GregK said:
Not to muddy the waters any further, but IF I recall correctly, the non-anamorphic DVD release of THE THING was a true discrete 4.1 port over, with no split surrounds. It is encoded as DD 5.1, but only has mono surrounds.
Later mixes were altered where the surrounds had some minor surround left/right activity. I don't know if it was a full blown remix or if simple directionality was added to the surrounds with the mix other than that left "as-is", as was done with CLOSE ENCOUNTERS.
Have been wanting to compare the two mixes and reconfirm my recollections, but the schedule here has been chaotic as of late...
Ah, that's really useful - thanks! So in my original timeline the 1998 5.1 mix (found on the Signature laserdisc as well as the non-anamorphic DVD) was actually a discrete upmix of the theatrical Dolby Stereo, with the 'proper' remix happening later, perhaps the anamorphic re-release or maybe just the HD versions.
In the event I spent the time syncing the 1998 Signature PCM to the HD-DVD, and it sounds absolutely terrific. You'll find it in Andrea's project, hopefully very soon...
(By the way, the HD mix is most definitely a remix. I found numerous alterations when using it as the sync reference - mostly altered sound editing, smoothed-out 'splosions and such).