But I highly recommend you watch this movie, it's a true classic that has a strong message, has great actors, and fun effects. yeah, right, sorry, was just trying to be nice. But I guess we will have to see what the film will be like, who knows? It might be good. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a true classic, I know there are a lot of young people who complain about the ending, how it's so anti-climatic, but I feel that it's a perfect film and I am so ticked off that it's being re-made. He stays with a family and they show him around, they think he's a little strange but very polite and nice, but when they learn of his true identity, he tells them of what his intentions are to mearly warn Planet Earth of it's impending doom. He escapes and goes to a family, since no one knows what he looks like, they think that he's a regular man who just needs a place to stay. His name is Klaatu, he tries to explain several times that he's not here to hurt anyone, but the humans don't trust him. An alien spaceship has landed in Washington, D.C., but it's not what you think with the "take us to your leader" type of thing, rather a human like alien comes out offering input on what is going on in the universe, but he is immediately attacked by the humans and taken hostage. The Day the Earth Stood was before The Terminator, just like Metropolis was before this film, but these are the best stories and it's like watching a history lesson on film about the time and feel of the 50's. I remember in Terminator 2 there was a line that I still hold true to this day "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves", that maybe it's not all technology that will destroy us, but we are our own worst enemies. I thought it was going to be so cheesy and lame since it was a 50's film, but after watching a little bit of it, I didn't realize the strong message it held. We watched some of The Day the Earth Stood Still and this film just jumped at me, it was so different than any other film I had seen. I remember several years ago in my film appreciation class, we were learning about the 50's, our professor had mentioned how many sci-fi films were made with Russian villain undertones as well as the cold war. The acting is also impressive, Lock Martin is good as giant Gort but the real revelation is Michael Rennie's authoritative, dignified and sympathetic Klatu. Bernard Hermann's score is tense and wondrous, the script is deft, Robert Wise's direction is superb and while it has some solemn philosophical aspects and some heavy-handed symbolism neither of which are flaws in any way the story is compelling from start to finish. It still looks wonderful for its time, the effects and designs are wonderfully composed if purposefully simple and the cinematography is exemplary. The Day The Earth Stood Still has been a favourite since I first saw it and I still at 18 hold it in great regard. I love a good sci-fi movie as much as the next person, and I do have some favourites of the genre, Alien, Blade Runner, Empire Strikes Back, Metropolis and 2001:A Space Odyssey are wonderful movies, and like The Day the Earth Stood Still they not only have an influence on other movies of the genre and in general but also timeless classics in many more ways than one. This is an early treasure of the sci fi genre. Patricia Neal is really caught in unfamiliar territory, but does a very good job in her role. Michael Rennie has some personality, despite his bewilderment as a stranger in a strange land. Once it is established that this is of no use in a huge demonstration of power (done in the most "humanitarian" way. Obviously, when threatened, the military types want to respond with carnage. It isn't that there is no cynicism in this film. Gort is an enforcer, but never acts unless provoked. Klatu is there to save the Earth and its people, not to make it a new central park for his future generations. Also, the aliens are benevolent and confident. What makes it differ is that perhaps the response to power as significant as this first wave force may be tempered by a hesitation to destroy. This is a movie with a great message, and while it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, it has a human message. After seeing the horrendous remake of this film, it made me go back to the original.
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