Stephane Wuttunee

In review: The Day the Earth Stood Still

December 28, 2008 |  8 comments
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox The short and sweet of this 2008 remake by director Scott Derrickson is that if you’ve put off seeing it in theatres because of some really nasty (and not entirely undeserved) reviews, don’t. It’s still worth the admission. While its premise and plot are just as cheesy as the 1951 original, this is no cheap, off the shelf, coagulated bovine product we’re talking here. No, this film is borderline gourmet cheese instead - served with an equally delectable side dish of exopolitical relevancy.

As everyone knows, movies on Extraterrestrials are a dime a dozen nowadays. What are far rarer art forms however, are big budget works portraying ETs as being good or at least neutral towards humanity (wish the same could be said for their robot hardware). Seriously, the last time we saw an Extraterrestrial extending a friendly greeting towards members of the human race upon exit of their craft goes back to 1951 (the original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still), 1977 (Close Encounters Of The Third Kind), 1982 (ET - The Extraterrestrial), and 1984 (Star Man). 1997 (Contact) also bears mentioning as a good year for human/alien interaction. Aside for these exceptions, practically all other “alien flicks” portray ETs as being just plain ornery. No wonder we’ve greeted them with either bullets or rockets.

Speaking of which…

Military presence and firepower is not lacking in this movie. There’s enough of that to satisfy any testosterone-ridden moviegoer. Rather, what is lacking in TDTESS is creative freedom and craftsmanship – both in terms of how the film chose to stay close to the original and stray from it at the same time. I get the distinct feeling that a lot of good ideas and interesting plot twists got turned down or wound up on the cutting room floor. Thus, instead of prime rib and filet mignon, we got flank strips and shank laden with saucy special effects and CGI. For those who say that the movie was too predictable and cheesy, let us not forget again that the original was pure cheese as well and that remakes earn their labels because that’s what they’re designed to be to begin with. They’re not supposed to be radically different than their forbearers. Thankfully, this was something I kept in mind as I reluctantly paid the full admission and found my way into the (not surprisingly) empty theatre.

Now, being a mere freelance journalist and not a professional critic, I won’t provide a detailed movie synopsis. What I’ll do instead is tell you how I was moved or fascinated by the film and offer you what I feel made this worth my time and money.1) Timing and relevance. Say what you will, but a movie about Aliens reluctantly choosing to level an entire civilization because of its destructive/polluting ways has a powerful effect upon the psyche - especially in a time when the masses already believe that world governments are covering the truth in regards to Extraterrestrials engaging the planet. With the events of October (don’t ask) behind us, and the Million Fax upon Washington now in full swing, ETs and their crafts are on a lot of people’s minds nowadays. Never mind the recent firing of CNN’s Miles O’Brien - or the same network’s abrupt aborting of its intensely anticipated “Search for Aliens” week long special. Aliens, whether imagined or suppressed, are still very big news. In TDTESS, Klaatu wanted to kill off humanity because our ability to kill each other paled in comparison to how much better we are at killing entire ecosystems and planets. Now there’s a trait worth forgetting.

2) Greetings Earthling. Take me to your – KABLAM! I don’t know what it is about rifle triggers and temperaments, but it seems to me that the more fear of Extraterrestrials is present, the less time it takes to send a 165 grain lead pill into their skull or body - in movies at least. Here’s a free tip for any would-be ET shooters: when an Offworlder exits their craft and offers their hand in friendship, the least desirable course of action is to try to take them out. Yes, I know it was expected that someone in the film would lose their cool and a bullet would become airborne, but the effect was still sad and devastating. I just hope that no one in real life is seriously dumb enough to want to try launching a full scale attack on Beings coming here as visitors (ok – I know that some people are that dumb, but I don’t like knowing so. Just allow me to temporarily bask in my illusion, okay?).

3) Klaatu meeting up with his ET colleague. At one point during the show, Klaatu is driven to a restaurant by Dr. Helen Benson (aka the incredibly beautiful and talented Jennifer Connelly). There, he meets up with one of his own (who has been on Earth for over seventy years and has taken on an Asian man’s body and appearance) to discuss their mission and whether or not it should proceed as planned. He tells Klaatu that although he agrees that the humans should be wiped out, he also wants to die as one of them because “he has grown to love them since having lived with them for so long”. I thought this was pretty cool, actually. Definitely an element not present within the original, but welcome, in my opinion.

4) G.O.R.T. (Genetically Organized Robot Technology). Imagine that the original 1951 version of this movie never came out and that pitching the idea for the film to Hollywood bigwigs was a modern day proposition. How long do you think it would take before you were tossed or laughed out on the street about needing X millions of dollars for creating a movie about an Earth visiting friendly ET who prevents his giant robot from destroying the planet? Not very long. I imagine a lot of discussion went on during pre-production on in terms of how to present GORT as being a viable and believable threat to a civilization that basically eats automatons for breakfast. Personally, I applaud their decision to make GORT a nanite-based organism rather than purely mechanical. I think he (it?) came across as being delightfully neutral and as cold as Keanu (oops – I meant Klaatu) himself. To have stayed true to form by having GORT be portrayed as being just an ordinary robot would have really stretched believability. After all, a couple of X Wing fighters with harpoon lines or a Hobbit and blonde maiden on horseback with swords could easily take him down (whoops wrong movies).

Well, that’s about it. There is more that I liked about this film, but I implore you to bravely pull out your hard earned cash to see it for yourself. I’m usually picky about entertainment, so emerging from the theatre without wanting a refund says a lot. Oh, and there is another short (and not so sweet) element present within TDTEST: potential nepotism, and how more and more, celebrity offspring are mysteriously but surely finding themselves in projects they neither add much to nor take away from. I’ve always liked Will Smith and his acting. Class act. I could quite easily forget the little brat though. I truly hope he was acting and not being himself.

Stephane Wuttunee
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