The Thing(s) - 1951, 1982, 2011

First came The Thing from Another World (1951). 
"Scientists and American Air Force officials fend off a blood-thirsty alien organism while at a remote arctic outpost."  (IMDb). I do love the old sci-fi trailers - the poster is funny, too.

Then the John Carpenter remake called The Thing (1982).
"Scientists in the Antarctic are confronted by a shape-shifting alien that assumes the appearance of the people that it kills. (IMDb)."

The newest version is also called The Thing.
"At an Antarctica research site, the discovery of an alien craft leads to a confrontation between graduate student Kate Lloyd and scientist Dr. Sander Halvorson. (IMDb)"

While snooping around Google for some background on the three "Things", I came across discussions, some quite heated, arguing that the newest version is a prequel.  Judging from the trailers, the stories, with slight modifications, all look pretty much the same.  The only difference I can tell is that in the 2011 version, they discover and extract the apparent "organism" and let it loose.  So, does this constitute the prequel label?

So, if the new "Thing" is a prequel, then the (1982) research team showed up blindly, not knowing that all their colleagues were eaten by a monster and they, too had to fight it off or die trying.... prequel, sequel, equal... it's still a remake of sorts and do you remember what I say about remakes? It's better to remake a bad film then it is to remake a good film, badly.

Because I haven't seen any "Things" I can't comment.  I did hear that the first one (1951) was good and that the 1982, John Carpenter version was very good.  John Carpenter.  There's an interesting fellow.  Conceptually, I don't know if there is a better film maker.  The concepts behind the original Halloween, Escape from New York, They Live, Prince of Darkness and many more are often brilliant.  The problem with some of Carpenter's work is that the execution or delivery of the final product does not or cannot live up to the concept.  This applies to films like They Live, The Fog, Prince of Darkness, but Halloween, Escape from New York and, from what I hear, his version of The Thing, indeed deliver.

So, after watching all three "Thing" trailers, what can I say about the new version of The Thing?

It doesn't look different enough for me to want to see it.  I will, however, look for the John Carpenter version and watch it just to see if they make reference to the prequel team.