The Day the Earth Stood Still (Three-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]

The bluray copy itself is very well done, the 3 discs with sastisfying extras and out of the many covers populating the internet the one for this particular set is my favorite.As for the film itself, it's extremely difficult to counter momentum and 60 years of public impression, the original has to be counted as a classic, but in comparison to the 2008 film, it's difficult to see how this is so. When people continue to judge visual sci-fi as an inferior genre they can point to movies like the original and say: "if this is the best you've got..." Above all else, a "classic" must retain some resonance for audiences across time, where new interpretations can be made and the audience comes away with something (even if not originally intended). The basic story can probably never really date, no one wants nuclear war, and despite the reduction of the threat new nuclear states and thousands of warheads remain. But the 1951 movie goes further..our nuclear power will be harnessed for space travel and those weapons will threaten the galactic populace. I don't find any of it credible. Nuclear power was brand new in 1951, it was the "ultimate" power, but in the face of such obviously advanced nations in space, we'd be far behind, no threat.The new movie is seen by some as extolling the evils of technology, I find this simplistic...it's the responsibility of having such technology and what we are doing with it that is lacking. Yes, it suggests corporate greed, government mismanagement and most damningly, human nautre, but it does not suggest giving up on technology. Instead the new movie is more universal, it takes the dated threat of nuclear power, and make it something I thin any being on any planet might go through...the stage of wastefulness of society. It's a long history in human culture, and it goes beyond environment and into behavior. Klaatu states that planets with indigenous life are rare, so far this seems likely based on actual observational evidence, the classic Fermi Paradox (life should be plentiful, but we have no empirically solid data!!) It seems a lot more satisfying a reason for the aliens to be here..they have decades of data! They would want to preserve life. Another interesting theme in the remake: the idea that intelligent aliens have a different view of possession of land/planets. Humans are not seen as the "owners" of Earth, but part of the biosphere, one that can harm it. It is likely aliens with such views possibly do not even live on planets anymore, but in space habitats or spacecraft where their original planets are almost forgotten, but seen as important origination points for life.The original falters on other levels: having an alien in exact human form walk among the populace is interesting in a quiet, introspective way, but he basically does it in a few days and in one American state! In 1951 Hollywood it was better to talk about Lincoln and be truly "American" rather than universal in theme. The 2008 remake does better...Klaatu us obviously the product of previous observation on Earth, they have multiple agents on Earth. They are not humanoids at ALL, and must create a human copy to facilitate communication. This is more biologically correct, as it is unlikely aliens will look anything like us when originating in another biosphere.On the level of moviemaking, the original also seems out of date. The 50s trappings, the stilted dialogue, lack of cross-section of American life (not to mention the world), the moderately good FX. We can't judge classics SOLEY on how they were perceived in their time, as I mentioned a lot of those things should seem almost timeless. The original does not. Obviously the 2008 movies has better production design, better FX, and so on. Michael Rennie is ok in the role, somewhat stiff, I simply found Reeves' Klaatu more believable on several levels and his performance suited it. Jennifer Connelly also is a welcome addition and I prefer her in her role as a scientist and mom as opposed to Patricia Neal's boarding house worker.Technologically, Spheres have always been the most logical shape for a spacecraft in 360 degree space. I can't fault the original too much here, saucers aren't a horrible spacecraft shape either. Gort was a fascinating, almost "seamless" design, impossible to actually produce convincingly with the technology of the time. Here is where it gets good...nanotechnology is an up-and-coming but already major developmental business, especially in materials science. It deals with the ability to manufacture items from a nanoscale upwards, making products more durable, as well as a range of items never seen before. To construct such objects would require what we see in the remake: "assemblers", or in this case "nano-cloud" assemblers. While the original suggested Gort might shoot ray beams to destroy a planet. Or stomp around knocking building down, the remake uses a very quick efficient "gray goo" scenerio: reducing objects to molecular components. The goal is different too...Klaatu leaves a threat in the original, and that's it, off he goes. It's almost anti-climatic. In the remake, the nano-cloud does destroy part of the US, the threat is real. It is designed to do a job, reducing technological destruction from humans so the planet may live...and of course, in the end, the power doesnt go off for an hour it goes off until human beings can make a cleaner or more efficient way to live a technological life, or that is the assumption. In the original, well they just want to destroy us so we can't be destructive to their Pax Romana. Which brings me to another criticism...How many of us want to live in a police state, peace through fear of giant robots? The remake's aliens appeared to be for lack of a better term, more Zen-like..something like a Federation from Star Trek but perhaps looser. They are not machine-like or indifferent, they really seem to care about life!In case you thought I hadn't noticed it, yes I did say the remake did not want to make us non-technological. Yes that is what we are left with at the end of the movie...but again, I don't think that is meant to be our state, we are not wanted as a caveman throwback, we are desired as an advanced partner in the eventual union with other advanced life, this requires technology.All this is not to say the 2008 remake is perfect, it's not...it starts at the beginning of the movie in fact, when they gather together an elite team...to do what...be at the center of a direct hit from what they think of as an asteroid hitting NY?? There is no need for exobiologists, or mineralogists if the thing lands on their head, or if they have no idea there are aliens aboard. The child actor is somewhat more annoying than the whiney kid from the original. Aren't there supposed to be ANY average kids in movies anymore? Are they all the results of divorced families, or single parents, etc and malcontents at that? Still a movie that has John Cleese deliver a wonderful quote about us only changing at the precipice of danger (often true)with an alien that changes it's mind on Earthly destruction based on human interaction and our worthiness to continue on is worth positive mention in my book, and in a climate where post-apocalypse is the desired tale. I think eventually the movie will get a fair shake but not yet, despite a good (nearly an 8.0 ) rating on IMDB, this movie is still seen as a failure. Sad really. I consider this to be a better film than Avatar.

A good movie

There are countless alien invasion movies, and this isn't Keanu's first! But this one is done in a really interesting way. Keanu (the PR rep for the aliens) talks about there being a very limited number of habitable planets in the known universe and that is why Earth is too important to allow humans to screw things up.It also comes out how his own race almost destroyed life on their planet before fixing the situation.Turns out Keanu's peeps have had 'spies' on earth for at least a human lifetime- he meets an older asian man at a restaurant to get a sit rep from him- and the man mentions how life on earth and humans have grown on him over his lifetime and he considers it home and wants to finish his life here on Earth. The whole surveillance aspect of an intelligent alien race already knowing just about everything about us by the time we 'engage' with them is thought provoking.Cathy Bates plays a hawkish defense secretary and her and her staff assume the aliens don't know our capabilities and haven't exhaustively surveilled our assets. The aliens have been reconnoitering us for decades and already have effective countermeasures at the ready for any of our strike capabilities, but at first they strictly act in a self-defense mode, only taking out assets that fire on them. They are seeing if we'll engage in a straight-up, collaborative dialogue with them, but we don't try to open a dialogue through official channels.Bates and the government try to detain and interrogate Keanu as well as to seize and attempt to reverse engineer their military hardware. They take the stance that the only possible reason for the alien presence is preparation for an attack on us, so we should act pre-emptively and with extreme prejudice!Jennifer Connoly plays a scientist who was brought in by the government to evaluate the situation early on. Her and her stepson end up developing an awkward friendship with Keanu, the alien. Keanu and the aliens had been here as kind of a final assessment on whether to spare humans on earth and give us a chance to fix our looming existential challenges on Earth, or to carry out a 'hostile takeover' of our assets and wipe human civilization off the face of the Earth. Connoly and her stepson, through fits and starts, end up developing a bond with Keanu which prompts him to spare the human race at the last moment.I found the nature of the relationships in the film were thought provoking. Bates' character is a proxy for a government that has lost any interest or ability to have a dialogue on equal footing with other parties- whether those parties are representatives of a sovereign foreign or alien nation or its own citizens. Its approach is solely based on power and force- if the government wants something from another party it simply forces the party to comply, and if another party wants something from our government unless they can force us to comply they ignore it. While those situations always exist, they rob one or both parties of dignity.While its true the aliens had annihilation of humans as their BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement in 'negotiations-speak!'), they were leading with an attempt at dialogue and collaboration- an approach that respects the dignity of each party. In the movie, our government had lost the need for and abilities in collaborative dialogue. It had spent so long as the super power that didn't need to be civil to other parties , even its own citizens, that when the need came to shift the social dynamics and deal respectfully and honestly with another party, our top officials couldn't even correctly assess the type of dialogue the situation required.This movie's depiction of the shift in the dynamics of dialogue between parties, whether government to government or government to citizens, is powerful for our world today. I believe there are a lot of collateral benefits to using a collaborative approach first even when a power approach would likely work. The bigger, complex issues are never solved by ramming through a power approach, this movie made that point well.The other thinking point from this movie was the quote I put in the headline (and probably got the wording wrong but the message is there!). Why do we often have to be at the cliff edge, on the precipice, before we make the best use of all our abilities and solve the difficult stuff? I know personally I sometimes need that intense deadline pressure to absolutely focus my abilities. Some call it procrastination but there is more to it than that! there's something about reaching that critical perception of pressure that focuses thought processes and makes actions efficient with little room for waste. This movie's commentary was about humans' ability to pull together in the 11th hour to stop and reverse some of our potentially existential problems like pollution, resource depletion, overpopulation, climate change, disenfranchised populations, yada, yada. No person is spared the fear from the potential wreckage from these problems- if not for themselves then for their children or children's children, and there is nothing like fear to focus productivity. we have to hope our finest hour is still to come, but soon.

This is a great movie. I only wish they had wiped out all our enemies and then we could rule the world. No seriously, they put humans back in the dark ages, and they would likely fight for everything just as we did in the beginning. All we shall be is chimpanzees with car keys. It is in our nature to destroy ourselves. That is the point. Not shown, but that leaves a one-world government controlled by socialists. Classic John Lennon.Humans will never be able to live that way even if 95% of the population was wiped out. We are jealous, greedy, mean, afraid of anything different, and cannot get out of our tribal instincts. There is no climate change. But there are enough people on the planet to consume every resource available. There are no other planets to go to where we would not do the same thing. We are all just Chimpanzees with car keys. There is no way to get along until we wipe each other off the earth. Even with 10 people left we will fight for control. The movie is a lesson. Something we can never obtain. It will all come down to food and water. Most people would ask how you vote before helping you. Sad. But there is no other way to do it that we have thought of. We are doomed to kill ourselves sadly. I won't be here and I will be taking a dirt nap. Watch the flick and think. We are 1,000 years from real space travel and artificial gravity. Mars is impossible to live on. If we cannot travel at the speed of light, everyone we know will be dead when we get back. So much hate. Giant armies. Utopia will never exist because no one knows what it means.