The Day the Earth Stood Still

Rating:
Summary: Untouchable
Review: The Day the Earth Stood Still (even the name is enduring), is in my mind the finest sci-fi produced from the 50's. Michael Rennie is phenomenal as "Klaatu", and Patricia Neal's performance makes me wish that she was a person that I could have known in reality. Although the ideas presented in this film have spawned many dubious replications from other film makers, this is the original "alien with a warning of doom" production. Perhaps someday the premise of this motion picture will draw nearer than we could ever imagine. However, the political ramifications of this film are unavoidable.

Rating:
Summary: All time classic
Review: This is one of my all time favorites. It is far superior, I think, to the short story (the real master is the robot) upon which it is based. Acting, score is superb; the plot is timeless. The review by Eric J. Paddon of 3 April 01 causes me to pause on the movies ultimate message; also worth noting is the personal review note by [e-mail] of 8 July 99.

Rating:
Summary: best of the scifi movies of all time
Review: Robert Wises's best work in my opinion...this movie works so well in so many ways...it makes you think, it entertain's you and scares you of it's message of what could become a prediction of society's problems of today...my favorite scene is when their sitting on the park bench at ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMENTARY... michael rennie says"where he comes from we have cementary's but not like this one..you see we don't have any wars." and bobby says.. "hey. thats neat." how appropiate for the recent events...if you want to take your mind off for awhile....find a station...rent or buy this movie...like me..it will stay with you forever.

Rating:
Summary: Can we learn ?
Review: Guess we can not still learn anything. Maybe earth should be destroyed by Gort. One of the all time si fi flicks ever made. Please! no remakes they would ruin it.

Rating:
Summary: Two Christic figures in this film.
Review: This is one of those great stories that transcends time and generations. The best sci-fi stories always have elements of fantasy in them: "Dune" and the mystical spice, "Star Wars" and the Force, "Ghostbusters" and technology, not a priest, is used to catch ghosts,and so forth. "The Day" continues in this vein with the resurrection image. Yes, a machine restores Klaatu to life, but he alludes to the Great Spirit who ultimately determines life and death. Another plus with this film is that there are really two Christic figures in this film: Klaatu and Gort. Klaatu is obvious: his resurrection, the gaunt features that suggest an El Greco painting, and assuming the name of Mr. Carpenter. But Gort is the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah" aspect of of a Savior. Remember how Aslan, who is not a tame lion, once appears as a lamb in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader." This makes "The Day" that much more powerful--you see the dual nature of divinity. Notice how Gort undergoes a resurrection out of the belly of the plastic cage. Fascinating parallel! The story is set in the background of the 1950's A-bomb scare, where literally we could have started Armageddon without the Four Horsemen. We needed a savior during those "needle-and-pins" times, and Klaatu and Gort were the Saviors. They were the Saviors from out own stupidity and inexperience. It was a time where our science outstripped and surpassed our moral reasoning. It is a miracle we made it through those times with atomic weapons used only;y twice. This film, like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," or "The Lottery" were effervesces of the subconscious desires of the time. But the film transcends the times it was written. As Campbell points out, all myths are telling the same story. Different elements, different casts, different scenes, but the same story. Lucas aimed for a modern myth, but "The Day" already did that 25 years before "Star Wars." When you see this fable, do you fell a sense of hope that other planets have worked through the terrible atomic twos, and have finally achieved Nuclear Adulthood. Just the desire to succeed was the message need at the time, and is still needed now as we debate ABM treaties and STAR treaties. Atomic weapons are a fact that we can not run from, and we have a choice: Klaatu's way of success, or a planetary nuclear mess! Yes the special effects are cheesy by today's computer-generated glitzos, but as Shakespeare reminds, "Can this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France? or may we cram within this wooden O the very casques that did affright the air at Agincourt?" (Henry V, Act I, sc. i)You have limitations with performances, and you are supposed to see past the blue-screens and wires and hit the mark of truth that the story is telling.

Rating:
Summary: good movie
Review: I'm a juvenile movie-buff, a trait acquired from my mother. One rainy day, this same mother brought home a pile of movies which she had borrowed from a neighbor, and wanted to watch. I chose "The Day the Earth Stood Still" because of it's title. I knew nothing of it, and decided to be brave and adventurous, and popped it into the vcr. As the rememberable scene of the landing in D.C. was taking place, I remember thinking I should probably put in another show, but I stuck with it, happily for me. I fell in love with Michael Rennie and his almost cold aloofness, broken only by the smile which seemed almost always to be on his face when dealing with the childish humans. The son of Patricia Neal was darling, Patricia Neal herself superb. I thought the moral that the movie barely conceled was appropriate for that time, and Michael Rennie was perfect to deliver it. Professor Barnhardt is wonderful too, him and his mad scientist hair. I recommend this to anyone who likes good acting, and just wants to watch a good movie. Remember, Klaatu Barada Nikkto

Rating:
Summary: Un clásico
Review: Una de las mejores peliculas que han hecho, aún hoy es un retrato del comportamiento humano y la tendencia destruir antes que entender y dentro del marco de la grurra fría es muy inspiradora. Recuerden el discurso de Reagan sobre amanazas externas para unir a la humanidad.

Rating:
Summary: No Blood, No Chaos.....Refreshing Huh?
Review: This film doesn't need any blood and gore, or monstrous creatures, or mammoth special effects. It is, pure and simple, a sci-fi classic. Michael Rennie does very well as the alien sent to Earth to urge us to save our planet. I've also always enjoyed little Billy Gray ("Father Knows Best") in this movie. I thought he was very good and natural in his role as Patricia Neal's son. And that Bernard Herrmann eerie score! The chills begin to form just thinking about it! Favorite line (spoken by Gray): "You don't seem to know much about anything do you, Mr. Carpenter?" (If Billy Gray only knew just how untrue that line is.) This is definitely one of the top 20 science fiction films of all-time. Watch it with the lights out! Better that way.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Unforgettable movie One of my absolute favorites, good message too

Rating:
Summary: I Want It on DVD!!!
Review: This is, simply, a great movie! When a "human" alien visits earth, then takes up residence in a residential Washington D.C home, the issues of the movie becomes politically and socially focused when both the news media and neighbors alike begin describing what they think the alien looks like. Keeping in mind that the "alien" here looks like you and me, this movie beautifully illustrates how people everywhere develop a hysterical suspicion of everyone around them. With communism and racial issues being the important headlines of the day (mid-fifties) the writing in this film makes one think how they, themselves feel about these issues and makes one realize how really incorrect it is to judge someone based on a different belief, race or color. Heavy stuff for a '50's movie but still appropriate today. The "special effect" of this movie is Gort, the giant robot that serves as an unbiased, universally accepted police sentinel. It's great fun to watch him just stand in one spot and do almost nothing for most of the movie. People just panic, and in doing so, prove how stupid humanity really is. Every writer and director who plans on making a Sci-Fi movie should be forced to watch "The Day the Earth Stood Still." I've said it a million times: You don't need huge effects for a movie to be great!