Lol... it is one of the smartest movies ever made. They played identity so well it's impossible to tell who's who at any given moment, and hard to nail exactly when they may have changed.
Making everyone act like a normal human being and never showing the monster attack someone is hard to do?
Spoiler I liked how the group became paranoid. I expected that to happen and I'm glad it did. I just don't think that that happening is a triumph of the film. It's just a regular part of the plot. I thought Blair (Wilford Brimley's character) was great at first. He figured out what the alien would do and tried to stop it by destroying the radio and helicopter, but then it turns out he was an alien? Why that would even be an enjoyable plot scenario I will never know. also, I want someone to explain to me why the ending should be considered anything but unsatisfying. And don't tell me it was supposed to be that way.
Use spoilers. Spoiler Because it's never known when he turned... how are you not getting this? So what may have been noble may have just been the alien trying to keep them from calling out for help (since it was running away from the Norwegians that almost killed it in the very beginning). The fact that you don't know when anyone turns calls everything they do into question. And because you don't know if either of them is infected.
Spoiler Oh, okay. Still, the ending lacked and it wasn't scary at all. The imagery was amazing though. Seeing that guys head break off from his body was my favorite part.
Spoiler the original post before mine too please. Spoiler You shouldn't think of it like an action movie or even a horror movie, it's a psychological thriller. The brilliance is in how you're never sure why anyone is doing what they're doing, sure they give their reasons (or you could just assume that they're doing whatever for their survival) but given you never know who is an alien at any given point, you can never really know what the motivations are. There are hints everywhere that give you some idea of who is who, but it's never certain. The ending is great because these two guys went through hell and they distrust each other so intensely but they seem like they're gonna die anyway, so what's the point in wasting effort eliminating each other. (Though, if they were human, their motivation is to keep the alien from going into hibernation while the other dies of the elements). Really, that one ending is a ton of different endings. 4 different outcomes for who is who (2 instances of only one of them being the alien, 1 of both being human, 1 of both being the alien, though that is unlikely, so we'll just say it's 3). So 3 x at least 5 different foreseeable future actions. (1 where they freeze, 1 where they get saved by someone miraculously, 1 where they kill each other, 2x1 where one of them survives). At least 15 different endings, all implied by one scene. You could make the argument that I'm grasping at straws and that you could do this for any movie, but rarely does a movie hinge around identity and actions surrounding it like this movie does.
Spoiler I'm sorry but having a lot of possibilities does not automatically make the ending good. It's only good if it makes me want to know what happens. By the end of the movie you know they will die in some way, either by becoming an alien or freezing to death. Being miraculously saved should not even be considered. If the ending made it clear that the alien was either alive or dead then I would consider it good.
Oh so you're saying that it's good because I'm supposed to have no idea what is going on or what is going to go on. Well then, best ****ing movie I've ever seen.
30 years old, but it still deserves spoiler tags because it's good. Spoiler Childs and MacReady are the only two left after killing the infected Blair, but knowing in the minuscule chance rescue comes that it's too dangerous for either of them to survive with the possibility the other is infected, they realize further suspicion is pointless and share a scotch as they prepare to die from exposure as the remains of the camp burn around them. Security doesn't understand why they didn't just use statio pods like Ripley did.
**** do i want to watch The Thing now. on blu-ray. because i own The Thing on blu-ray. i only buy bad movies.
Okay, I admit it's not a bad movie, but it is definitely not the best horror or thriller or whatever. I did like inception. That is an open ending done right.
Spoiler So... the movie centered around the question "what is real" ends on an open "what is real" note is somehow "right" compared to the "who is who" open ending of a movie centering around the question "who is who." Is that what you're saying?