El enigma de otro mundo

Una inteligente película de ciencia ficción de la década de 1950 con elementos de terror y una idea. Pero sería más aterrador y más intrigante si no hablara tanto y se centrara más en confrontar a las personas con la Cosa que a las personas entre sí (especialmente el amorío innecesario del capitán y la asistente). Y los guionistas podrían haber dramatizado con más imaginación y más víctimas el último tercio. Así solo fluye hacia los créditos finales. (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)