The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) User Reviews

Klaatu Barada Nicto

[boblipton · 9/10 · 14 December 2020]

A flying saucer lands in Washington D. C. From it emerges a giant robot and Michael Rennie. He wishes to speak with the leaders of the earth, all of them, but that is impossible, So he escapes and makes his way to a boarding house, where he can learn about humans.

It's a great cast, including Patricia Neal and Sam Jaffe as the smartest man in the world. Like all serious science fiction movies, it has an Important Message. Unlike many of them, it never disguises that this movie is about its message, about the need to learn to live together in peace. Robert Wise, that great generalist of a director, does his usual impeccable job. While seventy years later it may seem stentorian and naive, it is those two qualities that make it still worth watching.

The Gentleness of the Message

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 20 March 2010]

After seeing the horrendous remake of this film, it made me go back to the original. This is a movie with a great message, and while it doesn't have all the bells and whistles, it has a human message. 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. Also, the aliens are benevolent and confident. Klatu is there to save the Earth and its people, not to make it a new central park for his future generations. Gort is an enforcer, but never acts unless provoked. It isn't that there is no cynicism in this film. Obviously, when threatened, the military types want to respond with carnage. Once it is established that this is of no use in a huge demonstration of power (done in the most "humanitarian" way. Michael Rennie has some personality, despite his bewilderment as a stranger in a strange land.. Patricia Neal is really caught in unfamiliar territory, but does a very good job in her role. This is an early treasure of the sci fi genre.

The first science-fiction film with a very clear message

[Movie_Muse_Reviews · 7/10 · 7 September 2009]

It's not unfair initially to dismiss "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as sci-fi pulp from an era full of it, but the film's anti-war message given the Cold War context it was released in makes it nothing short of a classic. Its commercial exterior featuring posters with Gort the space robot pales in comparison to the social/diplomatic values it preaches at its core. Sure, it's not all that suspenseful or riveting for science-fiction, but it represents one of the first pop culture films to reflect important moral values.

Borrowing from the lucrative UFO alien movies before it, TDTESS begins with a flying saucer landing in the Washington mall and producing an alien with a human appearance named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his robot protector Gort, a goofy-looking man in a shiny suit with the ability to disintegrate anything with a beam from his eye. For starters, Klaatu is greeted by military bullets that destroy a gift he intended for the president that would give us the ability to study life on other planets. That's the example of the strict satirical tone taken by writer Edmund H. North (based on the short story by Harry Bates).

Despite humorous special effects and the cheesy running and screaming you see in pulp alien invasion movies, TDTESS manages to expose many of our flaws including our fear of the unknown and our propensity to resort to violence. It warns of the dangers of nuclear energy and outwardly scorns war. In the beginning years of the Cold War, such a message getting out to the public is an accomplishment that must be lauded.

TDTESS isn't only good for its messages, though it certainly is what makes the film stand out. Rennie is a terrific Klaatu. He's intriguing, friendly but also very frank, winning our sympathies but still convincing us of his other-worldly nature. The relationship he develops with the young Bobby Benson (Billy Gray) is the film's most interesting subplot next to Klaatu helping a scientist out with an equation that will lead to interplanetary travel.

Rarely does a film become a classic solely because of its message, but TDTESS certainly does. It's so frank, but speaks such an undeniable truth that in the form of cheaply made science- fiction, resonates in a way that straighter films can't. That's the beauty of the genre and why TDTESS is its first classic. ~Steven C

Visit my site at http://moviemusereviews.blogspot.com

Timeless and influential

[TheLittleSongbird · 10/10 · 16 March 2011]

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. 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. It still looks wonderful for its time, the effects and designs are wonderfully composed if purposefully simple and the cinematography is exemplary. 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. 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. Overall, a sci-fi masterpiece. 10/10 Bethany Cox

One of the best sci-fi movies ever!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 10/10 · 12 November 2008]

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. 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 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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.

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. But I guess we will have to see what the film will be like, who knows? It might be good... yeah, right, sorry, was just trying to be nice. But I highly recommend you watch this movie, it's a true classic that has a strong message, has great actors, and fun effects. It's fun to watch these films, I wonder if they realized while making this film back in 1951 that they were acting out their own culture and history.

10/10.

Simple SF Tale with Profound Message...

[cariart · 13 January 2004]

THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is such a basic Science Fiction story that many first-time viewers have been stunned by the reverence in which it is held. An alien arrives on earth, is misunderstood and is nearly killed, passes a warning to mankind to not carry the weapons of potential nuclear war into space, or face annihilation, then leaves. The FX are minimal, there are no 'space battles' or 'monsters', even the score, by the legendary composer Bernard Herrmann, is simple, lacking the bombast of later 'epics'. Yet in it's very simplicity, director Robert Wise has created a tale more timeless and relevant than many other 'message'-driven SF blockbusters that followed.

Based on Harry Bates' short story, "Farewell to the Master", which paints a far less friendly view of our galactic community (Gort, the enforcer robot, is revealed to be the true 'Master' of the story, not Klaatu, thus revealing that machines are controlling the Universe), 20th Century Fox and director Wise quickly butted heads on how the film should be presented. Fox envisioned Spencer Tracy as Klaatu, believing that the legendary star's well-established persona would make the SF elements more 'understandable' to audiences. Wise scoffed at the notion, arguing that no one would ever believe Tracy was an alien, and searched until he found relative newcomer Michael Rennie, a gaunt, sensitive British actor, whom he felt best suited the Christ-like quality Klaatu had to possess (even the name Klaatu adopted to mingle with humans was 'Carpenter'). For earth's greatest scientist (a thinly-disguised Albert Einstein), Wise cast screen veteran Sam Jaffe, which also brought a howl from the studio, as the actor was being investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee, in the midst of their infamous 'witch hunt' and blacklisting of Hollywood's supposed Communist sympathizers. Jaffe proved a perfect choice, however, displaying many of the qualities he would later bring to 'Dr. Zorba' on "Ben Casey".

Rounding out the cast were popular actress Patricia Neal (still recovering from her failed relationship with Gary Cooper), Hugh Marlowe (fresh from the success of ALL ABOUT EVE), and Billy Gray (who would go on to great success in "Father Knows Best").

The true casting coup, however, was finding 7-foot Hollywood doorman Lock Martin to portray the robot, Gort. Encased in foam rubber 'armor' and 'lifts', to bring his height to nearly eight feet (he actually wore two different outfits, as the seam was impossible to hide, and would always have to be on the opposite side to the camera), Martin, who, Wise acknowledged, was not a physically strong man, would occasionally faint from heat exhaustion (if you watch him carefully, during the film, you can actually see moments when he would start to tilt over). The scene where he carries Neal on board the spacecraft was a major achievement for the easily tired giant, and the actress, who was afraid, justifiably, that she might be dropped!

The filming was, by and large, an enjoyable experience for the cast and crew (although Patricia Neal, in later interviews, said that it was nearly impossible for her to say the film's famous 'tag' phrase, "Klaatu Barrada Nikto", without breaking into giggles). Everyone knew the end result would be special; Michael Rennie, ten years later, would call the role the most "important" of his career (NBC would even bring him in to host the network premiere of the film, on "Saturday Night at the Movies").

With it's anti-war stand, the film was the direct counterpart of the year's other 'classic' SF production, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD, the first of Hollywood's 'alien invasion' films. In THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, 'Mankind' is the true monster, toying with nuclear weapons, constantly fighting, and willing to kill a peaceful emissary, without allowing him to deliver his message or offer his gifts to the world. "Man must grow up, or be destroyed" was a powerful message, in 1951, particularly when Wise panned his camera over Arlington Cemetery, with it's thousands of headstones, as Klaatu/Carpenter viewed, sadly, the end result of our fixation with warfare.

The message is even more relevant, today, which is why THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL remains a classic.

Take Off Your 2021 Hat for a Spell

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 26 January 2021]

It's not everyday that a flying saucer lands on the White House lawn. That's exactly what happened in "The Day the Earth Stood Still," then emerged a humanoid figure going by the name of Klaatu (Michael Rennie). Following him, after he was shot by a U.S. soldier, was a large robot made of an unearthly impregnable metal that shot disintegrating rays from a visor where eyes would normally be. It was an impressive display of strength and power, but what could these aliens want.

We learn that Klaatu has been sent to Earth as a warning. Earthlings can fight amongst themselves all they want, but the universe is growing smaller and their aggression may seep out beyond Earth's borders onto other planets. That will not be tolerated.

TDTESS is a cool sci-fi flick. I saw the '08 remake with Keanu Reeves, yet I didn't have the same takeaways from that movie. Being that the original was shortly after WWII, its message was extremely pertinent. TDTESS is not going to scare anybody, but it is thought provoking and somewhat suspenseful. I say, take off your 2021 hat for a spell and enjoy a film from 1951.

One of the finest sci fi movies ever made

[Snootz · 10/10 · 23 November 2021]

Up-front: anyone who low-rated this does not understand what science fiction is about, at all. To those who judged this harshly: You can go back to watching Transformers; you're in the wrong theater. Such people should be tied to the back side of a Bantha with tummy problems. ;D

Okay, on to the serious review: Who doesn't recognize the term "Gort, Klaatu barada nicto"? This film set the bar for so many films to come, in an age when monsters were a guy in a gorilla suit and a space helmet, giant ants were terrorizing a city, and another guy in a rubber suit was stomping on a miniature Tokyo. Among that, we suddenly find a movie with actual meaning, a moral, a great plot and story-line, decent acting, an honest-to-goodness valid warning-- and one of the best robot presentations EVER.

Was it perfect? No. I don't know as I've ever seen a perfect film. Were there flaws? Sure. What do people expect? It's the overall cinematic presentation that is the thing here-- the experience of a movie capturing the audience and making them say, "Wow". Relatively few films have accomplished that over the decades. This film did.

The special effects for that day were superb. The modern-day remake didn't come close to the quality of this 1951 film. The story has stood the test of time and is even more applicable today that it was back then (only now we can add the destruction of our own world to the mix).

This movie is as close to pristine as a movie can get (for that day) , and proudly takes its place among non-sci-fi classics-- and even sci fi classics that came later. Had the HUGO awards existed in '51 I have no doubt this film would have taken top slot.

1950's Time Capsule

[Lechuguilla · 7/10 · 26 January 2005]

After WWII and the invention of the atomic bomb, people in the 50's were looking for strong leaders who could command moral authority. Enter General Eisenhower, who would become a two-term U.S. President; "Father Knows Best", with its stern but loving father figure; and the iron-fisted biblical epic: "The Ten Commandments".

Enter, too, "The Day The Earth Stood Still", a 1951 sci-fi classic soaked in images of authority ... the police, the military, and the tall, stern, Moses-like figure from another world, Klaatu, who lectures us on the folly of nuclear war. It is, I believe, this pacifist message emanating from strength that explains the film's enduring popularity.

Noble as the message is, what about its cinematic vehicle? Visually and musically, the film is appropriately frigid and forbidding. Leo Tover's noirish B&W lighting and unobtrusive camera work, combined with Bernard Herrmann's score and the eerie theramin sounds all work in concert to convey a mood of Orwellian severity and other worldly coldness.

But the script is disappointing. This is a very talky film, which dilutes its effectiveness as sci-fi. The dialogue seems stodgy, canned, uninspired. Example: "attention zone 5, attention zone 5, yellow cab moving north ... man and woman in backseat; get license number and report ... deploy all units according to Plan B immediately" (well, at least it was not Plan 9...).

This pedestrian script could have been borrowed from most any cops and robbers flick of the 40's. On the other hand, I guess I can forgive the script's moratorium on humor, given the seriousness of the message.

The film's science is very dated, thus requiring further tolerance. Klaatu to scientists: "The universe grows smaller every day"; no, actually the physical universe is expanding. "Venus and Mars ... are the only two planets capable of sustaining life as we know it"; no, not with their temperature extremes and chemical composition.

And the special effects are curiously minimal in the same era that produced the beautifully weird gliding machines from Mars in "War Of The Worlds" (1953), and the lurking terror in "Forbidden Planet" (1956).

One solid accomplishment of this film is its accurate portrayal of society in the early 1950's: the old cars, men's formal attire (especially those hats), interior decor, antiquated TV sets, and of course the confidence in institutional authority.

In summary then, the movie, for me, functions less as a credible sci-fi vehicle than as a fascinating socio-political commentary on American life in the early 1950's.

Both versions are equally as good --- and bad.

[movieliker1 · 7/10 · 23 February 2023]

I do not agree with most of these comparisons of the original and the remake.

I've seen both, one after the other.

Both have good acting, good dialog and the best special effects available at the time. And both have a stupid premise --- a supposedly advanced alien comes to Earth to enforce unfair hypocrisy.

In the original, the alien says humans are too violent. "Either stop fighting, warring and being violent, or our robot police will destroy you."

So? You want us to surrender our freedom and self determination to your fleet of robot police who were not elected, and we cannot communicate with? No thank you. Freedom comes at the price of risks. And what if another alien race destroys your robot police? How are we supposed to defend ourselves?

And? How did your race of aliens get from your original primitive form to this "advanced" form of evolution? Weren't you guys violent at one time? Didn't you guys have war? Didn't you develop technology to defend yourselves from your enemies? Well? Why can't we have the same experience?

I gave both movies a 7 for entertainment value, good acting, good dialog, and best special effects available at the time. I would have given both a 10, but both premises were both stupid.

(The remake premise is just as stupid. The difference is, the supposedly advanced alien says we humans are destroying the planet. So to save the planet, he's going to destroy the humans.

In a conversation with a scientist, the alien realizes his own race of aliens faced their own environmental crisis. And survived. The human scientist says, "Give us the same experience and challenge of dealing with our own environmental crisis.")

One of the ten best Sci-Fi movies of all time!

[mlcushing · 10/10 · 6 December 2004]

This was one of the first sci-fi movies I ever saw and one by which I gage all others. Before there was 'Star Wars' there was 'The Day The Earth Stood Still'. It brought together all that later sci-fi movies strive for. A solid story, believable characters and, for the day, great special FX. It was an examination of society at the time and the racial prejudice that permeated all levels of life. It studies mans fear of the unknown and the violent reaction it produces even today, and how the love of one person can change the course of events for the better. It's a movie that can still stand on its own even by today's standards and should never be remade.

But that's just my opinion.

Yes! Such Power Exists! - Just Ask Gort

[strong-122-478885 · 7/10 · 12 July 2013]

"Klaatu barada nikto!"

When it comes to the Sci-Fi sub-genre of "Alien Visitation" flicks, I honestly don't think that they get much more intelligent and thought-provoking as this sparkling gem from 1951.

If there are other such "Alien Visitation" flicks out there that do promote this satisfying level of genuine intelligence in their stories, then I would sure like to hear about them. (Please feel free to message me with their titles)

Impressively directed by Robert Wise, The Day The Earth Stood Still (TDTESS) actually did manage to deliver quite a seamless and evocative blend of the ordinary melded very nicely with the fantastic.

This is the sort of motion picture that really gives the viewer the pleasant opportunity of actually getting to know (and, maybe, even like) its characters.

Even the 10 year-old kid, Bobby Benson, was a likable sort. And, believe me, I usually loathe kids in movies. They almost never fail to be totally irksome and nothing but spoiled, little, snot-nosed brats.

Yet, here in TDTESS, the young Billy Gray's portrayal of Bobby was very much like a literal breath of fresh air. This youthful, wide-eyed actor really seemed to understand his character and make him interesting.

Anyways - Traveling at warp-speed (that's 4000 mph.) and taking a 5-month, 250 million mile journey to get here, TDTESS's story has Klaatu, the very distinguished and cool-headed alien, arriving in Washington, DC in order to deliver his dire, top-priority message to all of us naughty-naughty Earthlings.

After being observed for many years by other outer-planetary civilizations, it has been determined that (through the discovery of atomic power) we Earthlings, with our unbridled destructiveness, have become a very-very serious threat to the overall peace and security of the other planets which exist in this endlessly vast universe.

Klaatu must now address all nations of the Earth and somehow convince one and all to cease with these violent ways, or else face some mighty devastating consequences.

You can bet that if Klaatu's firm words of warning can't induce us Earthlings to reconsider our ways, then, believe me, Gort, the all-powerful robot, definitely has his own special brand of persuasion that doesn't take "No" for an answer.

Trust me - In spite of its flaws, TDTESS is, without question, a classic Sci-Fi/Thriller that's really worth its weight in gold.

And "Klaatu barada nikto!" to you, too!

P.S. - This film's 2008 remake was an absolutely despicable desecration of the highest order.

A dissenting opinion

[TVholic · 4/10 · 21 November 1999]

The Day the Earth Stood Still is often called one of the greatest science fiction films of all time. More truthfully, though, all it has really done is achieved cult status despite notable shortcomings.

First and foremost are the storytelling techniques. Classic dramatic techniques such as foreshadowing are virtually absent. Robert Wise's direction lacks any semblance of suspense. Instead, he uses the same plodding pace that doomed Star Trek - The Motion Picture 28 years later. The cinematography is unimaginative, even by the standards of the '50s. It often feels like nothing so much as a filmed stage play given the dominance of flat, medium shots. Repetitive scenes like group after group of pensive people clustered about radios weren't considered good film-making even back then, and it's downright boring today. Bernard Herrmann's theremin-laced score was peculiarly devoid of mood.

The main characters were thinly drawn, and some -- including Bobby and Tom -- disappear without a trace before the climax, leaving absolutely no closure. Michael Rennie did a passable job as Klaatu, but Patricia Neal simply could not redeem the cardboard cutout of Helen. Sam Jaffe is straight out of Central Casting as the wild-haired, pipe-smoking, Einsteinoid scientific genius. The military men couldn't have been any more stereotypical. The generals were all gung ho and the soldiers were too stupid to open fire on Gort when he first started disintegrating artillery and later when he escaped the block of plastic; they were simply cannon fodder. The wardrobe department must have had an easy time on this shoot. Every man is wearing either a suit and tie or a uniform, no matter if he's supping at home or working for the office. Maybe this was wishful thinking even in that era, that men should be nattily attired at all times. Today, it's merely preposterous.

The story had its share of major blunders. Some were based on outdated science, like the statement that Venus could support humanoid life. Others were just plain silly. Klaatu, having already been shot early in the movie, still tries to run from armed soldiers. He could freeze the Earth in its tracks, but has nothing for remote communication with Gort or his ship, needing instead a flashlight. It was never followed up on that since Klaatu was perfectly human, was there some relation between his race and humanity. And there was far too much exposition -- we're told too much rather than shown.

Should this film be remade? Certainly the effects could be improved. War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet, released two and five years later, respectively, showcased what was the true state of the art for the '50s. Today's digital effects could easily add so much more to the story than Fred Sersen's optical effects of a half century ago, for instance a truly frightening Gort. But effects alone don't make a good movie, as the 1998 dud Godzilla proved.

A new multiracial cast would be an improvement on the sanitized and idealized whitebread cast that the pre-civil rights times necessitated. Not only should minorities be represented -- for Klaatu's warning affects them, too -- but so should women in roles greater than homemaker and secretary.

The script would have to be rewritten from the ground up, for the main premise is fatally flawed. Klaatu threatens the extinction of mankind -- indeed, of all life on Earth, including the innocent animals who have no knowledge of our sins nor power to stop them -- if any aggression were visited upon our interplanetary neighbors. The 'barbaric' leading societies of Earth had forsworn the use of genocide as a form of warfare decades before this movie was made. Even the thought of targeting unarmed civilians as retribution for aggression is morally repulsive to rational citizens of the modern world. Nuking Serbia for the actions of Slobodan Milosevic is unthinkable. How could a supposedly more advanced "civilization" justify such a sweeping atrocity? The concept of collateral damage is already falling out of favor with the American public. A contemporary script might have Klaatu realizing the error of his ways after being suitably chastised on his apparent lack of humanity, humility and compassion by the female lead. Never mind how our primitive weapons could have threatened their technologically superior civilizations. His single ship had the power to neutralize our entire planet and was impervious to any force the Army could muster. Gort himself was said to be able to singlehandedly reduce Earth to a smoking cinder. Surely at the first sign of attack, either could effortlessly dispose of a few pitiful nuclear missiles. Thereafter, it would have been child's play to interdict all future spaceflight until the human race matured or capitulated, especially when backed by the might of a fleet of ships and Gorts. All without the loss of a single life, human or otherwise. Compare it with Forbidden Planet, made only six years later. That, too, had the message that man was inherently flawed and could not be trusted with immense power. But it never took the heavyhanded approach of threatening total destruction. It just had a single genius who simply said man was not ready for the tremendous knowledge of the Krell. That is much more accurate and true to life. We aren't and may never be worthy of such power. But how realistic is it to turn us against each other, trying to keep any rogue nation or terrorists from inciting the wrath of Gort? Couldn't that run the risk of creating more conflict here on Earth just to protect Klaatu's people? If a group thinks themselves martyrs and believes they will be elevated to heaven after death anyway, how could you stop them from bringing death upon all of us, short of killing every last one of them?

The thinking man's science fiction movie? Hardly. For now, that honor falls to Contact, starring Jodie Foster, a much deeper look into humanity and the human condition.

My FIRST sci-fi movie!

[ErnestPWorrell · 5 March 2003]

When I first saw this movie (on television circa 1957)I was just a young child four years of age. I remember sitting on my father's lap and watched the whole thing through my fingers as I held my hands over my eyes for protection (yeah...right!). Gort and Klaatu were magnificent space travelers...and with a message of peace during a time that the Soviets and U.S. were deep into the 'cold war'. Very timely! Very scary! It spooked me then and I still get a chill watching the movie today. But, it's one of the classics that will live on forever! It's message is as meaningful today as it was back in the 50's. Maybe we should all watch it again and take notes.........

The Altruistic Alien...

[Xstal · 8/10 · 19 February 2023]

A spacecraft makes its way towards the earth, it's like a saucer with a rounded, curving girth, when it lands, a man descends, he comes in peace, wants to make friends, and then he's shot, because of difference, we're averse. A robot then appears and shows its power, disintegrating weapons, with its glower, but the alien assailed, gets the giant to curtail, though the sentiment is clear for all to see. It's not long before the foreigner has gone, assimilating, to a world gone wrong, finding out about mankind, finding out how we're so blind, to trajectories that lead to our extinction.

I don't think the message is any different all these years later, just more pertinent.

I come in peace

[nickenchuggets · 10/10 · 5 July 2021]

I don't know about anybody else, but when I think of the 1950s, the first genre that comes to mind is science fiction. Ufo sightings and this time period go together like bread and butter, but to this day, nobody seems to have an explanation for these objects. Reports of them came from every part of the country, and the government, attempting to calm everybody, tried to tell people they were just "birds", or "a strange light on the horizon". Weather balloons. Whatever it took. The government soon realized that it couldn't control people's hunger for a phenomenon so interesting, so naturally, movies feeding on the craze started to appear all over the place. Along with War of the Worlds, this is probably my favorite 50s sci-fi movie. It is full of early cold war tension and atmosphere, and even the end moral of the film has to do with the possible consequences of the cold war. The movie is about a Ufo that lands in the capital of the US. The US military is on high alert and believes this thing (whatever it is or wherever it came from) cannot be trusted. Someone that resembles a human emerges from the ship and announces they have come in peace. He extends a strange looking device to the soldiers, which they mistake for a weapon and shoot at him. Little did the americans know, the device is actually intended for the president, and it allows human beings to look at the life on other worlds. The injured spaceman goes to a hospital to heal, and the humans discover their technology is hopelessly archaic compared with the alien's. The alien also wants the humans to broadcast a message to every country on earth, but with the cold war between america and the USSR in full swing, it's not possible. The alien (Klaatu) manages to escape surveillance at the hospital and assumes the name of "Mr. Carpenter", which allows him to develop a friendship with a child named Bobby. Later on, Klaatu becomes concerned that humans have been able to develop the most powerful and dreadful weapon ever seen: nuclear energy. This prompts him to turn off power everywhere on the planet as a show of force. Later, Klaatu is killed by a gunshot, but Helen (Bobby's mother) revives him. We learn that Klaatu's resurrection unfortunately doesn't last forever. At the end of the film, Klaatu talks to people surrounding his spacecraft one last time and tells them humanity must put an end to war or else Klaatu's world will put an end to humanity. He and his robotic servant then leave. This movie is very good. It might seem a bit tired by modern standards, given how many alien-centric movies there are, but the 50s was the first decade to really make these things popular (at least in movies). It shows us the utter futility and ridiculousness of war and how earth might appear like a ridiculous place to extraterrestrial visitors. We kill each other because of our beliefs, destroy the environment, and would also probably kill the aliens for being different than us. The movie has an obvious cold war theme to it, because atomic weapons are mentioned a lot, and they are the one weapon the aliens fear. Given humankind's track record, the aliens don't feel safe letting us have access to them. Alongside movies like War of the Worlds, Thing From Another World, and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, this is one of the 50's best sci-fi experiences.

"I've been told you speak our language."

[The_Movie_Cat · 6/10 · 21 January 2001]

WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

He also looks uncannily like us, too. For Klaatu the alien seems to derive his appearance, manner, and science from the perspective of 50's Middle America. This distinctly unalien quality is offset by having ‘atu expressing differences between our cultures. So that when he tells us he's been travelling for five months, he quickly adds "your months". And when he talks of traversing millions of miles, it's "your miles". Now, call me a stickler for detail, but an alien race that just happened to evolve exactly the same words for time and distance as ours? What are the chances of that happening? And note that it's not a more respectable "light years" he's travelled.

This may all sound like quibbling, but now I've set this sacred cow up for the slaughter, it's time to justify my argument. For The Day The Earth Stood Still is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats of movie SF. And, for it's era, that's a valid view. But ironically its contemporary failure is highlighted by its title. The Earth hasn't stood still. And the staid direction, acting and dialogue – Holy Christmas! – of the film makes it now hopelessly dated. Some may say the camerawork is understated, but the rigid blocking palls, and the fluctuating incidental music – ranging from silence to deafening, often in the same scene – distracts. The silly comic-book sound effects, the narrative driven by radio reports, the sped-up reels as people flee in terror ... it's all so leaden and clunky. There's also a discussion and summary of the film so far around a dinnertable. Have the moral standpoints of a film ever been so contrivedly introduced?

Before we know it, Klaatu is undercover, and babysitting young, wholesome, American-as-apple-pie Bobby. Here Bobby and Klaatu bond and subtly get the issues across. Like the alien explaining how where he comes from there are no wars. "Gee, that's a good idea!" says Bobby. Is this a pacifistic message? I couldn't quite tell. Around this time Klaatu develops a trend for pious moralising and platitudes. So much so that a reporter, getting vox pops from a crowd, legs it after being bored silly by the stiffest alien this side of Mr.Spock on his mating ritual. And as for Bobby – would such a young boy really have a mathematician as an idol-worshipped role model? Mind you, this was 1951 – men still wore hats, and rock and roll had yet to be invented.

However, it soon turns out that Klaatu has a system – you've gotta have a system, haven't you? – and doesn't really care about our planet's wars, but is merely worried about the threat to his own. If Earth develops atomic weapons in space then it will, he explains, be "eliminated". Eventually Klaatu hits on an ingenious idea to get back his spaceship – go at night when there'll only be two people guarding it, of course! Bobby, the world's most neglected child, is again abandoned by mum and potential step-dad, causing him to follow Klaatu and so further the plot.

This eventually leads to the alien's big speech, which is all peace, being nice to one another, etc. It's all very well meant, though the lack of allegory does cause you to question how stupid the filmmakers thought their audience was. Klaatu's death is clearly signposted (and given away in the first sentence of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) where he speaks of what Gort would do in such an eventuality. Apparently Gort – an extra in a cheap rubber suit – is an indestructible robot that could destroy the Earth.

Best bit? The shadows cast over Klaatu's face in the elevator, oddly reminiscent of The Seventh Seal. Worst bit? The accent in the paralysed London scene. Who did the dubbing, Dick Van Dyke? Or maybe the worst bit is the obvious wire on Gort when he picks up Patricia Neal. That said, 90% of the effects are superb, even today.

Another contradiction is that the vaguely pretentious undercurrent is what makes it less accessible nowadays. If the film was as silly as 50s SF movies usually are then it would make the screen backdrops and ropy bitpart actors more acceptable. As it is, perhaps the greatest legacy the film can offer is Neal's proactive role and unusual function as single parent. The sliding ramps on the UFO are great, and the movie must be praised for flying in the face of anti-Communist convention. Where it's peers were content to be "Killer Russkies From Mars!", this one tried something that was then radically different. Daringly so, for the time. The Day The Earth Stood Still is commendable, honourable and worthy of a "6", but is also undeniably dated. Sorry.

sci-fi icon

[SnoopyStyle · 8/10 · 10 July 2015]

A UFO lands on the Washington Mall which is quickly surrounded by the military. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) emerges and tries to make contact. A nervous soldier accidentally shoots him. His robot Gort comes out to defend him. He's brought to Walter Reed hospital and he asks to meet all of the world's representatives. International squabbling makes a meeting impossible. Klaatu escapes the hospital and goes to a boarding room where widow Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby are staying. While Helen has the day with Tom Stephens, Klaatu babysits Bobby and learns about the world. Bobby leads Klaatu to Helen's boss Professor Jacob Barnhardt. It is an iconic 50s sci-fi. The story is timeless although it doesn't have many exciting thrills. The 50s style directions are a little stiff. The staging is somewhat static but it is still quite compelling. This is more of a message movie and Gort is one of the great robots of all time.

Simple yet compelling

[hall895 · 7/10 · 8 August 2009]

Give peace a chance. That is the message delivered to us Earthlings by this film's mysterious alien visitor. In the time this film was made the message was a rather powerful one. American/Soviet tensions were high, we had entered the age of nuclear weapons and the idea that humankind may be on the verge of destroying itself was not all that far-fetched. It is in this atmosphere that Klaatu, visitor from another world, arrives on Earth. When his flying saucer lands in Washington there is understandably much apprehension. But Klaatu comes in peace. We learn that he wishes to bring all the leaders of the world together to warn them of the dangers should they continue their nuclear arms race. Seems the aliens don't much mind if us silly Earthlings kill ourselves in war after war. But our nuclear weaponry, combined with the start of space exploration, causes the people of other worlds to be concerned that their peaceful existence could soon be threatened by the people of Earth. If that comes to pass Klaatu warns us that there will be consequences. Dire consequences.

It's a rather simple story but one which certainly grabs and then holds on to your attention. In playing Klaatu, an alien who appears to be rather human, Michael Rennie turns in a quality performance. Klaatu may seem human but we always know there's something more there and Rennie portrays that otherworldliness wonderfully. When Klaatu foils our government's attempts to hold him and wanders out into society the movie kicks into life. We see this alien visitor interact with ordinary people as he tries to fulfill his mission and save us Earthlings from ourselves. Klaatu will be aided by a young boy, Bobby Benson, whom he befriends and by Bobby's friendly but wary widowed mother. They are unaware of who exactly "Mr. Carpenter", the alias Klaatu has taken, really is. Eventually though his true identity will be secret no longer and it's a race against time, and the military, as Klaatu tries to deliver his message of peace to the world without getting himself killed first.

The movie is a little dry and rather talky. A lot of words and, especially for a science fiction film, very little action. Even the ending, after all that has come before, seems somewhat anticlimactic. You might be expecting some kind of spectacular, thrilling showdown but there's nothing of the sort. But in its own way the climax works for this movie, especially taking into account the time in which it was made. Nowadays Hollywood would certainly jazz things up with all kinds of spectacular effects. But as we have seen time and again great effects do not necessarily make for a great movie. The effects in this movie are incredibly primitive. For example Klaatu's companion, the giant, menacing robot Gort, is rather obviously just a tall guy in a cheesy foam rubber suit. And the story itself requires you to occasionally suspend disbelief as well. A spaceship lands in Washington and the military leaves just two soldiers there to guard it? Really? That's just one of the contrivances necessary to allow the plot to move forward. But while there are certainly some things to quibble with the movie is still undeniably compelling. It's a simple story but it works. For all the money spent to make modern sci-fi movies look spectacular there is a lesson to be learned here that the story is the most important thing. It doesn't matter how good your movie looks if the story stinks. This old-school movie may not look spectacular but the story makes it a film well worth seeing.

We are still in danger of destroying our planet....and the universe!

[mark.waltz · 10/10 · 17 July 2018]

Without a doubt in my mind, the original version of this story remains the greatest sci-fi themed movie about a visitor from another planet and the dangers that awaits the earth if we don't change our ways. 67 years later, this film still resonates in an even more dangerous time, with so many other powers threatening our survival as a planet and little, if no, lessons learned from the horrors of the past. This film wastes absolutely no time in introducing the visitor from outer space, a human being like creature from an unnamed planet who is shot and hospitilized simply for offering a gift which some paranoid army soldier believes to be a weapon. He shot first and never got to ask questions later, but for the visitor (the outstanding Michael Rennie), lots of questions are asked, and many lessons are learned, particularly by the sultry voiced widow Patricia Neal and her lovable son (Billy Gray) who takes a shine to the new boarder even though potential stepfather Hugh Marlowe is instantly suspicious of him.

A genius of incomparable patience, charm and class, Rennie's visitor immediately impresses scientist Sam Jaffe over his ability to solve a difficult problem Jaffe had been working on in his efforts to use nuclear power for good. Jaffe, considered the wisest man on earth, looks on at Rennie in awe, seemingly immediately knowing what Rennie's mission is and determined to get the message spread for the good of all of the universe. Neal at first is conflicted. She likes her son having an older male companion, but something about Rennie to her (mostly thanks to Marlowe's paranoia) doesn't seem right. A visit to Rennie's spaceship (thanks to the most amazing encounter with the very dangerous robot Rennie reveals to be a police officer for universal safety) reveals everything to her, and Neal wakes up to her own blindness to the dangers earthlings pose to the future of the entire solar system.

Most subtle in its depiction of Rennie's alien civilization as peace loving and unselfish in every way, it also presents a view of our earth society as violent, paranoid, self centered, and most importantly, unaware of the dangers we put on the solar system because of our obsessions with war and nuclear power. Blow yourself up if you so desire, Rennie tells his captive earth audience, but leave the rest of the universe alone, or face the consequences. This film never loses steam as it intensely drags the audience into its calm but intense world of a desire for the end of the violent nonsense, and shows the hypocrisies of our world which we obviously have let get too far out of control. I don't know if I could bear to see the remake of this film, because it pretty much says everything here and cannot be improved on. Perhaps this film 67 years later should be passed around to every new leader in our world as well as a reminder of past destructions that not only killed millions but brought the perpetrators down viciously as well.

Earthlings Get A Very Serious Wake-Up Call From Outer Space Thanks To Both Klaatu And Gort

[StrictlyConfidential · 7/10 · 25 June 2020]

1951's "The Day The Earth Stood Still" easily ranks right up there as being one of my all-time favorite "Alien Visitation" films in the entire history of Hollywood SyFy movie-making.

IMO - Regardless that this vintage gem is now seventy years old, it still holds up surprisingly well (even with its old-school visual effects).

For its time - I really think that this film's message is actually quite a startling one. In a nutshell, it tells us Earthlings that our unbridled destructiveness has become a serious threat to the overall peace and security of all of the other planets that exist in this endlessly vast universe.

Yes. That communication certainly provides us humans with some honest-to-goodness food for thought.

I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.

[hitchcockthelegend · 10/10 · 4 March 2008]

The Day the Earth Stood Still is directed by Robert Wise and adapted to screenplay by Edmund H. North from the story Farewell to the Master written by Harry Bates. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray and Frances Bavier. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Leo Tover.

Classic sci-fi is right here as director Robert Wise gives a beautifully steady hand to Harry Bate's short story. Peace for the world or else is the message and I don't see anything wrong with that because it stands up to relevant scrutiny today and unfortunately many days ahead in the future. Debates about the allegorical worth of the film still persist today, but the core message is not up for argument.

Wise shows his influences from the time when he worked with Orson Welles and Val Lewton, where here, aided by Tover's beautiful photography, he blends the feel of semi-documentary starkness with film noir visuality. Whether it's scenes of Klaatu (Rennie) trawling the wet night streets, or the interiors of the spaceship and boarding house, the visual imagery by way of low-key lighting compositions is often striking for mood accentuation.

All the cast are spot on in their respective performances, with Neal refreshingly given a female role that doesn't resort to her being token sex appeal or a shrieking harpy. Herrmann's understated score is dynamite, and pretty much imitated wholesale from this point onwards, and the film is laced with poignant and frightening scenes that keep the viewer firmly glued to the tale unfolding. The demonstration of the visitors power gives the film its title and it's a glorious slice of celluloid, and in Gort the robot (Lock Martin) we have one of the biggest icons in sci-fi cinema.

Once viewed one can never forget The Day The Earth Stood Still, its message, its structured precision and its technical smarts ensure you will remember this film always. One of the most important science fiction movies of all time, a game changer in the critical year for the sci-fi genre. All told it's magic cinema still standing the test of time. 10/10

Great atmosphere

[daustin · 7/10 · 7 October 1999]

Just saw this for the first time and was very impressed. So as not to repeat the praise everyone else has heaped on it (which I by and large agree with, I must say the lack of plot flaws was amazing for a fifties sci-fi movie. Characters actually act and make decisions in a recognizable way, not with sci-fi movie logic. During the montage where the Earth's power is disrupted I couldn't help but think "No death!? But what about all the hospitals and people relying on machines to keep them alive" but it was explained in an internally consistent way instead of ignored. One complaint though. Flying saucer in the middle of DC, dangerous robot, tons of spectators, and a hunted alien who might be trying to get back to the ship. And the Army only posts TWO GUARDS at night. Riiiight..... Still, I'll give them that one for free.

suitable for children at best.

[ibrahimX · 4/10 · 10 June 2008]

It's important to keep in mind that the story this film is based on, like much other "Golden Age" science fiction, is deservedly forgotten. What survives from that era of science fiction are a few names--Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein--and a slew of stories by other authors that can genuinely be appreciated for their vision and storytelling. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" however seems more rooted in the insipid science fiction of the era, the type that was guaranteed to be forgotten fairly soon. Everything about this film is banal and hokey--surely gripping at the time, but quite silly and laughable by today's standards. It isn't even on par with the best episodes of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, and the message strikes one as obvious and heavy handed. It's a wonder how adults can continue to find merit in a film with such a puerile center.