The Thing probably has a better plot, and a stronger basic concept behind it, but the effects look idiotic, and it’s just not a good looking movie overall. It could actually probably do with a remake, and I’m saying that as someone who usually thinks the whole remake idea is an invention of the devil. Hang on, or did it already have a remake? (checks) Oh, it did. I don’t keep track of these things. I’ll check that one out.
Alien, on the other hand, as mentioned upthread, is just a well made horror movie, with characters who behave just as much as idiots as in any other example of that genre. But no one in their right minds would remake Alien, simply because it’s bloody *gorgeous *to look at. There’s just no way you could match that, and why the hell would you want to try? I certainly don’t mind the slow pacing either (I wish we could see more of that today), or the editing (well, apart from that one bizarre jump cut). It has a ton of style.
I’ll watch *Alien *again any day, just for the look and feel of it. I’ve watched The Thing once, and that was more than enough for me.
Those are almost entirely different genres though. While I love both Predator and Aliens their more action movies than Alien or The Thing which are horror.
I am a big fan of both and have only seen both on the small screen (not having been born when Alien came out and only a toddler for The Thing). I will watch either at any point and would gladly choose either over many other movies (if Netflix actually had them streaming).
I say Alien is better because it has held up better after all this time. The Thing used to terrify me and the music was a big part of it. Now I just enjoy it. Alien never scared me so I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything.
Okay, I’ll pick Alien, based on the experience of seeing it when it first came out. Somehow we convinced my friend’s wife to come along, even though she hated horror movies. Someone (it might have been me) convinced her it was something like Star Wars. Boy was she pissed at us!
YES! That heartbeat music and the gloomy soundtrack of impending doom are amazing. The Thing has IMHO the better music. John Carpenter electronic synth with Ennio Morricone to rein it all in.
I saw both in the theater when they came out, and I won’t say that either one scared the bejezus out of me-- not like reading The Haunting of Hill House, which I did on a bright sunny day, and it scared the living crap outta me*-- but Alien had me on the edge of my seat. The suspense was almost unbearable. I was actually bored by The Thing. Yeah, some of the effects were squicky, but squicky isn’t scary. I loved Alien. You couldn’t give me The Thing as a gift.
*Anyone who thinks the movie The Haunting is scary has not read the original book. The movie is not even in the same class as the book.
The 2011 “The Thing” is technically not a remake, but a prequel. (It shows what had happened at the Norwegian station that Kurt Russell et al explore in the original.)
The prequel is the same sort of thing as the 1982 Carpenter movie, though: scientists trapped at an Antarctic research station battle a shape-changing alien that can (and does) impersonate any of them.
I’m a huge fan of that franchise - Aliens is without any doubt in my top ten list of best movies ever. However, I always have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to Alien. Part of it is that I am young enough that I actually saw Aliens before I saw Alien.
It’s also partly how the characters act - they often act like characters in a horror movie, not like real people. Partly, it’s an image seared into my head of the alien as a guy in a rubber suit. By the time I compare it to the quality of the Alien3 rod puppet, I just cringe every time the original Alien creature comes on screen. (Hey, maybe we can get a George-Lucas-style retcon of the alien? Come on, Ridley Scott, you know you always wanted to do it differently. )
The Thing wins out by having characters who act more plausibly, and by having creature effects that look less fake. While the original Thing doesn’t have the best special effects, they still hold up for me today. No cringing necessary.
Did The Thing use stop motion for its special effects? I’ve found those a lot more creepy/scary than CGI. The ugliness and jerkiness make them look more otherworldy and distant from humans in some threatening way.
[ul]
[li]Alien is the better film.[/li][li]Better designs (the planetoïd, the derelict ship, the Nostromo, the alien itself).[/li][li]The effects are subtler / more understated and hold up way better as a result.[/li][li]The characters are more diverse / have more depth.[/li][li]Good pacing (slow at the beginning but once they land on the planetoïd, the tension builds up relentlessly).[/li][/ul]
However,* The Thing* has a better premise and a better ending (and the blood testing scene).
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