Things, The

I am a big fan of the 1982 The Thing film, and not so much a fan of the newer 2011 prequel of the same name. I thought that the prequel film had some good ideas but the execution was quite poor, especially at the end. However, I am happy to say that this mashup edit resolves quite a few issues that I had with the prequel film, mostly by cutting out quite a few scenes with awful CGI and tactfully placing scenes alongside ones from the 1982 film that emphasize parallels and keep the pacing up. I highly recommend this edit if you are a fan of the original films and want to do a re-watch.

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.

September 27, 2021

I've only ever seen T84 once, about a year ago. I've seen T11 a couple times prior to this.
I personally found T84 harder for me to enjoy because I saw T11 first, and I usually have a hard time appreciating older special effects, and honestly just older movies in general. That being said, this edit was a great watch. I watched an edit that spliced Chapters 1 and 2 of "It" together pretty recently and this edit has a similar approach, and it worked out wonderfully!

The old effects are there for the people who appreciate them, and the CGI is there for the people who appreciate it, with the worst-looking examples being removed! I personally didn't notice what all was cut from either film, aside from the final chapter of T11 being cut. The shot of Joel Edgerton getting into the truck was very obviously overlaid with some filters to make it appear more like night time + on fire. I liked that you cut out the entire spaceship thing, allowing for the movies to end together, and so if you fixed the weird color effect on that shot, you'd have a 10/10 from me!

Side note: I watched this on my phone, at work, with one earbud in, so if there were any poor audio transitions, I didn't notice! Lol.

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.

(I watched the newer HD version) Words can't give justice to my enjoyment of this edit! The pacing, rescores, and the trimmed CGI helped blend these two movies. The feeling of dread didn't let up even though the stories bounced back and forth. It also got rid of my least favorite shots/scenes from T11: the face splitting open and the spaceship finale with the terrible CGI face on the Thing. Only problem were some audio pops during transitions. It wasn't bad enough to take me out of it though. Thank you Wraith for making this and for the speedy responses!