Overall, however, I found The Thing to present a very strong image. Also solid but flawed is the movie's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Panning between speakers seemed slightly awkward but worked acceptably well. Although I didn't notice any split surround usage, the rear channels added a nice element to the track and helped create a nicely encompassing soundstage. Quality seems generally strong but has a few problems, most notably some distortion.
Dialogue sounds warm and pretty natural, but it suffers from some edginess at times.
Nonetheless, it always appeared easily intelligible. Effects were a little thin but decently realistic, though they also displayed some distortion, most significantly during explosions. A layer of tape hiss periodically mars the presentation, but this occurs only a few times during the film. First up is an audio commentary from 1995 that features Carpenter and Russell. Both of the guys sound like they're having a great deal of fun as they talk about the movie, and enough interesting information appears to make the commentary worthwhile.