Arrow Video, out now

John Carpenter’s 1982 horror sci-fi classic gets the Arrow special edition treatment, with improved picture and new special features.

Universal’s 2011 Blu-Ray release of the movie was already a decent package, with documentary, audio track and outtakes, but Arrow has given that disc a superior upgrade, making it redundant. Immediately apparent is the crisp new print which adds greater depths to the dark corners of the remote Antarctic base which is being attacked by an alien shapeshifter. This is a new 4K restoration from the original negative, the final grade being supervised and approved by Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey.

The new print is enough to justify your upgrade but there’s also two new documentaries. Who Goes There? In Search of The Thing is 77 minutes of interviews and new background material, spending more time looking at the original Howard Hawks movie and novella. Summer of 1982 is a fun half-hour looking at the movies that defined the summer of 1982 – ET, Star Trek II, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, Conan the Barbarian, Mad Max, Tron and The Thing. Has there ever been a better year for genre movies?

The audio commentary with Carpenter and star Kurt Russell and documentary Terror Takes Shape are ported over from the previous release, but there’s a new commentary from podcasters and some fan-centric material (one’s an artist, one visits locations and another runs a website). This material feels less essential, but as the entire production archive content is also present, why not have fan content as added value material? The 55-minute NoThing Left Unsaid panel from the 2017 Texas Frightmare Weekend is an engaging discussion with Dean Cundey and some of the cast – unlikely to need a repeat viewing, but a welcome addition to an already bumper package.

Verdict: Film-fans rightly balk when having to double-dip to buy the same movie again, but when the picture is so rich and the extras really do have someThing new to say, who’s complaining. Let’s hope we’ll get a 4K release in time. 10/10

Nick Joy