Misplaced Pages

#148851

123-509: The SA-X was designed to mimic Samus' movements and actions, with designer Yoshio Sakamoto identifying such a concept as unsettling. The concept of being chased by the SA-X was reused in the video game Metroid Dread with the antagonists, the EMMI, as Sakamoto wanted to reproduce that tension. The SA-X has been met with generally positive reception, praised as an iconic character as well as one of

246-460: A blow-up doll while watching the Norwegian tapes was filmed but was not used in the finished film. The doll would later appear as a jump scare with Nauls. Other scenes featured expanded or alternate deaths for various characters. In the finished film, Fuchs' charred bones are discovered, revealing he has died offscreen, but an alternate take sees his corpse impaled on a wall with a shovel. Nauls

369-520: A 35-person crew of artists and technicians, and he found it difficult to work with so many people. To help manage the team, he hired Erik Jensen, a special effects line producer who he had worked with on The Howling (1981), to be in charge of the special make-up effects unit. Bottin's crew also included mechanical aspect supervisor Dave Kelsey, make-up aspect coordinator Ken Diaz, moldmaker Gunnar Ferdinansen, and Bottin's longtime friend Margaret Beserra, who managed painting and hair work. In designing

492-670: A contest encouraging readers to submit drawings of what the Thing would look like. Winners were rewarded with a trip to Universal Studios . On its opening day, a special screening was held at the Hollywood Pacific Theatre , presided over by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark , with free admission for those in costume as monsters. The Thing was released in the United States on June 25, 1982. During its opening weekend,

615-429: A defibrillator. Revealing himself as the Thing, Norris-Thing's chest transforms into a large mouth that severs Copper's arms. Bottin accomplished this scene by recruiting a double amputee and fitting him with prosthetic arms filled with wax bones, rubber veins and Jell-O. The arms were then placed into the practical "stomach mouth" where the mechanical jaws clamped down on them, at which point the actor pulled away, severing

738-462: A different creature were repurposed to demonstrate partial assimilation. Carpenter filmed multiple endings for The Thing , including a "happier" ending because editor Todd Ramsay thought that the bleak, nihilistic conclusion would not test well with audiences. In the alternate take, MacReady is rescued and given a blood test that proves he is not infected. Carpenter said that stylistically this ending would have been "cheesy". Editor Verna Fields

861-486: A fan of Hawks' adaptation, paid homage to it in Halloween , and he watched The Thing from Another World several times for inspiration before filming began. Carpenter and cinematographer Dean Cundey first worked together on Halloween , and The Thing was their first big-budget project for a major film studio . After securing the writer and crew, the film was stalled again when Carpenter nearly quit, believing that

984-486: A helmet to protect himself from the explosive squibs simulating gunfire. Anderson pulled the tentacles into the Dog-Thing and reverse motion was used to create the effect of them slithering from its body. Winston refused to be credited for his work, insisting that Bottin deserved sole credit; Winston was given a "thank you" in the credits instead. In the "chest chomp" scene, Dr. Copper attempts to revive Norris with

1107-407: A large excavation site containing a partially buried alien spacecraft, which Norris estimates has been buried for over a hundred thousand years, and a smaller, human-sized dig site. Blair grows paranoid after running a computer simulation that indicates the creature could assimilate all life on Earth in a matter of years. The group implements controls to reduce the risk of assimilation. The remains of

1230-401: A meteorologist, became a tough loner described in the script as "35. Helicopter pilot. Likes chess. Hates the cold. The pay is good." Lancaster aimed to create an ensemble piece where one person emerged as the hero, instead of having a Doc Savage -type hero from the start. Lancaster wrote thirty to forty pages but struggled with the film's second act, and it took him several months to complete

1353-432: A more interesting visual effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways. The reflective surface of

SECTION 10

#1732791059149

1476-546: A more physically imposing form. After being defeated, the SA-X flees in its parasite form, reforming later when Samus is facing off against an Omega Metroid. It is ultimately defeated by the Omega Metroid, at which point Samus fuses with it and regains her powers from Super Metroid , allowing her to kill the Omega Metroid and escape from the space station before it collided into SR388, destroying both. The SA-X has been generally well-received by critics, considered one of

1599-421: A passion project of his, El Diablo (1990), was on the verge of being made by EMI Films . The producers discussed various replacements including Walter Hill , Sam Peckinpah and Michael Ritchie , but the development of El Diablo was not as imminent as Carpenter believed, and he remained with The Thing . Universal initially set a budget of $ 10   million, with $ 200,000 for "creature effects", which at

1722-460: A recession , diametrically opposed to The Thing ' s nihilistic and bleak tone. The film found an audience when released on home video and television. In the subsequent years, it has been reappraised as one of the best science fiction and horror films ever made and has gained a cult following . Filmmakers have noted its influence on their work, and it has been referred to in other media such as television and video games. The Thing has spawned

1845-565: A replica of Samus on the BSL Space Station, able to use the arsenal of weapons and upgrades she wielded in Super Metroid , while Samus herself is left relatively weakened and unable to survive the SA-X's ice weapons. The SA-X stalks Samus throughout the game, forcing her to hide or flee for most of it. As the plot develops, the player discovers that there are multiple SA-X, the X virus having replicated itself, and are targeting

1968-523: A rifle and shouts at the Americans, but they cannot understand him and he is shot dead in self-defense by station commander Garry. The American helicopter pilot, R.J. MacReady , and Dr. Copper leave to investigate the Norwegian base. Among the charred ruins and frozen corpses, they find the burnt corpse of a malformed humanoid, which they transfer to the American station. Their biologist, Blair, autopsies

2091-481: A role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to play Clark. William Daniels and Dennehy were both interested in playing Dr. Copper, and it was a last-second decision by Carpenter to go with Richard Dysart . In early drafts, Windows was called Sanchez, and later Sanders. The name Windows came when the actor for the role, Thomas Waites, was in a costume fitting and tried on a large pair of dark glasses, which

2214-462: A screening of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , the audience's silence at a trailer of The Thing caused Foster to remark, "We're dead". The response to public pre-screenings of The Thing resulted in the studio changing the somber, black-and-white advertising approved by the producers to a color image of a person with a glowing face. The tagline was also changed from "Man is the warmest place to hide" – written by Stephen Frankfort, who wrote

2337-399: A series of dead baby monsters, which was deemed "too gross". Bottin admitted he had no idea how his designs would be implemented practically, but Carpenter did not reject them. Carpenter said, "What I didn't want to end up with in this movie was a guy in a suit   ... I grew up as a kid watching science-fiction monster movies, and it was always a guy in a suit." According to Cundey, Bottin

2460-412: A series of small lights to highlight the particular creature-model's surface and textures. Cundey would illuminate the area behind the creature to detail its overall shape. He worked with Panavision and a few other companies to develop a camera capable of automatically adjusting light exposure at different film speeds. He wanted to try filming the creature at fast and slow speeds thinking this would create

2583-475: A set to be built on one of Universal's largest stages, with sophisticated hydraulics, dogs, and flamethrowers, but it was deemed too costly to produce. A scene was filmed with Bennings being murdered by an unknown assailant, but it was felt that assimilation, leading to his death, was not explained enough. Short on time, and with no interior sets remaining, a small set was built, Maloney was covered with K-Y Jelly , orange dye, and rubber tentacles. Monster gloves for

SECTION 20

#1732791059149

2706-529: A snowmobile chase pursuing dogs was removed from the shooting script as it would have been too expensive to film. One scene present in the film, but not the script, features a monologue by MacReady. Carpenter added this partly to establish what was happening in the story and because he wanted to highlight Russell's heroic character after taking over the camp. Carpenter said that Lancaster's experience writing ensemble pieces did not emphasize single characters. Since Halloween , several horror films had replicated many of

2829-404: A suggestion that he lower his expectations of the film's performance. After one market research screening, Carpenter queried the audience on their thoughts, and one audience member asked, "Well what happened in the very end? Which one was the Thing   ...?" When Carpenter responded that it was up to their imagination, the audience member responded, "Oh, God. I hate that." After returning from

2952-411: A total of $ 19.6   million against its $ 15   million budget, making it only the 42nd highest-grossing film of 1982. It was not a box office failure , nor was it a hit. Subsequent theatrical releases have raised the box office gross to $ 19.9   million as of 2023 . I take every failure hard. The one I took the hardest was The Thing . My career would have been different if that had been

3075-415: A variety of materials including mayonnaise, creamed corn, microwaved bubble gum, and K-Y Jelly. During filming, then-21-year-old Bottin was hospitalized for exhaustion, double pneumonia , and a bleeding ulcer, caused by his extensive workload. Bottin himself explained he would "hoard the work", opting to be directly involved in many of the complicated tasks. His dedication to the project saw him spend over

3198-445: A variety of merchandise – including a 1982 novelization, "haunted house" attractions, board games – and sequels in comic books, a video game of the same title , and a 2011 prequel film of the same title . In Antarctica , a Norwegian helicopter pursues a sled dog to an American research station. The Americans witness the passenger accidentally blow up the helicopter in addition to himself. The pilot fires

3321-470: A year living on the Universal lot. Bottin said he did not take a day off during that time and slept on the sets or in locker rooms. To take some pressure off his crew, Bottin enlisted the aid of special effects creator Stan Winston to complete some of the designs, primarily the Dog-Thing. With insufficient time to create a sophisticated mechanical creature, Winston opted to create a hand puppet . A cast

3444-620: Is a key member in the development of the Metroid series . Sakamoto grew up with Nintendo toys, which he felt were inventive. The company hired him in 1982, when he graduated from art college. His first projects at Nintendo were the design of pixel art for the Game & Watch handheld Donkey Kong , and the arcade game Donkey Kong Jr. He turned to the Nintendo Entertainment System afterward, for which he designed

3567-520: Is her "personal boogeyman to this day". Yahoo! News staff identified her as the most frightening stalker character in video games, feeling that she is the "real meat of the horror" in Fusion . Nintendo World Report writer James Dawson considered her the standout antagonist in Metroid , saying that encounters with her were among his "most memorable moments in gaming" from his childhood. He noted that it

3690-444: Is left on guard while the others go to test Blair, but they find that he has escaped, and has been using vehicle components to assemble a small flying saucer , which they destroy. Upon their return, Childs is missing, and the power generator is destroyed, leaving the men without heat. MacReady speculates that, with no escape left, the Thing intends to return to hibernation until a rescue team arrives. MacReady, Garry, and Nauls agree that

3813-497: Is not to compete with but to "always come up with something very different from what Mr. Miyamoto is likely to do". The Thing (1982 film) The Thing is a 1982 American science fiction horror film directed by John Carpenter from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster . Based on the 1938 John W. Campbell Jr. novella Who Goes There? , it tells the story of a group of American researchers in Antarctica who encounter

SA-X - Misplaced Pages Continue

3936-469: The Alien tagline, "In space, no one can hear you scream" – to "The ultimate in alien terror", trying to capitalize on Alien ' s audience. Carpenter attempted to make a last-minute change of the film's title to Who Goes There? , to no avail. The week before its release, Carpenter promoted the film with clips on Late Night with David Letterman . In 1981, horror magazine Fangoria held

4059-408: The "coolest part" of Metroid Fusion . Hardcore Gaming 101 writer Kurt Kalata considered the moments with the SA-X to be the best part of Metroid Fusion , though felt that the boss battle was too basic. GameSpot writer Jordan Ramée commented on SA-X being "[Samus] at her best", and how it reflected how Samus, now infused with Metroid DNA, was being hunted by herself, reflecting how she once hunted

4182-457: The Metroids to extinction. He praised the writers for creating a character so "chillingly horrifying" that they are still memorable years later. Dual Shockers writer Marcus Jones considered her the scariest Nintendo character, citing her original appearance - where she blows her way through a door and slowly walks - as a "dreadful" moment. That Samus has to evade the SA-X rather than fight her

4305-632: The Norris-Thing demonstrated that every part of the Thing is an individual life-form with its own survival instinct. He proposes testing blood samples from each survivor with a heated piece of wire and has each man restrained, but is forced to kill Clark after he lunges at MacReady with a scalpel. Everyone passes the test except Palmer, whose blood recoils from the heat. Exposed, the Palmer-Thing transforms, breaks free of its bonds, and infects Windows, forcing MacReady to incinerate them both. Childs

4428-422: The Palmer-Thing after MacReady sets it on fire and it crashes through the outpost wall. Cundey worked with Bottin to determine the appropriate lighting for each creature. He wanted to show off Bottin's work because of its details, but he was conscious that showing too much would reveal its artificial nature, breaking the illusion. Each encounter with the creature was planned for areas where they could justify using

4551-469: The SA-X mimic Samus' movements and action, feeling that it was an unpleasant concept to have someone mimic someone. Enemy programmer Katsuya Yamano identified SA-X as the thing he spent most of his time on. The SA-X was also designed to have all of Samus' equipment from Super Metroid , contrasting a defenseless Samus. The video game Metroid Dread features robots called EMMI that hunt down Samus. The concept comes from SA-X, with Sakamoto wanting to recreate

4674-537: The Thing cannot be allowed to escape and set explosives to destroy the station, but the Blair-Thing kills Garry, and Nauls disappears. The Blair-Thing transforms into an enormous creature and breaks the detonator, but MacReady triggers the explosives with a stick of dynamite, destroying the station. While MacReady sits by the burning remnants, Childs returns, claiming he got lost in the storm while pursuing Blair. Exhausted and slowly freezing to death, they acknowledge

4797-399: The Thing's design, it was agreed anyone assimilated by it would be a perfect imitation and would not know they were the Thing. The actors spent hours during rehearsals discussing whether they would know they were the Thing when taken over. Clennon said that it did not matter, because everyone acted, looked and smelled exactly the same before (or after) being taken over. At its peak, Bottin had

4920-409: The Thing's different forms, Bottin explained that the creature had been all over the galaxy. This allowed it to call on different attributes as necessary, such as stomachs that transform into giant mouths and spider legs sprouting from heads. Bottin said the pressure he experienced caused him to dream about working on designs, some of which he would take note of after waking. One abandoned idea included

5043-415: The Thing. In the spring, the characters are rescued by helicopter, greeting their saviors with "Hey, which way to a hot meal?". Carpenter thought this ending was too shallow. In total, Lancaster completed four drafts of the screenplay. The novella concludes with the humans clearly victorious, but concerned that birds they see flying toward the mainland may have been infected by the Thing. Carpenter opted to end

SA-X - Misplaced Pages Continue

5166-410: The actors had to adapt to having Carpenter describe to them what their characters were looking at, as the effects would not be added until post-production. There were some puppets used to create the impression of what was happening in the scene, but in other cases, the cast would be looking at a wall or an object marked with an X . Art director John J. Lloyd oversaw the design and construction of all

5289-442: The actual Blair-Thing puppet. The production intended to use a camera centrifuge – a rotating drum with a fixed camera platform – for the Palmer-Thing scene, allowing him to seem to run straight up the wall and across the ceiling. Again, the cost was too high and the idea abandoned for a stuntman falling into frame onto a floor made to look like the outpost's ceiling. Stuntman Anthony Cecere stood in for

5412-544: The area to begin filming. During the journey there, the crew bus slid in the snow toward the unprotected edge of the road, nearly sending it down a 500-foot (150 m) embankment. Some of the crew stayed in the small mining town during filming, while others lived on residential barges on the Portland Canal . They would make the 27-mile (43 km) drive up a small, winding road to the filming location in Alaska where

5535-451: The audience will react if we see the [Thing] die with a giant orchestra playing". Carpenter later noted that both the original ending and the ending without Childs tested poorly with audiences, which he interpreted as the film simply not being heroic enough. Ennio Morricone composed the film's score, as Carpenter wanted The Thing to have a European musical approach. Carpenter flew to Rome to speak with Morricone to convince him to take

5658-497: The best new villains of 2002 by Nintendo Power . Retro Gamer staff called her iconic, attributing her icon status to her overwhelming power and intimidation. Retro Gamer writer Darran Jones also noted her first appearance, where she looks straight at the player with her "cold, dead eyes", which they stated still makes their stomach "turn in terror". She has been identified as a particularly frightening encounter in video games, with GamesRadar+ writer Connor Sheridan finding her

5781-471: The blood stores have been destroyed, the men lose faith in Garry's leadership, and MacReady takes command. He, Windows, and Nauls find Fuchs' burnt corpse and surmise he committed suicide to avoid assimilation. Windows returns to base while MacReady and Nauls investigate MacReady's shack. During their return, Nauls abandons MacReady in a snowstorm, believing he has been assimilated after finding his torn clothes in

5904-403: The cameras in the freezing temperatures, as keeping them inside in the warmth resulted in foggy lenses that took hours to clear. Filming, greatly dependent on the weather, took three weeks to complete, with heavy snow making it impossible to film on some days. Rigging the explosives necessary to destroy the set in the film's finale required 8 hours. Keith David broke his hand in a car accident

6027-572: The chameleon-like aspect of the Thing. Carpenter did not want to write the project himself, after recently completing work on Escape from New York (1981), and having struggled to complete a screenplay for The Philadelphia Experiment (1984). He was wary of taking on writing duties, preferring to let someone else do it. Once Carpenter was confirmed as the director, several writers were asked to script The Thing , including Richard Matheson , Nigel Kneale , and Deric Washburn . Bill Lancaster initially met with Turman, Foster and Cohen in 1977, but he

6150-568: The character has some comedic moments, Universal brought in comedians Jay Leno , Garry Shandling , and Charles Fleischer , among others, but opted to go with actor David Clennon , who was better suited to play the dramatic elements. Clennon had read for the Bennings character, but he preferred Palmer's "blue-collar stoner" role to a "white collar science man". Powers Boothe , Lee Van Cleef , Jerry Orbach , and Kevin Conway were considered for

6273-493: The character wears in the film. Russell described the all-male story as interesting since the men had no one to posture for without women. The Thing was storyboarded extensively by Mike Ploog and Mentor Huebner before filming began. Their work was so detailed that many of the film's shots replicate the image layout completely. Cundey pushed for the use of anamorphic format aspect ratio, believing that it allowed for placing several actors in an environment, and making use of

SECTION 50

#1732791059149

6396-398: The characterization poorly realized. The film grossed $ 19.6   million during its theatrical run. Many reasons have been cited for its failure to impress audiences: competition from films such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial , which offered an optimistic take on alien visitation; a summer that had been filled with successful science fiction and fantasy films; and an audience living through

6519-436: The computer frames. Model maker Susan Turner built the alien ship approaching Earth in the pre-credits sequence, which featured 144 strobing lights . Drew Struzan designed the film's poster. He completed it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film. The lack of information about the film's special effects drew the attention of film exhibitors in early 1982. They wanted reassurance that The Thing

6642-437: The creature it was originally inhabiting during a Galactic Federation research mission on the planet. Samus nearly dies but is saved by having Metroid DNA injected into her body, with most of her Power Suit having to be surgically removed. This Metroid DNA ultimately makes her immune to infection, due to Metroids being natural predators of the parasite. The X parasite residing in her Power Suit remains eventually transforms into

6765-455: The crew estimated they would need at least $ 750,000 for creature effects, a figure Universal executives agreed to after seeing the number of workers employed under Rob Bottin , the special make-up effects designer. Larry Franco was responsible for making the budget work for the film; he cut the filming schedule by a third, eliminated the exterior sets for on-site shooting, and removed Bennings' more extravagant death scene. Cohen suggested reusing

6888-401: The crew, make a cameo appearance in a recovered photograph of the Norwegian team. Camera operator Ray Stella stood in for the shots where needles were used to take blood, telling Carpenter that he could do it all day. Franco also played the Norwegian wielding a rifle and hanging out of the helicopter during the opening sequence. Stunt coordinator Dick Warlock also made a number of cameos in

7011-409: The day before he was to begin shooting. David attended filming the next day, but when Carpenter and Franco saw his swollen hand, they sent him to the hospital where it was punctured with two pins. He returned wearing a surgical glove beneath a black glove that was painted to resemble his complexion. His left hand is not seen for the first half of the film. Carpenter filmed the Norwegian camp scenes after

7134-455: The destroyed American camp as the ruined Norwegian camp, saving a further $ 250,000. When filming began in August, The Thing had a budget of $ 11.4   million, and indirect costs brought it to $ 14   million. The effects budget ran over, eventually totaling $ 1.5   million, forcing the elimination of some scenes, including Nauls' confrontation of a creature dubbed the "box Thing". By

7257-456: The end of production, Carpenter had to make a personal appeal to executive Ned Tanen for $ 100,000 to complete a simplified version of the Blair-Thing. The final cost was $ 12.4   million, and overhead costs brought it to $ 15   million. Several writers developed drafts for The Thing before Carpenter became involved, including Logan's Run (1967) writer William F. Nolan , novelist David Wiltse , and Hooper and Henkel, whose draft

7380-400: The end scenes, using the damaged American base as a stand-in for the charred Norwegian camp. The explosive destruction of the base required the camera assistants to stand inside the set with the explosives, which were activated remotely. The assistants then had to run to a safe distance while seven cameras captured the base's destruction. Filmed when the heavy use of special effects was rare,

7503-569: The eponymous " Thing ", an extraterrestrial life-form that assimilates, then imitates, other organisms. The group is overcome by paranoia and conflict as they learn that they can no longer trust each other and that any of them could be the Thing. The film stars Kurt Russell as the team's helicopter pilot R.J. MacReady , with A. Wilford Brimley , T. K. Carter , David Clennon , Keith David , Richard Dysart , Charles Hallahan , Peter Maloney , Richard Masur , Donald Moffat , Joel Polis , and Thomas G. Waites in supporting roles. Production began in

SECTION 60

#1732791059149

7626-446: The exterior outpost sets were built. The sets had been built in Alaska during the summer, atop a rocky area overlooking a glacier, in preparation for snow to fall and cover them. They were used for both interior and exterior filming, meaning they could not be heated above freezing inside to ensure there was always snow on the roof. Outside, the temperature was so low that the camera lenses would freeze and break. The crew had to leave

7749-422: The false arms. The effect of the Norris-Thing's head detaching from the body to save itself took many months of testing before Bottin was satisfied enough to film it. The scene involved a fire effect, but the crew were unaware that fumes from the rubber foam chemicals inside the puppet were flammable. The fire ignited the fumes, creating a large fireball that engulfed the puppet. It suffered only minimal damage after

7872-543: The film and realized that there were places, mostly scenes of tension, in which his music would not work   ... I secretly ran off and recorded in a couple of days a few pieces to use. My pieces were very simple electronic pieces – it was almost tones. It was not really music at all but just background sounds, something today you might even consider as sound effects. The Thing ' s special effects were largely designed by Bottin, who had previously worked with Carpenter on The Fog (1980). When Bottin joined

7995-532: The film began in the mid-1970s when David Foster and fellow producer Lawrence Turman suggested to Universal Pictures an adaptation of the 1938 John W. Campbell novella Who Goes There? . It had been loosely adapted once before in Howard Hawks ' and Christian Nyby 's 1951 film The Thing from Another World , but Foster and Turman wanted to develop a project that stuck more closely to the source material. Screenwriters Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins held

8118-441: The film earned $ 3.1   million from 840 theaters – an average of $ 3,699 per theater – finishing as the number eight film of the weekend behind supernatural horror Poltergeist ($ 4.1   million), which was in its fourth weekend of release, and ahead of action film Megaforce ($ 2.3   million). It dropped out of the top   10 grossing films after three weeks, and ended its run earning

8241-455: The film with the survivors slowly freezing to death to save humanity from infection, believing this to be the ultimate heroic act. Lancaster wrote this ending, which eschews a The Twilight Zone -style twist or the destruction of the monster, as he wanted to instead have an ambiguous moment between the pair, of trust and mistrust, fear and relief. Anita Dann served as casting director. Kurt Russell had worked with Carpenter twice before and

8364-473: The film's $ 15   million budget, $ 1.5   million was spent on Rob Bottin 's creature effects, a mixture of chemicals, food products, rubber, and mechanical parts turned by his large team into an alien capable of taking on any form. The Thing was released in 1982 to negative reviews that described it as "instant junk" and "a wretched excess". Critics both praised the special effects achievements and criticized their visual repulsiveness, while others found

8487-470: The film's monster to be unnotable. Cohen suggested that he read the original novella. Carpenter found the "creepiness" of the imitations conducted by the creature, and the questions it raised, interesting. He drew parallels between the novella and Agatha Christie 's mystery novel And Then There Were None (1939), and noted that the story of Who Goes There? was "timely" for him, meaning he could make it "true to [his] day" as Hawks had in his time. Carpenter,

8610-418: The film, most notably in an off-screen appearance as the shadow on the wall during the scene where the Dog-Thing enters one of the researcher's living quarters. Clennon was originally intended to be in the scene, but due to his shadow being easily identifiable Carpenter decided to use Warlock instead. Warlock also played Palmer-Thing and stood in for Brimley in a few scenes that involved Blair. Development of

8733-462: The film. In 2012, Morricone recalled: I've asked [Carpenter], as he was preparing some electronic music with an assistant to edit on the film, "Why did you call me, if you want to do it on your own?" He surprised me, he said – "I got married to your music. This is why I've called you."   ... Then when he showed me the film, later when I wrote the music, we didn't exchange ideas. He ran away, nearly ashamed of showing it to me. I wrote

8856-434: The fire had been put out, and the crew successfully filmed the scene. Stop-motion expert Randall William Cook developed a sequence for the end of the film where MacReady is confronted by the gigantic Blair-Thing. Cook created a miniature model of the set and filmed wide-angle shots of the monster in stop motion, but Carpenter was not convinced by the effect and used only a few seconds of it. It took fifty people to operate

8979-498: The futility of their distrust and share a bottle of Scotch whisky . The Thing also features Norbert Weisser as one of the Norwegians, and an uncredited dog, Jed , as the Dog-Thing. The only female presence in the film is the voice of MacReady's chess computer, voiced by Carpenter's then-wife, Adrienne Barbeau . Producer David Foster, associate producer Larry Franco, and writer Bill Lancaster , along with other members of

9102-422: The game took away from its impact, noting that the SA-X being a "terrifying threat" is enhanced by being invulnerable to Samus until the end of the game. Kurt Kalata felt similarly, feeling that EMMI are an improvement mechanically, and while they created "some incredibly tense standoffs", the SA-X were more frightening. Nintendo Life writer Ollie Reynolds felt that Dark Samus lacked impact due to SA-X, feeling SA-X

9225-529: The games Wrecking Crew , Balloon Fight and Gumshoe . Sakamoto also was the lead scenario writer and creator of Famicom Detective Club with its first two entries, some of the most influential visual novels in Japan in the 80s. Sakamoto created characters for Metroid (under the alias 'Shikamoto'), and was a game designer on Kid Icarus . He also directed Super Metroid , Metroid Fusion , Metroid: Zero Mission , Metroid: Other M , and

9348-457: The ice where the alien had been buried was filmed at Universal, while the surrounding area, including the alien spaceship, helicopter, and snow, were all painted. Carpenter's friend John Wash, who developed the opening computer simulation for Escape from New York , used a Cromemco Z-2 to design the computer program showing how the Thing assimilates other organisms. Colors were added by placing filters in front of an animation camera used to shoot

9471-411: The job. By the time Morricone flew to Los Angeles to record the score, he had already developed a tape filled with an array of synthesizer music because he was unsure what type of score Carpenter wanted. Morricone wrote complete separate orchestral and synthesizer scores and a combined score, which he knew was Carpenter's preference. Carpenter picked a piece, closely resembling his own scores, that became

9594-482: The main theme used throughout the film. He also played the score from Escape from New York for Morricone as an example. Morricone made several more attempts, bringing the score closer to Carpenter's own style of music. In total, Morricone produced a score of approximately one hour that remained largely unused but was later released as part of the film's soundtrack. Carpenter and his longtime collaborator Alan Howarth separately developed some synth-styled pieces used in

9717-481: The malformed humanoid assimilate an isolated Bennings, but Windows interrupts the process and MacReady burns the Bennings-Thing. The team also imprisons Blair in a tool shed after he sabotages all the vehicles, kills the remaining sled dogs, and destroys the radio to prevent escape. Copper suggests testing for infection by comparing the crew's blood against uncontaminated blood held in storage, but after learning

9840-511: The mid-1970s as a faithful adaptation of the novella, following 1951's The Thing from Another World . The Thing went through several directors and writers, each with different ideas on how to approach the story. Filming lasted roughly twelve weeks, beginning in August 1981, and took place on refrigerated sets in Los Angeles as well as in Juneau, Alaska , and Stewart, British Columbia . Of

9963-416: The music on my own without his advice. Naturally, as I had become quite clever since 1982, I've written several scores relating to my life. And I had written one, which was electronic music. And [Carpenter] took the electronic score. Carpenter said: [Morricone] did all the orchestrations and recorded for me 20 minutes of music I could use wherever I wished but without seeing any footage. I cut his music into

10086-478: The original story, to Carpenter, who was a fan of Lancaster's work on The Bad News Bears (1976). Lancaster conceived several key scenes in the film, including the Norris-Thing biting Dr. Copper, and the use of blood tests to identify the Thing, which Carpenter cited as the reason he wanted to work on the film. Lancaster said he found some difficulty in translating Who Goes There? to film, as it features very little action. He also made some significant changes to

10209-500: The producers also met with Brian Dennehy , Kris Kristofferson , John Heard , Ed Harris , Tom Berenger , Jack Thompson, Scott Glenn , Fred Ward , Peter Coyote , Tom Atkins, and Tim McIntire . Some passed on the idea of starring in a monster film, while Dennehy became the choice to play Copper. Each actor was to be paid $ 50,000, but after the more-established Russell was cast, his salary increased to $ 400,000. Geoffrey Holder , Carl Weathers , and Bernie Casey were considered for

10332-401: The producers, Carpenter, and executive Helena Hacker decided that the film was better left with ambiguity instead of nothing at all. Carpenter gave his approval to restore the ambiguous ending, but a scream was inserted over the outpost explosion to posit the monster's death. Universal executive Sidney Sheinberg disliked the ending's nihilism and, according to Carpenter, said, "Think about how

10455-608: The project in mid-1981, pre-production was in progress, but no design had been settled on for the alien. Artist Dale Kuipers had created some preliminary paintings of the creature's look, but he left the project after being hospitalized following a traffic accident before he could develop them further with Bottin. Carpenter conceived the Thing as a single creature, but Bottin suggested that it should be constantly changing and able to look like anything. Carpenter initially considered Bottin's description of his ideas as "too weird", and had him work with Ploog to sketch them instead. As part of

10578-408: The project was put on hold. Even so, the success of Ridley Scott 's 1979 science fiction horror film Alien helped revitalize the project, at which point Carpenter became loosely attached following his success with his influential slasher film Halloween (1978). Carpenter was reluctant to join the project, for he thought Hawks' adaptation would be difficult to surpass, although he considered

10701-409: The remains and finds a normal set of human organs. Clark kennels the sled dog, and it soon metamorphoses and absorbs several of the station dogs. This disturbance alerts the team, and Childs uses a flamethrower to incinerate the creature. Blair autopsies the Dog-Thing and surmises it is an organism that can perfectly imitate other life forms. Data recovered from the Norwegian base leads the Americans to

10824-413: The rights to make an adaptation, but passed on the opportunity to make a new film, so Universal obtained the rights from them. In 1976, Wilbur Stark had purchased the remake rights to 23 RKO Pictures films, including The Thing from Another World , from three Wall Street financiers who did not know what to do with them, in exchange for a return when the films were produced. Universal in turn acquired

10947-755: The rights to remake the film from Stark, resulting in him being given an executive producer credit on all print advertisements, posters, television commercials, and studio press material. John Carpenter was first approached about the project in 1976 by co-producer and friend Stuart Cohen, but Carpenter was mainly an independent film director, so Universal chose The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) director Tobe Hooper as they already had him under contract. The producers were ultimately unhappy with Hooper and his writing partner Kim Henkel 's concept. After several more failed pitches by different writers, and attempts to bring on other directors, such as John Landis ,

11070-632: The role of mechanic Childs, and Carpenter also looked at Isaac Hayes , having worked with him on Escape from New York . Ernie Hudson was the front-runner and was almost cast until they met with Keith David . The Thing was David's first significant film role, and coming from a theater background, he had to learn on set how to hold himself back and not show every emotion his character was feeling, with guidance from Richard Masur and Donald Moffat in particular. Masur (dog handler Clark) and David discussed their characters in rehearsals and decided that they would not like each other. For senior biologist Blair,

11193-422: The role of station commander Garry, and Richard Mulligan was also considered when the production experimented with the idea of making the character closer to MacReady in age. Masur also read for Garry, but he asked to play the dog handler Clark instead, as he liked the character's dialogue and was also a fan of dogs. Masur worked daily with the wolfdog Jed and his handler, Clint Rowe, during rehearsals, as Rowe

11316-428: The scare elements of that film, something Carpenter wanted to move away from for The Thing . He removed scenes from Lancaster's script that had been filmed, such as a body suddenly falling into view at the Norwegian camp, which he felt were too clichéd. Approximately three minutes of scenes were filmed from Lancaster's script that elaborated on the characters' backgrounds. A scene with MacReady absentmindedly inflating

11439-526: The scariest characters in video games. Her power, particularly in contrast with Samus', was met with praise, with critics identifying the chase scenes between the SA-X and Samus as the best moments in Metroid Fusion . She has also been compared to the EMMI in Metroid Dread , which were themselves inspired by the SA-X. When designing Metroid Fusion , designer Yoshio Sakamoto aimed to make

11562-478: The scenic vistas available, while still creating a sense of confinement within the image. It also enabled the use of negative space around the actors to imply something may be lurking just offscreen. Principal photography began on August 24, 1981, in Juneau, Alaska. Filming lasted about twelve weeks. Carpenter insisted on two weeks of rehearsals before filming as he wanted to see how scenes would play out. This

11685-481: The script. After it was finished, Lancaster and Carpenter spent a weekend in northern California refining the script, each having different takes on how a character should sound, and comparing their ideas for scenes. Lancaster's script opted to keep the creature largely concealed throughout the film, and it was Bottin who convinced Carpenter to make it more visible to have a greater impact on the audience. Lancaster's original ending had both MacReady and Childs turn into

11808-405: The sets were painted in neutral colors such as gray, and many of the props were also painted gray, while the costumes were a mix of somber browns, blues, and grays. They relied on the lighting to add color. Albert Whitlock provided matte -painted backdrops, including the scene in which the Americans discover the giant alien spaceship buried in the ice. A scene where MacReady walks up to a hole in

11931-504: The sets, as there were no existing locations used in the film. Cundey suggested that the sets should have ceilings and pipes seen on camera to make the spaces seem more claustrophobic. Several scenes in the script were omitted from the film, sometimes because there was too much dialogue that slowed the pace and undermined the suspense. Carpenter blamed some of the issues on his directorial method, noting that several scenes appeared to be repeating events or information. Another scene featuring

12054-448: The shack. The team debates whether to allow MacReady inside, but he breaks in and holds the group at bay with dynamite. During the encounter, Norris appears to suffer a heart attack. As Copper attempts to defibrillate Norris, his chest transforms into a large mouth and bites off Copper's arms, killing him. MacReady incinerates the Norris-Thing, but its head detaches and attempts to escape before also being burnt. MacReady hypothesizes that

12177-439: The snow and the blue light helped create the impression of coldness. The team also made use of the flamethrowers and magenta-hued flares used by the actors to create dynamic lighting. The team originally wanted to shoot the film in black-and-white , but Universal was reluctant as it could affect their ability to sell the television rights for the film. Instead, Cundey suggested muting the colors as much as possible. The inside of

12300-403: The stage, and used humidifiers and misters to add moisture to the air. After watching a roughly assembled cut of filming to date, Carpenter was unhappy that the film seemed to feature too many scenes of men standing around talking. He rewrote some already completed scenes to take place outdoors to be shot on location when principal photography moved to Stewart, British Columbia . Carpenter

12423-485: The station's Metroid breeding facilities, which includes Samus due to her DNA. When Samus learns of the Galactic Federation's intention to capture the SA-X, potentially allowing the parasite to spread across the galaxy, she programs the station to crash into and destroy SR388 to wipe out the X. After Samus has grown powerful enough, she faces off against the SA-X, managing to kill it even after it evolves into

12546-434: The story, such as reducing the number of characters from 37 to 12. Lancaster said that 37 was excessive and would be difficult for audiences to follow, leaving little screen time for characterization. He also opted to alter the story's structure, choosing to open his in the middle of the action , instead of using a flashback as in the novella. Several characters were modernized for contemporary audiences; MacReady, originally

12669-410: The team chose the then-unknown Wilford Brimley , as they wanted an everyman whose absence would not be questioned by the audience until the appropriate time. The intent with the character was to have him become infected early in the film but offscreen , so that his status would be unknown to the audience, concealing his intentions. Carpenter wanted to cast Donald Pleasence , but it was decided that he

12792-465: The tension SA-X produced in another game. They specifically wanted to feature the chase style of gameplay in a Metroid game with more traditional gameplay than Fusion . The SA-X originally appeared in Metroid Fusion , having developed from an X parasite originally found on the planet SR388. It first infects both the protagonist Samus Aran and her bio-organic Power Suit after Samus killed

12915-487: The time was more than the studio had ever allocated to a monster film. Filming was scheduled to be completed within 98 days. Universal's production studios estimated that it would require at least $ 17   million before marketing and other costs, as the plan involved more set construction, including external sets and a large set piece for the original scripted death of Bennings, which was estimated to cost $ 1.5   million alone. As storyboarding and designs were finalized,

13038-422: Was a first-rate production capable of attracting audiences. Cohen and Foster, with a specially employed editor and Universal's archive of music, put together a 20-minute showreel emphasizing action and suspense. They used available footage, including alternate and extended scenes not in the finished film, but avoided revealing the special effects as much as possible. The reaction from the exclusively male exhibitors

13161-444: Was considered by Jones to be Nintendo's "greatest unorthodox take on survival horror". VG247 writer Fran Ruiz compared SA-X to the titular antagonists of The Thing and The Terminator , as well as Nemesis T-Type from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis , all of whom stalk their respective protagonists. She felt that running and hiding from the SA-X was stressful, but that the final encounter feels "earned and empowering", saying that she

13284-497: Was determined to use authentic locations instead of studio sets, and his successes on Halloween and The Fog (1980) gave him the credibility to take on the much bigger-budget production of The Thing . A film scout located an area just outside Stewart, along the Canadian coast, which offered the project both ease of access and scenic value during the day. On December 2, 1981, roughly 100 American and Canadian crew members moved to

13407-421: Was familiarizing Jed with the sounds and smells of people. This helped Masur's and Jed's performance onscreen, as the dog would stand next to him without looking for his handler. Masur described his character as one uninterested in people, but who loves working with dogs. He went to a survivalist store and bought a flip knife for his character, and used it in a confrontation with David's character. Masur turned down

13530-418: Was generally positive, and Universal executive Robert Rehme told Cohen that the studio was counting on The Thing ' s success, as they expected E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial to appeal only to children. While finalizing the film, Universal sent Carpenter a demographic study showing that the audience appeal of horror films had declined by seventy percent over the previous six months. Carpenter considered this

13653-418: Was given the impression that they wanted to closely replicate The Thing from Another World , and he did not want to remake the film. In August 1979, Lancaster was contacted again. By this time he had read the original Who Goes There? novella, and Carpenter had become involved in the project. Lancaster was hired to write the script after describing his vision for the film, and his intention to stick closely to

13776-517: Was involved in the production before being cast, helping Carpenter develop his ideas. Russell was the last actor to be cast, in June 1981, by which point second unit filming was starting in Juneau, Alaska . Carpenter wanted to keep his options open for the lead R.J. MacReady, and discussions with the studio considered Christopher Walken , Jeff Bridges , and Nick Nolte , who were either unavailable or declined, and Sam Shepard , who showed interest but

13899-410: Was made of makeup artist Lance Anderson 's arm and head, around which the Dog-Thing was sculpted in oil-based clay. The final foam-latex puppet, worn by Anderson, featured radio-controlled eyes and cable-controlled legs, and was operated from below a raised set on which the kennel was built. Slime from the puppet would leak onto Anderson during the two days it took to film the scene, and he had to wear

14022-420: Was never pursued. Tom Atkins and Jack Thompson were strong early and late contenders for the role of MacReady, but the decision was ultimately made to go with Russell. In part, Carpenter cited the practicality of choosing someone he had found reliable before, and who would not balk at the difficult filming conditions. It took Russell about a year to grow his hair and beard out for the role. At various points,

14145-428: Was scripted to appear in the finale as a partly assimilated mass of tentacles, but in the film, he simply disappears. Carpenter struggled with a method of conveying to the audience what assimilation by the creature actually meant. Lancaster's original set piece of Bennings' death had him pulled beneath a sheet of ice by the Thing, before resurfacing in different areas in various stages of assimilation. The scene called for

14268-408: Was set at least partially underwater, and which Cohen described as a Moby-Dick -like story in which "The Captain" did battle with a large, non-shapeshifting creature. As Carpenter said in a 2014 interview, "they were just trying to make it work". The writers left before Carpenter joined the project. He said the scripts were "awful", as they changed the story into something it was not, and ignored

14391-494: Was superior and Dark Samus felt "been there done that". Yoshio Sakamoto Yoshio Sakamoto ( Japanese : 坂本 賀勇 , Hepburn : Sakamoto Yoshio ) (born July 23, 1959) is a Japanese video game designer , director , and producer . He has worked at Nintendo since 1982. He has directed several games in the Metroid series. He is one of the most prominent members of Nintendo's former Research and Development 1 division, along with Gunpei Yokoi and Toru Osawa. Sakamoto

14514-419: Was tasked with reworking the ending to add clarity and resolution. It was finally decided to create an entirely new scene, which omitted the suspicion of Childs being infected by removing him completely, leaving MacReady alone. This new ending tested only slightly better with audiences than the original, and the production team agreed to the studio's request to use it. It was set to go to print for theaters when

14637-413: Was the first time he felt helpless in a video game. The SA-X has been compared to other characters in the Metroid series, including the EMMI from Metroid Dread , with the EMMI criticized as being an inconvenience compared to SA-X. Jordan Ramée felt that the EMMI was an evolution of the SA-X concept mechanically, but a step back thematically. He felt that revealing that the EMMI could be killed early in

14760-657: Was the producer for Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread . Sakamoto's design work is also found in Nintendo games including Balloon Kid (1990), Game & Watch Gallery (1997), Wario Land 4 (2001), and the WarioWare series. Sakamoto has stated that he wants to live up to public expectations of Nintendo to deliver products similarly unique to those of his youth, describing WarioWare, Inc. as an example. Regarding his professional relationship with Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto , he believes his mission

14883-412: Was too recognizable to accommodate the role. T. K. Carter was cast as the station's cook Nauls, but comedian Franklyn Ajaye also came in to read for the role. Instead, he delivered a lengthy speech about the character being a stereotype, after which the meeting ended. Bottin lobbied hard to play assistant mechanic Palmer, but it was deemed impossible for him to do so alongside his existing duties. As

15006-517: Was unusual at the time because of the expense involved. Filming then moved to the Universal lot , where the outside heat was over 100 °F (38 °C). The internal sets were climate-controlled to 28 °F (−2 °C) to facilitate their work. The team considered building the sets inside an existing refrigerated structure but were unable to find one large enough. Instead, they collected as many portable air conditioners as they could, closed off

15129-447: Was very sensitive about his designs, and worried about the film showing too many of them. At one point, as a preemptive move against any censorship, Bottin suggested making the creature's violent transformations and the appearance of the internal organs more fantastical using colors. The decision was made to tone down the color of the blood and viscera, although much of the filming had been completed by that point. The creature effects used

#148851