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The
Day The Earth Stood Still
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10
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10 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Lyle
Horowitz |
Klaatu
barada nikto!
Don't know what I'm talking about? Has
this reviewer lost his mind? If you think this then you've obviously
not had the pleasure of seeing The Day
The Earth Stood Still.
It's
a fairly simple movie, but in my opinion it happens to be one
of the greatest science fiction films ever made, providing a
worthy message to viewers (especially in the turbulent times
of the 1950s). The story concerns a flying saucer, first spotted
orbiting the Earth. It lands in Washington D.C., on the Mall,
and is quickly cordoned off by the military. A humanoid figure
steps out and is shot by a jumpy soldier. Gort, a large and
very powerful robot, emerges from the craft to save the alien,
effortlessly melting tanks and artillery with a power beam fired
from beneath its raised visor. The wounded extraterrestrial
(Michael Rennie), who calls himself Klaatu, orders Gort to stop
and is taken to a hospital from which he escapes in order to
learn more about Mankind, even moving in as a lodger at a boarding
house and befriending an Earth family. When they begin to suspect
him he reveals himself, along with the news that Gort will destroy
the Earth if provoked. Klaatu has come to our world to deliver
an ultimatum to all of humanity.
In the 1950s Hollywood began to drift away
from "classic" monster films featuring the likes of
Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and began making science fiction
movies. Films such as The War Of The Worlds,
Invaders From Mars and
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
all dealt
with aliens as harmful, belligerent creatures bent on conquest.
In director Robert Wise's The Day The
Earth Stood Still it is the humans who seem inhuman,
lashing out at the unknown in fear, despite the fact that the
alien visitor desires peaceful coexistence. This film was a
striking political
commentary on the dangers of the arms race in the 1950s and
raises awareness and understanding throughout. Some of its imagery
remains iconic — key milestones in the history of science fiction
cinema.
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Fox's
DVD of The
Day The Earth Stood Still
is part of the Fox Studio Classics line, and has a mail-in
offer for a free copy of the F.W. Murnau film Sunrise
when you buy three Studio Classics titles. The disc is
affordable (retailing as low as $14.99 in stores) and is well
worth the price. The DVD is double-sided, allowing the THX-certified
transfer to shine, while on the other side of the disc an 80-minute
documentary is featured. On Side A of the disc you get the film
(presented in its original full-screen aspect ratio of 1:33:1),
allowing you to watch it with either the original mono audio track
or a newly remastered THX-certified one. Side A also features
a commentary track with director Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer
as well as the theatrical trailer and a Movie Tone News
reel from 1951. On Side B you get a wonderful 80-minute documentary
on The
Day The Earth Stood Still,
a photo gallery which offers press books, posters, the complete
shooting script, and much more.
Overall,
the disc is a must-own, and one of the best in my collection.
The
Day The Earth Stood Still
is truly a classic that has stood (no pun intended) the test of
time. 6/18/03 |
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