The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Day The Earth Stood Still is a remake of the classic 1951 film of the same name that is a tale and a warning of our actions against each other and our planet.
Film making 18/25
Cinematography 18/25
Audio 20/25
Bonus Features 24/25
Total 80/100
The Day The Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 science fiction film starring Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, a representative of alien races who are looking out for the welfare of the planet Earth. Klaatu arrives on Earth after a dramatic experience of an unknown object arriving at our planet and landing at Central Park in New York City.
A being that is covered in some type of outer layer walks out of a huge glowing sphere in front of scientists gathered for the event. One scientist, Helen Benson played by Jennifer Connelly, is afraid just as all the others but when a soldier shoots the being from the globe she rushes forward to help.
A large robot comes out of the globe and disables the electrical systems as well as the military defenses in the perimeter around the globe. Klaatu is taken to a hospital and given care, removing the bullet and peeling off the outer layer of material that covers the human form underneath.
When they talk with Klaatu he informs the scientists that he is here on Earth to talk with all members of the world’s nations about an important matter. Secretary of Defense, Regina Jackson played by Kathy Bates informs him that he will not be allowed to talk with all the nations.
When Jackson asks the scientists to drug Klaatu and take him to a secure location Helen Benson volunteers and slips a bottle of water in her pocket to switch the drug with. When the military thinks Klaatu will be under control due to the drug they question him using a lie detector but Klaatu takes control of the facility and escapes.
Klaatu meets with another human who was assigned to come to earth and evaluate the events here and he says that humans are destroying the planet. He also informs Klaatu that humans have something else, love, that makes them different and unique.
Helen and Klaatu make their way toward the woods to engage some spheres that landed all over the planet and they begin to collect animals. When Helen takes Klaatu to see Professor Barnhardt Klaatu sees that there is something to humans and that we may be worth saving.
Klaatu takes Helen to go back to the globe that landed in Central Park while the robot starts to disintegrate into small metal insects that eat through any matter. The insects start to tear up any matter that humans created and turn them into more insects, destroying everything that humans made.
Klaatu and Helen along with Helens adopted son arrive at the park but cannot get to the sphere because the insects are swarming and starting to attack Helen and the boy. Klaatu hides them in a tunnel and attracts all the insects out of them and into him, then rushes to the sphere to stop the attack on humans and their creations.
The Day The Earth Stood Still is a fairly good film and has that ever present message for us earthlings doing better and stop ruining our planet. One major problem with the film is that they used a lot of effects and got a bit away from the main story line that did make the film a bit slow.
The remake did a fairly good job of telling the same story only changing the theme a bit from nuclear war and the threat of humans traveling the galaxies to ruining our own planet. In the remake the major theme that the races of aliens are protecting our planet against ourselves is pretty good but not told in a cohesive way.
The movie does a really good job with the effects but they got away from the story and went a bit too much for the thrill of the effects. The film just lacks something that makes you really care about even bothering to save humans and that the planet is more important.
The Blu-ray edition contains plenty of extras including a digital copy and the original 1951 film The Day The Earth Stood Still. The extras really make this Blu-ray pack worth purchasing with the original film and the remake and plenty of making of features that are fun to watch.
The original movie is very much like the remake but the effects are considerably less effective even though it does make the same point of peace and getting along. The original film is about the same theme but a good one and well worth watching, even better than the remake and a great addition to the Blu-ray pack.
The original movie is rated at 95% at Rotten Tomatoes which I also agree with as the film had a great cast with plenty of good acting in a well made movie. The movie does differ in the storyline some but not enough to have me repeat the story, it just adds to the value and makes this more of a bargain.
The remake has a few additions on it that add to the entertainment of the Blu-ray edition including commentary, a picture in picture feature, deleted scenes and several other features. The commentary is not unusual but the picture in picture is fun to see additional features that did not make the movie but is included as additional content.
One scene is a space shuttle mission to examine a sphere that was discovered in space that goes terribly wrong but was not completed. It was in its first computer animation phases and then for some reason not used but adds some unique perspective of the movie making process.
Other features like Re-imagining the day is a look at making the film by cast and crew while Unleashing GORT is a look at the robot GORT and creating it. The bonus features really make it worthwhile getting the Blu-ray version; the original movie is worth watching even from a standpoint of a well made film that is over fifty years old.
The Day The Earth Stood Still is a great Blu-ray pack that includes both the original 1951 film and the 2008 remake that makes for a great science fiction entertainment pack.