) even more bizarre and mysterious.
from the wiki-page:
lol.
just rewatched the opening.
the way that one norwegian lets the granade slip and it kills him and blows up the helicopter looked a little bit cheap. :D
I like that one quote by the Cook:
the Norwegians should have been able to communicate in englisch, no?
lol.
just rewatched the opening.
the way that one norwegian lets the granade slip and it kills him and blows up the helicopter looked a little bit cheap. :D
I like that one quote by the Cook:
the Norwegians should have been able to communicate in englisch, no?