The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

OK. Maybe that's dramatic, but it's true. I'm not nearly as old as this film and the first time I saw it, I was a young child and impressionable as only young children are. I can honestly say that every alien encounter I've experienced through movies, t.v. shows and literature has been measured against The Day The Earth Stood Still, and most have come up short. I credit the film's depiction of human/alien interactions with my present-day feelings about how people should treat each other - within communities and groups and how we often fail in our dealings with outsiders. I think the movie made the young girl I was think about issues that would otherwise have gone unexamined for many years to come, and in those years I would have become a different person. The effect was deeply profound, and remains so even 30 years after my first screening. That said, it is still entertaining, a joy to revisit. There are no expensive, hi-tech special effects that look great in teasers, but do nothing for the plot. It's very straight forward, honest, pure. It's emotional and intellectual instead of the typical shoot-em-up space battle films that are today's norm. And while I enjoy a good explosion now and then, the change of pace is refreshing.

Fmovies: I just saw this yesterday for the first time and boy do I feel stupid! Its not my fault though, its rarely on television, but was it worth the wait!

The plot is fairly simple and direct. Visitor from another planet has come to warn us that we are aggressive, paranoid and dangerous to ourselves and the other planets if we continue with atomic bombs. Klaatu does not care if we kill each other, but cannot tolerate what atomic bombs can do to the other planets.

Naturally he is not welcomed with open arms, but in our defense, he was not exactly invited. The most disturbing part is that this movie is more timely than ever right now. When Klaatu mentions, 'levelling New York', I got a chill.

One or two moments were slightly puzzling - why does Klaatu allow himself to be interviewed on television, when he knows he is being tracked down? Why is he being pursued at the end so vigorously when he was scheduled to address the world? And why did Patricia Neal have to be brought onto the spaceship at the end? It seems to serve no purpose.

No matter, this is still a great movie that I would be thrilled to see again. 9/10.

It's odd to think that fifty years from now there may only be a handful of movies released in 2004 that will be remembered at all. I don't care to venture any guesses as to what they may be, but it's easy to see why The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of the ones from 1951 that remains a classic, while so many others sank into obscurity. The movie deals with a theme that was at the forefront of so many peoples' minds in the early 1950s, in America and the rest of the world, and that is the conflicts between many different nations, and more generally the tendency for humans to fight each other. It was released at the time of the Red Scare and so soon after World War II that international tensions were still high. Also odd is that if you switch the last two words in the title, why, it's not very frightening at all!

Okay, that made no sense, but I couldn't resist. My respect for the movie dimmed sharply when I saw that the alien was not only a man, but a good looking man who spoke perfect English, but then won back my respect completely when it took the time to explain that his culture had learned about humans through intercepting radio transmissions over many years. Unlikely, but it's an explanation, which is more than most science fiction films provide. Granted, not much time should be wasted on the science of science fiction, but in this case something had to be said. The alien didn't give may details as to his physical condition, but scientists hypothesized that since he so closely resembles a human, he must have a similar environment to our own on his planet.

Speaking of which, there is one thing about the science that I'm also curious about. At what stage were astronomical studies in the early 1950s? I'm wondering how far into space scientists were looking, because Carpenter, the alien, states with some grandeur that he has traveled 250 million miles to get to earth, which in astronomical terms is a tiny, tiny distance. Considering that the sun is 93 million miles from earth, this would mean that his planet is within our own solar system. And here's another little factoid – Earth makes a complete revolution around the sun every year, as you know. Pluto, on the other hand, takes something like 248 years to revolve around the sun. That has nothing to do with the movie, but is an interesting digression, I should think.

I found the political backdrop to be one of the most interesting things about the movie, and not only because of what the political landscape was like at the time. It was interesting to watch a movie about aliens that so quickly and completely dissolved into a close examination of volatile human relations, and without ever becoming preachy or devolving into peace propaganda (oxymoron intended). I actually think that a large part of what made up for the lack of aliens in this alien movie was the validity that its argument has.

When Carpenter (who they stopped just short of simply naming Jesus) was greeted with the response that a meeting with all of the worlds leaders was impossible because of tensions between nations, he was genuinely surprised and saddened. He gives as his reason for visiting earth the fact that his civilization has noticed satellites being launched around the Earth's atmosphere and, since humans clearly are unable to get along, he was sent here to tell us to join them and live in peace or face our present course and face obliteration. Most importantly, if we chose the latter, they would be there to ensure that we wou

The Day the Earth Stood Still fmovies. A flying saucer lands in Washington, and a man, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), brings the preoccupation of other planets with the use of atomic energy and development of spacecraft by people on Earth planet. Further, he brings a message and also a threaten against the danger Earth could cause to other planets: the planet could be destroyed if the people does not live in peace. Any menace to other planets would cause the destruction of the entire planet.

This classic is one of the best science-fiction movies I have ever seen. The story is very simple, but the message is wonderful. When this film was made, World War II had finished six years ago only, there was the Cold War and the paranoia of the Americans at that time was against the communists. The special effects are excellent for a 1951 movie. In Brazil, this classic movie was not released on VHS or DVD. It is a shame! I have a VHS, having a version dubbed in Portuguese, full of commercial and with a terrible quality of image that I recorded from TV many years ago. Yesterday I watched this video again, and it is really an outstanding movie. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): 'O Dia Em Que a Terra Parou' ('The Day Which the Earth Stopped')

Obs: 01 March 2006 - Fox do Brasil finally released this DVD in 2005. After so many years, I was able to see one of my favorite sci-fi in the original language and restored image.

The cast, story,and directing all combine to make this one of the best all time science fiction movies ever made. Seamless entertainment and a hold-your-breath climax will keep you on the edge of you seat until the last moment. A benevolent space man comes to earth to deliver the message,"learn to live together or else..." What can the consequences possibly be? This is a must-see and is suitable for all ages. Don't forget what to say to prevent the annihilation of earth.

Interesting both in itself and as a reflection of its era, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" may seem unspectacular now to those who are used to the extravagant science fiction pictures of the present time, but it deserves its place as a cinema classic. The story is worthwhile in itself, and as soon as you set aside any preconceptions about what science fiction should involve, it also builds up some pretty good drama and suspense. Its perspective is also interesting to see as a reflection of the concerns of its era, which have such obvious similarities with those of the present.

The story itself sometimes moves rather slowly, and the focus is really more on the reactions to Klaatu's arrival than on the action itself. As Klaatu, Michael Rennie stays pretty low-key, as does the rest of the cast much of the time. Although there are times when the movie might lack some energy as a result, in general it probably works better that way than it would have if there were too much forced emphasis on the urgency of Klaatu's mission, which is more than able to speak for itself. The ideas behind the story are fairly simple, but they are, of course, just as significant now (or in practically any other era) as they were in the 1950's.