40^th Anniversary Double Feature with THE THING!

1982 is widely considered one of the best years for movie-going in the world. Here is a partial list of films that made their debut that year: The Atomic Café, Cat People, Chan is Missing, Conan the Barbarian, The Dark Crystal, Diner, The Draughtsman’s Contract, E.T., Eating Raoul, Fanny and Alexander, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, First Blood, Frances, Gandhi, Halloween III, Koyaanisqatsi, The Last Unicorn, Liquid Sky, Missing, My Favorite Year, One from the Heart, Personal Best, Pink Floyd: The Wall, Poltergeist, Querelle, The Secret of NIMH, Smithereens, Sophie’s Choice, Star Trek II, Tenebrae, Tootsie, Tron, The Verdict, and The Year of Living Dangerously. In a year that included that caliber of cinema, one standout event was on June 25 when John Carpenter’s THE THING and Ridley Scott’s BLADE RUNNER—two of the greatest sci-fi films ever made—were released on the same day.

In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.