Thing 2011: Extended and Tweaked, The

I am by no means a writer, or someone who writes reviews for movies at that. This will be short and sweet.

First I will say I saw The Thing in theatres when it was released, and like most horror fans I thought it was unfortunate they used CG over the practical effects they had already created. I watched the film again once it came out to disc and it sat on the shelf since finding this forum and Wraiths edit.

Basically a decade later it felt like I was watching the film for the first time. I recalled a few key scenes as if I had only seen them in a trailer before. I couldn't tell you if this was the theatrical release or a fan edit. Video and audio cuts were seamless and it was a pleasure to watch this film again, which may be due to Wraith's editing. My one complaint would be that the file I watched was in 480.

Thank you for sharing your work Wraith!

Wraith's creation of an extended fanedit of this cult favorite is flawless. His editing, both video and audio is seemless. I did notice the faint sound of a helicopter during the first few seconds of the end credits, but I believe that this was deliberate - a subtle means of reminding the audience of the beginning of The Thing (1982). As for the extended/deleted scenes themselves, they contribute to the narrative in the following manner:

1. The end-credits scenes, with Matias (the helicopter pilot) and Lars (the dog-keeper) has been extended and transformed into a prequel (introduction). In the original cinema cut, some of the video was not seen because the Hollywood editors showed the names of the cast, and intercut between the credits and the video of the two characters. Wraith had removed the credits and now only the characters can be seen. This extended scene establishes that Matias and Lars were the two Norwegians that were seen at the beginning of The Thing (1982), and the extended scene also shows Lars getting the box of grenades, which ultimately led to the destruction of the helicopter and the death of Matias in The Thing (1982).

2. The brief scene between Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Sam Carter (Joel Edgerton), where she clarifies to him that it really is an alien from space, shows the beginning of the emotional connection and trust between them - and it also shows the earring in his left earlobe... something of considerable importance later in the film (I will not provide any spoilers).

3. The conversation between Dr. Sander Halvorson (the arrogant Danish leader of the the alien research) and Edvard Wolner (an old friend of Sander) shows that Dr. Halvorson is more concerned with politics and the potential competition from rival scientists elsewhere around the world... a factor that will lead to the wrong decisions being made later in the movie (I will not provide any spoilers).

4. The extended scene of Juliette's attack, with the Juliette-Thing attempting to save itself by using the fire-suppressant system in the kitchen, and then later with the Norweigan personnel using fire-extinguishers to prevent the burning corpse of the Juliette-Thing from setting anything else on fire.

5. The scene of a new Thing, found by the Norweigan personnel, slowly transforming into a duplicate of Karl, and then Lars incinerates it with a flame-thrower. (This deleted scene, while dramatic, is also flawed, because the next scene shows the corpses of the Juliette-Thing and the Karl-Thing being doused with kerosene and set alight... and the Karl-Thing's body showed no signs of being burnt, which indicated that the film-makers had already decided at that point in the production not to include the deleted scene in the original cinema cut.)

6. The futile use of the radio equipment by Colin during the growing snowstorm, which clearly indicated that he was the main communications technician for the Norweigan base, and which also indicated to the audience that he would eventually become the frozen body that was found - two days later - by MacReady and Dr. Copper from the American base, in The Thing (1982).

7. The extended attack scene by the Two-Headed-Thing, which shows its grotesque appearance and large body size. This deleted scene clarifies to the audience why, during the Thing's earlier attack in the main rec-room, it assimilated Adam Finch into its body. By absorbing Finch, the total body mass and musculature of the Thing was doubled, making it at least twice as strong as an adult man, and allowing it to physically overpower any of the remaining personnel at the base.

8. The scene showing Colin's death is provided as a nihilistic display that 'life is meaningless' and that 'there is no God' - in many ways this deleted scene summarises the underlying theme of the movie, and of the 1982 version as well. The unfortunate character is trapped in the radio room with a raging fire on the one side (in the next room) and an Arm-Thing crawling around the other side of the radio room (hidden behind a partition). He is left with no means of escape, but he has three choices when it comes to dying - walk into the next room and be burned alive, stand perfectly still and evade detection for as long as possible (untill he starts coughing due to the smoke that is filling the room) at which point the Arm-Thing will know of his location, or else take his own life using the straight-razor in his pocket. The fear, desperation and resignation are all visible on his face, and convey his anguish throughout the scene, which is both terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time.

In conclusion, Wraith has provided far greater depth of characterisation and expanded the plot of the movie to show the hidden elements that could have made this film far better back in 2011, when it was first released in the cinemas. Even after all these years, I am still baffled as to why the editors did not include the death scene of Colin...

Another notch in the belt for Wraith.

Well done!