Things, The

This edit highly improves the 2011 film, the cuts and transitions between the two movies are very well executed, I really enjoyed this one.

long time fan of T84, and a 60% appreciator of T11. i was excited for the concept of this fan edit. it did not disappoint. While i absolutely love the original (despite acknowledging the effects are getting a little dated), i somewhat cringe at the idea of losing any moments of it in an alternative version. but what Wraith did was wonderful. the back & forth sequencing was very well plotted out, and pretty much flawlessly implemented. as a fan editor myself, i appreciate how long it can take to map out that kind of concept, as well as the skill & patience to make the details blend. so i have developed huge respect for Wraith on this. is the quality of visual/special effects noticeable between the two timelines? of course. no getting around that. too bad the T11 movie didn't do more practical effects with cgi to enhance parts of those models (like the new Dark Crystal series on Netflix: stayed true to the original look, but just enhanced it). and there is still ambiguity about Kate's fate, though it seems there'd be no way to survive the cold. but those are problems forced by the film makers, and this review is supposed to be just about the narrative mashup, and the delivery just simply works. the only 2 critiques i could give are minor, and do not detract from the experience enough to warrant a big markdown. (1) Joel Edgerton getting back in the snow cat near the end: the coloring seemed odd, but with that part being necessary, i can't think what else could've been done with it. (2) i was surprised that the few seconds of Bennings seen being absorbed in the storage room was cut. of all the effects moments to cut, that was one that still looked really good. the only thing i can think is that Wraith was trying to shave off any seconds he could to keep the runtime manageable, and this still completed that moment's narrative.
again, i'd call this fan edit a huge success, and will probably only watch this version in the future, whenever i undoubtedly get that itch. Super great work, Wraith! with this one being a decade old, i can't wait to watch your newer works & see how you've gotten even better at your craft.

highly, highly recommended! I watched this twice, once in its original form alone and a second time with a friend with a tasteful black and white filter (which obviously isn't part of the original edit). Both experiences were very enjoyable, deliberate and intriguing renditions of the source material. The cuts are all placed very well in my opinion, never swapping movies at frustrating moments while still keeping investment in both narratives very high. Of particular note to me was the reveal of the ice slab containing The Thing and the buildup to its significance through multiple clever scene transitions across the two films. Overall, very impressively done! The original title and logo work was also very excellent.

However, I feel it somewhat loses steam at the end. It focuses progressively more attention on the 1982 film the closer the viewer is to the climax, which I think was the only viable decision. But there is still a sort of futile irritation when the story jumps back in time during the third act, and its hard not to feel like the inclusion of the backstory hardly impacted anything after the resolution. This is a problem moreso with the idea of the fanedit than the fanedit itself; taken in comparison with the 2011 film, this treatment of that film's material is still a much better contribution to the The Thing narrative.

Overall, highly recommended! An excellent and mostly seamless blend.

June 7, 2012 @ 9:08 am

Overall this edit was well executed. (I watched the Version 2 which fixed a couple technical errors.) It’s obvious that Wraith put a lot of thought and effort into it, but for me it was hard to get through. Putting the stories side by side slowed down the pace so much that it wasn’t too entertaining after a while.

Fanediting rating (based on the technical aspects). 9/10
Movie rating (based on entertainment and story). 6/10
Overall rating of 7ish/10.

Loved this edit! It's hard for me to give a perfect score across the board, but it was even harder for me to find anything to criticize.

I was blown away by how much more I enjoyed T11 watching through this version. There are a couple of scenes that come to mind when I think of the bad CGI in T11 (the helicopter face split and the end spaceship escape), and they were both removed in a way that made sense and flowed as if they had never existed. This made the rest of the T11 CGI feel way more fitting than it ever has. Not sure if there was more done to them than simply cutting the excess, but it turned out great!

The pacing of the two movies blended together felt natural and interesting. Great job, Wraith! If there was one thing I would criticize, it would be the cover art. But that's personal taste, and I couldn't dock points for that! Honestly, very impressed with this edit. Outstanding.

I watched Version 3.