10 More Underrated Sci-Fi Films You Need To Love

4. The Thing

I know, believe me I do, today The Thing doesn't seem underrated at all. It's an amazing horror movie (quite possibly the best movie John Carpenter ever made), most of my friends love The Thing, and it wasn't underrated enough to not merit a crappy remake. Sure The Thing is popular now, but when this film first came out it was treated like nothing more than the B movie knockoff of Alien. In some ways audiences were completely right to do so. For example, there are similarities in the original scripts. Both scripts are the only times I've seen a cast of characters listed in the beginning, something which is almost never done in screenwriting. However, while Dan O'Bannon did it for Alien as a disclaimer to tell readers all his characters could be played by men or women, the sheet in The Thing just seems to be... there. Despite similarities not withstanding The Thing is a far cry from the other knock offs, which came out in Alien's wake such as the awful Galaxy of Fear (this film couldn't decide how to make its alien impregnate people like the xenomorphs so instead it has a giant phallic monster, which rapes a woman). The premise and special effects hold up even today and the premise of an Alien assimilating the genetic make-up of whatever it touches to blend in with the others is stand alone. It also, alongside Escape From New York, solidifies Kurt Russell as the often flawed, overly macho, and hilarious action hero.