Thing from 1951, The

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9.7
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9.6(10)
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9.8(10)
Visual Editing
 
9.4(10)
Narrative
 
9.7(10)
Enjoyment
 
9.9(10)
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Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
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10.0
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10.0
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10.0
As a fan of both '50s monster movies and John Carpenter's The Thing, I cannot recommend this edit highly enough!

The work done with reframing the shots is stunning, and it really does match the look of a genuine '50s B movie. The music choices are excellent, and I absolutely loved the incorporation of the stop motion effects! That took what had already sold me on being a product of the 1950s and marched it even further. Wonderful!

If you love '50s genre films and The Thing, you have GOT to see this!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
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Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Probably one of the best fan edit's I've seen in a long while. When I was younger I used to watch "De-Make" trailers on youtube (essentially a concept trailer for a modern film as if it came out in the 1930's-50's), and its really awesome to see this concept fully realized. The re-scoring and audio work is a highlight, really capturing an authentic 1950's feel without being distracting. I'm someone that is generally against censorship, but in this case it fits the entire concept of the movie, so the omit-ion of some swearing and a few moments of gore feels very authentic. Another highlight is the amount of effort put into cropping the movie to academy ratio. for the most part it feels as if it were always shot that way. The use of alternative shots or even in some cases, compositing shots to fit in the 4:3 frame was artfully done. My one real critique would be the couple shots where an older television was composited in to cover up the 80's tv. As much as I love the idea, I don't think it works since none of the other tech is covered up that way and the compositing was the only moment that took me out of the edit. Other than that, this is a keeper for sure!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Owner's reply March 26, 2023

Thank you very much for taking the time to review. I agree that some of the TV scene is probably one of my weaker edits here. So glad you enjoyed the edit as a whole though :)

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Overall rating
 
9.6
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
A fantastic achievement, managed to capture the look and the feel of the 1951 original.

The new ratio, helped to focus on key points. And brought greater focus to the characters , with framing being very reminiscent
of the early Universal horrors.

The music was the stand out, again helping with the immersion it made it quite seamless..

In conclusion a great achievement, and an immensely enjoyable watch. Thank you.




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Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
P
Top 500 Reviewer 19 reviews
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Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
8.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
A/V Quality:
Sans the stop motion deleted scene of the Thing, the video quality was great and matched what I'd expect from a 7gb file.

Visual Editing:
The visual editing is superb in this edit. The amount of pan and scan framing that was done is mindboggling and probably took a ton of time. The removal of overly graphic scenes was also done very well. The opening and closing credits were also great additions and fit very well. If it wasn't for that Arcade machine and a few props and wardrobes, this movie could have sat in the time period the edit focused on. The only significant issue I found was the video of the stop motion scene near the end. The image was significantly blurrier and had some added vfx that didn't match the rest of the movie. I wonder if some unintended processing occurred as I don't remember the previews looking like that. If I'm being really nitpicky, the last opening credit "Directed by John Carpenter" seems to have a hard line at the bottom where a title or image was overlayed. Everything else looked really good.

Audio Editing:
This is where this edit shines brightest. I watched with the Dramatic mono audio track. The audio edits are top notch and sell the whole presentation. The foley work itself is impressive, the score replacement is near seamless and the soundtrack choices are spot on for a 50's sci-fi movie. This is a gold standard for how to recreate a movie through sound design. The reworking of dialogue to tone it down to the 50's is impressive as are the sfx heard throughout. There are a few quibbles here and there where the audio cuts seem a bit abrupt, but they honestly fit the style of a 50's movie. Super impressive work here.

Narrative:
I appreciate the toning down of the gore of this film. It's an intriguing story, but I always find myself fast forwarding through the gore. The cuts here along with the new sound design and black and white presentation really tone the intensity of the movie down. It's still super intense though so don't worry about not getting your horror fix.

Enjoyment:
This is everything it set out to be and really sets the bar for what an editor can accomplish. The edit itself is fantastically created and the Arrow Parallel intro made me believe that there really was such a company (only outed by listening to the audio commentary). Knowing that there are multiple audio tracks (Dramatic mono, Restrained mono, Isolated Score mono, 1981 5.1, and audio commentary) makes this an edit I'll return to simply to hear The Scribbling Man describe their process and to A/B the mono and 5.1 track to see how TSM created this incredible illusion. This edit is right up there with the best of the fanmixes I've seen and will stand as a fantastic opportunity for editors to learn from due to the awesome audio commentary track. Bravo TSM! This Thing is a gem for sure!
Owner's reply March 06, 2023

Thank you for the kind words, DigMod :) I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

As for the stop motion towards the end, there is no additional processing/added damage. The footage is simply in terrible shape, to the point where some shots were just straight up unusable. I upscaled it and did some very limited repair with virtual dub, but ultimately it was beyond my skillset to do anything notable with it. The opening disclaimer mentions there is "damage due to the nature of interdimensional travel", which is meant to excuse it somewhat with the concept, but it was a controversial move to put it in and I appreciate that it was possibly jarring in light of how the rest of the edit is presented.

If you remember specifics for where you found the audio to be abrupt and are able to give any timecodes, I'll take a look.

D
Top 500 Reviewer 21 reviews
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(Updated: May 05, 2023)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
After reading all the marvellous reviews on here I don't have anything else to add, except that I really did enjoy watching it and I recommend this as one of those few fan edits that have truly stood out as being something rather special on here. I don't believe there are many fan edits of John Carpenter's "The Thing" around, so it was a fresh brave new attempt at something different and of course, it works!

It obviously looks brilliant in B&W with the snowy backdrop and the music fits into the scenes seamlessly somehow, both the visual and audio tones are just right. They fit with the cinematography and the editing cuts have been made at the right places to make the film feel better paced. It's honestly better as a shorter film.

Overall the editor has a keen creative eye and has done a superb job and whenever I decide to watch "The Thing" again, I'm pretty sure I will come back to this version over the original. I truly think it's an improvement on the original edit. Fantastic!

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Format Watched?
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