The Thing (1982)

35 mm prints of the film had a 2-track Dolby Stereo mix and the few 70 mm prints that circulated (there were literally six of them, according to producer Stuart Cohen) had a 70 mm 6-track Dolby Stereo mix.

Both mixes are present on the new Shout/Scream Factory blu-ray, and they both sound excellent. The 5.1 mix included was created sometime in the '90s for home video.

The 4.1 and 5.1 mixes are generally pretty similar. The differences usually come to subtle volume discrepancies in ambient sound effects. Fidelity is very slightly better on the 4.1, and Carpenter's score (especially) sounds like it has consistently more high-end extension than on the 5.1.

As a point of interest, the Signature Collection LaserDisc of the film that was released in 1997 or 1998 contains a 2.0 stereo track that's either a downmix of the 6-track or possibly of the then-newly created 5.1 mix.

The original 2-track mix has never before appeared on digital home video -- this Shout disc marks its debut. It is perhaps the most 'original' of the three, having been created first (according to Cohen), and being what the vast majority of audiences heard in 1982. It's a bit more subdued and has fewer fewer ambient effects (usually the sound of wind in outdoor scenes), but its presentation here sounds very, very good.