The Day the Earth Stood Still

Another detour from silent cinema. I can’t completely control what Zip.ca sends me through the mail... but at least it sends me good stuff. Some spoilers follow.





Would you be afraid of Gort? I’d be afraid. What’s not to fear from a malleable metal juggernaut from another world, with the strength of a tank and a death-ray built into his head? When Gort’s visor rises, he can direct the ray so precisely that it can disintegrate a soldier’s rifle and leave the soldier unharmed. But if Gort wishes, that ray can do the same to any human being, reducing him or her to bubbling slurry on the grass.
(Michael Rennie), the wise, human-like pilot of the saucer that has landed in Washington D.C. in 1951. If we fear Gort, at least we know he (it?) is wielded by a learned, contemplative being. Unfortunately, none of this is true—not completely, anyway—and the results are a triumph for nihilist filmmaking.







Rennie plays Klaatu with all the upright dignity of a being who takes his work seriously, but has no regard for the planet he’s been called upon to help. He’s polite, but smug. We forgive him, because he’s committed to ending our many conflicts, which he terms ‘childish jealousies and suspicions.’ Indeed, the blunders of humanity are on display: Klaatu is variously suspected of Communism, stifled by cloddish bureaucracy and vilified by a histrionic press. He’s even shot. During a day trip with nine-year-old Bobby (Billy Gray), Klaatu visits Arlington National Cemetery, where Bobby’s father rests, along with thousands of others. Then they observe the saucer, which has been turned into a tourist attraction. Most damningly, they read the inscription on the Lincoln Memorial, leading Klaatu to lament that no such man exists today. Humans, apparently, cannot learn from even their own great examples. Everything Klaatu sees elicits another, regretful, shake of the head.

But how awful are things, really? Between its progressive politics and dedication to portray the bad and the good of mid-century America, The Day the Earth Stood Still seems to combat its own hero, at least in spirit. Modern viewers will hear no pro-American, pro-capitalist (or even pro-socialist) sloganeering, except from the mouths of idiots. War’s portrayed not only as tragic, but asinine. While minorities are rarely on-screen, and mostly portrayed in service roles, the climactic scene, in which the world’s greatest scientific minds gather before the saucer, includes—prominently—many men and women of colour. Then there’s Helen Benson, Bobby’s mom: she’s a war widow, she works, and she’s in no hurry to get married. Helen’s far from a shrinking violet, not that Patricia Neal could have played one if she tried.

The movie is still a product of its time. Between Bobby’s ‘golly gee’s’ and the notable lack of locked doors (even at night), The Day the Earth Stood Still almost demands parody. But you can’t laugh at it without feeling a little bitter. If we question Helen’s choice to let Rennie’s ‘Mr. Carpenter’ watch Bobby for the day, despite having only just met him, isn’t it because we’d feel unsafe doing that today? And, had we the option of living in a world where ‘child molester’ wasn’t a default assumption, wouldn’t we choose it, assuming our trust was justified? No one would rather live in the 1950s than today—except, maybe a few white males—but it wasn’t hell for everyone who had to. Not in this film, anyway.



So. Having been stymied by his human persecutors at all points, Klaatu finally succeeds in gathering Earth’s foremost brains before him. No politicians are invited. Standing on the ramp of his saucer, Gort at his side, Klaatu pleads his case. Or rather, delivers his warning:

Klaatu’s planet has ‘a system, and it works.’ And his people now consider it threatened by humanity’s burgeoning Nuclear Age. The existence of the Bomb, soon to be applied to rockets that could, in theory, exit the Earth’s atmosphere, creates an intolerable disturbance. At least, if human leaders cannot be counted upon to act wisely. Ours is a collection of immature societies, and if we cannot grow up, strict measures will have to be taken.

Not by Klaatu, though. Starting now, humanity’s aggression will be regulated in the same way that Klaatu’s is: by force. As Klaatu explains, his people are able to direct their energy toward science, art and other worthy pursuits because they are so vigorously policed by robots like Gort. Indestructible, incorruptible, and impervious to pleas, the Gort robots patrol the stars in saucers like this one, eliminating any source of chaos. Ferocity of response matches level of threat. “The penalty for provoking their action,” he says, “is too terrible to risk.” It’s simple, and it works.



We might wonder about a policeman who distinguishes between a soldier and the soldier’s gun only in terms of their capacity to threaten. Klaatu isn’t so concerned, because Gort was built by people like him; that is, the very beings Gort oversees. But it doesn’t seem like they can stop him once he’s on the job. And so I always finish The Day the Earth Stood Still wondering how wise Klaatu really is. Did his people solve any of their problems, or did they just cede all their discipline to a bunch of machines? Is humanity’s mish-mash of ideologies—by comparison so inelegant and imprecise—actually any worse? Klaatu’s only message, spoken so gracefully, is that greater force trumps lesser force. However, should the day come when Gort makes a mistake, no one will be smiling. And no one, anywhere, will know what to do.

Last updated: 2010-04-10 23:28:57 by user06

A true classic, selected by the Library of Congress for inclusion in the National Film Registry. What else do we need to say other than "Klaatu barada nikto" mofo...

Robert A. Nowotny

The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Let me just first say it’s pretty bad ass. I’m somewhat of a sci-fi nerd so you have to realize I’m a little partial to sci-fi kind of stuff. This movie ain’t nothing ground breaking and certainly isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. But having said that, it’s a good film. I enjoyed it very much.

Keanu Reeves is really good in certain roles. Roles where he doesn’t really have to act. Like the Matrix, Johnny Neumonic, Point Break, Bill and Ted. And this role fits him perfectly. He’s just pretty much gotta look good for the camera and give questioning head tilt every once in a while.

And Jennifer Connelly is just smoking hot. But she’s a pretty good actor really. I could almost believe she was one of the world’s most prominent extraterrestrial biophysicist. Almost. John Cleese is very believable as a Nobel Prize winner in some form of Biology.

The little kid is kind of an asshole. But that’s what little kids are, right?

I had watched a pretty crappy movie earlier in the day. A movie I shall not even review because I might not want people to know I actually sat through it. In the first ten minutes of The Day the Earth Stood Still, I said to myself, that is how you get a movie started. And it does a real good job of grabbing you right off the bat. And like every good script, there’s an event about ten minutes in that makes you go, wow.

Like I said, I’m pretty much a sci-fi nerd so this is going to be a flick I’m sure to purchase when it comes out. And depending on my financial state at that time, I might even buy it new. Certainly in the fifteen dollar range. But if you ever find it in the ten dollar bin, do yourself a favor and pick it up.

I give The Day the Earth Stood Still three and a half giant space robots out of five.

Cal Reed

NicholasC

BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: Epic action and mind-blowing effects rock the planet in this thrilling reinvention of the sci-fi classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an otherworldly being, whose arrival on Earth triggers an unstoppable series of events that threaten all of mankind. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance. When a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson find themselves embroiled in the alien’s plan, they become the world’s only hope to stave off apocalyptic annihilation.

FILM REVIEW: Although the above synopsis promises a “thrilling reinvention of the sci-fi classic”, there is nothing in this updated version of “The Day The Earth Stood Still” that is the least bit in keeping with that promise, save for some wonderfully rendered visual effects shots. The film does keep with the original premise of an alien coming to Earth to highlight the self-destructive nature of the human race and how we better shape up otherwise we will be history. However, the monotone and dull execution, the failure to capitilise on emotional moments and the broader themes of humanity and the environment make for a film that is a totally missed opportunity. The film is not a waste of time in terms of the story it tells, but its underwhelming and uninspired execution make the film unfortunately forgettable.
Strange alien spheres descend upon the Earth, with the largest one landing in New York’s Central Park. Fear and suspicion grip the planet as humans wonder how to handle this momentous event. Emerging in the flurry is scientist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) who is called to the Central Park site to assist with the alien the army meets after it emerges from the sphere. Benson comes to believe that Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), the alien, is there to help humans, although as the story progresses, she discovers that he is there to save the Earth from humans. As a story, the environmental themes are noble and just, making for the potential for strong story-telling that is not usually seen in a Hollywood sci-fi epic. The subdued nature, if it had been done in a more interesting way, is quite welcome and plays to the down beat nature of the film, despite its predictable happy ending.
Some of the sequences in the film are clumsy in their execution. The opening scene of Benson being coerced out of her home by government agents is stereotypical and contrived. Hearing dialogue like “tell me what’s going on?” – “Ma’am, I don’t know what’s going on, we were just told to find you.” How Benson did not freak out more and demand an explanation despite the fact she had no choice is a legitimate question to ask in terms of dramatisation instead of looking like a deer caught in headlights. The short montages of how the world reacts to the crisis are not particularly believable, mostly due to the fact that they are only covering the crashes in the stock market which seems hardly relevant. Where are the speeches by world leaders? Or the coverage of how humans would actually react aside from a few shots of looting? One should be happy at least that a Hollywood film actually decided to broaden its scope beyond America in depicting a global event like this one.
Other sequences however are much better, including any moment where Klaatu’s mechanical robot protector Gort appears, or the appearance of the swarm of nano-robots who are programmed to consume anything made by humans, including themselves. The sequence in the middle of the film where the smaller spheres leave the Earth carrying two of every species (except humans of course) is a climactic and biblical moment that is welcome, particularly the shots of the spheres flying past the Great Pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.
Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu, an alien who takes human form, coming to Earth to do one final study of its inhabitants before passing judgment. Although as an alien he is by and large expressionless and devoid of emotion, Reeves unfortunately does not progress beyond the wooden, and in fact looks bored most of the time. Only his presence gives weight to the scenes in which he appears. Jennifer Connelly fares a little better as she has some nice acting moments with Jaden Smith, but again, perhaps the material and/or the director just did not inspire much of a performance out of them beyond the monotone. John Cleese is the same. Kathy Bates is the only one who performs with any vigour as the Secretary of Defense but her character is not particularly sympathetic. With a cast who appear to be going through the motions, it becomes very hard to get in to the journey their characters take.
The visuals of the film are what stand out above all else. The images of the alien spheres are a sight to behold, particularly the one that lands in Central Park and the one that emerges from the water and swamping a fishing boat. The darker sequences set in the swamp and forest are visually eerie and effective. The only down side are some unfortunate computer effects rendering of military helicopters and aircraft that never quite appear real.
“The Day The Earth Stood Still” has a noble story at its core but its execution is so dull and lifeless that you will probably forget it as quickly as you watched it.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The technical transfer of this DVD is flawless. The video transfer is nothing short of spectacular with a clear, clean and crisp picture throughout with amazing colours and texture faithfully translated from the original film. The audio transfer is likewise spectacular, even though the soundtrack does not make full use of the surrounds with its somewhat quieter approach to the story-telling. There are two issues with the DVD; the first is that for some reason that DVD defaults to presenting Dutch subtitles, and the second is a long and blatant advertisement for Blu-Ray before the menu screen.

EXTRAS REVIEW: The extras package make for some great viewing despite the somewhat lacklustre film they complement. The audio commentary from screenwriter David Scarpa is informative, although there are long pauses of silence spread throughout the commentary. Despite being the writer, Scarpa does manage to impart a myriad of production stories and changes, from the re-imagining of his opening sequence to the casting of star Keanu Reeves and how that changed the nature of the film and its production. Over an hour of behind the scenes material is located across four making-of featurettes which by and large make the core of the extras package and although dry in parts do offer great detail in the making of the film and the ideas that are behind it. The featurette “Watching The Skies: In Search For Extraterrestrial Life” is an excellent examination of the work done by SETI and other scientists in tackling the concept of alien life and its potential existence. Another featurette “The Day The Earth Was Green” is a fascinating look at how the production aimed to be carbon neutral throughout, aligning with Fox’s broader corporate environmental targets; given the subject matter of the film, Fox found itself unexpectedly funding its first green blockbuster, both in theme and production execution. There are three deleted scenes that do not really add much to the story, and there are a wealth of still galleries to flick through. Overall, this is an excellent extras package for a single disc edition DVD.

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it.

FILM RATING: 6/10 -- EXTRAS RATING: 8/10 -- OVERALL DVD RATING: 6.5/10 

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

BOTTOM LINE: Decent, but unremarkable remake of the 1950's sci-fi classic which pitches a quite wooden and uninterested Keanu Reeves as the alien Klaatu coming to save the Earth from its inhabitants.

THE GOOD: By and large this film makes the smart move of keeping the story from the original Robert Wise film intact, with the one change being a more environmental focus as opposed to the nuclear holocaust theme of the original (as befitting the times within which we live). As a result, the story itself is very strong. Keanu Reeves plays Klaatu, an alien who takes human form and has the mission of saving the Earth. The humans initially take this to mean he has come to save humanity, but as Helen Benson (Jennifer Connolly) and her adopted son discover, he literally means saving the Earth from humans whom the aliens have judged to be killing the planet through our toxic ways. However, as Klaatu spends more time among humans, he discovers that we deserve a chance to rise above their own shortcomings and stops the impending destruction of humanity. As with the original film, there is a lot of social discussion about what humans are doing to the Earth and whether or not they deserve to keep the planet. There are also many themes around the good versus bad nature of humanity, which is best objectified by the character of Klaatu as he spends more and more time with the humans. A great example is a scene where Klaatu is listening to classical music and is entranced by it, remarking that it is beautiful. The film also manages to have its fair share of spectacular sequences before Klaatu puts a stop to the destruction. The film has a strong basis in story and theme and does a very good job of combining them with some grand images without becoming a CG overload of audio-visual stimuli.

THE BAD: The film is ultimately not that special. It hits all the right marks, has a good story and some great environmental themes, however it does not make any attempt to be anything more interesting than a late night TV movie. Keanu Reeves looks good as Klaatu but he looks bored out of his brains in the part, simply moving from one scene to another in monotonous fashion. There is nothing inspired in his performance. Jennifer Connolly fares a little better but not much. There are no dramatic highs or lows, but simply plot points. The appearances of the alien spheres could have been a creepy/wondrous moment, but instead, we're treated to cross-cutting of the usual army scenes with tanks and fighter jets opening fire with news bulletins on how global markets are reacting to the alien presence (the latter is especially odd – you would think an alien arrival would stop market trading completely). By the time the end credits roll, you get the feeling you have not been taken on any sort of journey, but rather an exercise in uninspired technique, which is a shame given the strong story and themes at the heart of this film.

RATING: 6.5/10

Todd Murphy <br />
http://www.allaboutmovies.net

I have never watched the original, but I’m not one of those pricks who is prejudiced against “old” movies, in fact I like kicking those people in the face as a sport. But I’m quite young and haven’t yet watched as many films as I’d like. Hell, I watched “Citizen Kane” less than a year ago, and only after some friends gave me a hard time about not having done so already. There is an arm-long list of classics I have yet to watch. “The Day The Earth Stood Still” is not high on it. Not when movies like “Ben Hur” have not yet visited my DVD drive.

I stumbled across this remake and I have to admit I have a strange soft spot for Keanu Reeves. Perhaps because I think he’s a decent actor who gets so much hate for not being capable of many facial expressions. I agree he’s limited, but I’ve never seen him bring down a good film. You can see an actor is hated simply because it’s “cool” to hate him when he actually does a good job and critics go “but he was perfect for the role anyway”. It happens to Reeves all the time. Let me put it this way: he played one of the most iconic sci-fi characters of the last decade in “The Matrix” and avoided being typecast for the rest of his career. Also, he played an American John Constantine and somehow prevented the sheer thought of that from being laughable. He is miles above hacks like Hayden Christensen and Orlando Bloom, even if he is flawed.

So I watched this remake and, indeed, Reeves was the only reason I made it to the end. I mean, I could almost pretend this film happened in an alternate reality where the average human being has the intelligence of a dead chicken. As misanthropic as I am, not even I rate humanity that low. Just so you have an idea of how utterly stupid the characters in this film are: after seeing a huge alien robot called GORT neutralize an entire human army with nothing but a high-pitched sound, the president of the USA thinks bombing one of the alien ships with two measly fighter jets is the next logical step. Not even George W. Bush would have been this retarded — and bear in mind I think he’s a moron.

The story: NASA detects an object in extremely high velocity on its way to Earth. It is so fast it is only detected an hour before its ETA. Any attempts to destroy it with missiles fail, and at its speed the object will destroy the planet. But when it arrives, it slows down and lands in Central Park, revealing itself to be some kind of alien ship. Other alien ships appear around the world at the same time, their intention not yet revealed. On Central Park, an alien appears from the ship and is, of course, immediately shot by the moronic humans even though it didn’t seem to pose the slightest threat.

Upon healing, the alien turns out to be in human form and calls himself Klaatu (Keanu Reeves). Cold and detached, he’s on Earth to make a decision: whether or not to destroy humanity, since they are ruining one of the few planets in the entire universe capable of supporting life.

The obvious problem with this premise is the way the script portrays humanity so stupidly I actually hoped Klaatu would call in the airstrikes. There isn’t a single human character in the film that is even remotely interesting, except maybe for John Cleese’s character (the scene he shares with Klaatu is the one scene in the movie that truly works). Even the talented (and beautiful) Jennifer Connelly fails to be likeable, and Jaden Smith is absolutely fucking unbearable. I kept hoping Klaatu would use his powers to make his head explode all over his condescending mother. And blame the script all you like, but Smith does everything he can to turn an already annoying kid into pro-abortion propaganda.

Klaatu is the highlight. While Keanu Reeves indeed isn’t very expressive facially, he’s a very precise physical actor who can convey a lot with his body (a good example is the way he hits his head on a closet in “A Scanner Darkly” — his painful reaction is absolutely perfect). Klaatu is serious and distant most of the time, but Reeves manages to make clear when something gets to him — and his performance has some nice touches, like his difficulty in getting used to a human body or the change of tone in his voice when a character says Earth is the humans’ planet and he says “No, it is not.”. He is, however, brought down by the horrendous script, which makes Klaatu’s “change of mind” in the end sound completely forced.

Director Scott Derrickson lets the special effects do his job for him. When there isn’t CGI on the screen, he limits himself to choosing acceptable angles. It feels very much like automatic pilot, except on the moments that involve special effects — you can almost hear Derrickson reaching orgasm as he shows entire structures being destroyed by the GORT. The film is emotionally null. The one moment that manages to cause some response is when a woman begs another to use her cellphone, and that’s it. And while the CGI is well-rendered, the alien ships are no more than simplistic glowing spheres.

With a dumb ecological message and painfully stupid characters, I had trouble rooting for the humans in “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. And really, when a film manages to make you wish your own planet is destroyed when the goal was precisely the opposite, you really have to stand in awe at the ineptitude of the filmmakers.

Written by André Navarro on May 10th 2009 

http://andrenavarro.wordpress.com/

Last updated: 2009-12-21 06:12:39 by andre_navarro

It begins in 1928 when Keanu Reeves discovers a mysterious glowing sphere and fast forward to the present day with Dr Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a Princeton astrobiology professor. One evening, she receives a strange call and the next thing, she is hastily escorted by the government to meet with other scientist for an emergency. She learns there’s a foreign space object approaching Earth in less than an hour time. It finally lands on Manhattan Central Park as a huge glowing sphere. A glowing human hand reaches out from the sphere and as Helen tries to receives it, a gunshot is fired at it. They the rescue team try to save him and discover there’s a human form beneath the thick layer of meaty substances. It is Keanu Reeves. woo…

OK, to cut the story short the movie is actually about Keanu Reeves trying to protect the earth from human’s destructive nature by eliminating the human race while Jennifer Connelly tries to convince him that human can change.

I’ve always wanted to find a reason to praise Keanu Reeves and finally I can say he fits really well in this film. I think his lack of expression does him good this time. As usual he looks dashing. I don’t mind alien invasion if they all look as good as him.
Unfortunately that’s about all the good I can say out of this movie.

I know it might seem childish to criticize a child actor but I think Jaden Smith, Will Smith’s son, is unsuitable for his role. I find his emotional character annoying rather than deserving sympathy and he’s acted like a spoiled brat. Dakota Fanning certainly did better in War of The Worlds. On top of that, I’ve seen too many films that are similar to this. It’s one of those films which you watched and then forget about it few minutes later.

If you’re a fan of Keanu Reeves or special effects, you can consider watching. If not, don’t.

Mel says: 4/10

Let me preface this by saying, I’m a huge fan of the original The Day the Earth Stood Still, and detest remakes, as you can read in my post, “Movies that should not be made”. Personal feelings aside, I said that when I had the chance to watch this film, as I do with most remakes, I would keep an open mind.
The makers of this film tries to convince fans of the original that this was a good decision, by saying it was a story that needed to be updated. No film NEEDS to be updates. I have yet to see a decent remake, that I am aware of.
In trying to not be compared to the original, this film tries too hard to create a new story and use special effects. Neither works. The effects seem to be just thrown in as a tool to create some excitement for this otherwise rather dull film. The giant spheres don’t really do anything special in regards to the story, and are, in essence just expesive props.
As bad as the spheres were, GORT was actually pretty cool. I wasn’t too crazy about the locusts, though. Especially since they seem to be another form of GORT. One would think that when Klaatu stops the process the locusts would return to the form of GORT, but rather they  just drop to the ground. To me, that just made no sense.
The beginning makes no sense either. Keanu Reeves apparently is a doctor who discovers something, but that’s as far as they go with it. No other explanation is given about the opening scene. My guess is the writers figured they needed to do something different, so why not have the main character in the frozen tundra discovering something.
The acting in this thing was terrible at best. Keanu Reeves, while capturing the robotic nature of Klaatu, just doesn’t have the cold warmth that Michael Rennie had in the original. Reeves is known for his robotic acting, and this is probably the reason he was cast. I don’t want to take anything away from him, because I hear he really wanted this role and all, but I just wasn’t convinced. Character wise, I was impressed with Klaatu’s powers, but we could have done without the placenta birth. That seems to be becoming a signature of Reeves nowadays.
Jennifer Connelly is a beautiful and talented actress, of that there is no question, but she may have been more robotic and out of place than Reeves in this film. With the exception of one heart-warming scene with her stepson near the end of the film, she shows no emotion, at least none that we can tell. At times it feels as if she’s just reading the lines straight from the script or teleprompter. Honestly, I think it would have been better to have taken someone from high school theater than for her to butcher this role that Patricia Neal immortalised. Even if Neal would never have done this character, Connelly is too talented to give such a horrendous performance.
Jaden Smith’s character needs to get over his dad dying. It seemed like in every scene he was saying something about his dad dying. This little kid was as annoying as many children tend to be in film. It may be too early to make this generalization, especially based on this one role, but he lacks his dad’s talent and charisma as an actor.
The military needs to learn to stop shooting any and everything that they think is harmful and learn to ask some questions. This seems to be a recurring theme, especially in sci-fi films. The policy of shoot first, ask questions later is usually what gets the Earth nearly blown up everytime. In this film, they set off GORT, who is nigh indestructible. Heaven forbid Klaatu not been able to shut him down. Stupid military dogs!
The fact that this is a remake put aside, this is not a good film. The effects feel forced upon the audience, the acting sucks, and the plot doesn’t move anywhere. You’ll find yourself feeling as if the Earth is standing still as this thing takes forever to finish. In relation to the original…well, for me, it feels like they’re trying too hard to not be the original and in doing so butcher its legacy. Forget all the nonsense of the message needs t be said for today’s generation. If they really want to do the message, then make an original picture, don’t destroy a classic like The Day the Earth Stood Still. I feel so dirty after watching, I need to go back and see the original again and never speak of this hot mess. People wonder why I hate remakes, its because of films like this!

http://thankyounetflix.wordpress.com