A Ameaça

Ficção científica inteligente dos anos 50 com elementos de horror e uma ideia. Mas teria sido mais assustador e mais suspense se não tivesse sido tão falador, e se se tivesse concentrado mais nas pessoas que se confrontam com a Coisa do que nas pessoas que se confrontam umas com as outras (especialmente o caso de amor desnecessário entre o capitão e a assistente). E os escritores poderiam ter dramatizado o último terço de forma mais imaginativa, trazendo mais vítimas. Dessa forma, apenas flui para os créditos finais. (20/11/2011)

For me a clear disappointment, and since the comparison with Carpenter's remake can’t be avoided, I declare the winner and it is John Carpenter. Hawks's black and white classic lacks everything that made the remake interesting. There is no feeling of confinement and isolation, no paranoia and distrust among colleagues that add to the tension, no palpable fear of unknown threats. Howard Hawks had a wide genre range, he made comedies, historical westerns and, in this case, science fiction, and all of his films are characterised by his signature overlapping dialogue. And that's exactly what happens ninety-five percent of the time in this film. There's talking and talking and talking, and although the dialogue is well written and the plot feels lively, Hawks builds absolutely no tension. A couple of promisingly interesting scenes are nipped in the bud, or are just plain sloppy (finding the spaceship). Despite my great fondness for old science fiction films, I did not enjoy this one, and after seeing this classic, I appreciated its remake all the more, with Carpenter mixing in all the ingredients such a film should have. Some films have really aged a lot. (17/10/2004)