As a student of film history, I’m generally pretty leary of remakes. However, I try not to dismiss them out of hand because while some are terrible (1995’s Sabrina), others turn out to be a cut above the original (2006’s The Departed). As a huge fan of the true 1950’s science fiction classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, I questioned whether a remake should even be made and was dismayed even further when I heard Keanu Reeves had been cast as Klaatu in the reimagining of the story. Never a huge fan of Reeves’ acting (aside from The Matrix films), I couldn’t imagine what he would bring to the table that would improve an already classic film.
The screenplay by David Scarpa (The Last Castle) is based on the 1940 classic science fiction short story “Farewell to the Master” by Harry Bates and the 1951 screenplay adaptation by Edmund H. North, although Bates’ name is missing from the credits. In truth, Scarpa’s script bears only a passing resemblance to the original, with a few details included as a nod to fans. The story concerns Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), a Princeton astrobiology professor who is summoned by the U.S. government, along with experts in several other areas, when an unidentified flying object is seen hurtling towards Earth. It turns out to be a large spaceship, which lands in Central Park.
Dr. Benson makes contact with a strange being exiting the spaceship but the being is accidentally shot by a soldier and requires immediate medical attention. As it turns out, the “strange being” is a human looking extra terrestrial named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) and he’s brought along his 35-foot robot bodyguard (Named Gort by the government). Klaatu is taken into custody and questioned by Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), who wants to know what he’s doing here and why he’s brought a giant robot with him. Klaatu informs her that he has a message to deliver but he’ll only deliver it to all the nations of the world at once. He also urges his captors to let him go.
Soon enough, Klaatu makes his escape from the hospital and director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), puts the film into overdrive, using CGI and fancy editing in an attempt to create excitement but it just feels forced. During his time on the run, Klaatu is assisted by Dr. Benson, who believes he means no harm and by Helen’s stepson, Jacob (Jaden Smith), who is much more skeptical. “They didn’t come here to hurt us!” Helen tells him. He replies, “We should kill them anyway, just to be sure.”
The original films message about the cold war and the atomic age has been replace by a generic attempt to save the Earth. “If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives,” he tells Helen. Yet the film doesn’t want to be a “message” movie, so no obvious examples are shown lest the audience get upset.
In the acting department, not much is required of Connelly other than looking awestruck and worried and she handles that well, while young Jaden Smith shows off the sassy attitude he picked up from his dad Will, who knows a thing or two about chasing aliens himself. Good actors like John Cleese, Kyle Chandler, Robert Knepper, Jon Hamm, and James Hong are used for a few scenes apiece as scientists, colonels, and other alien-invasion-movie stock characters, then cast aside. Meanwhile, as Klaatu, Keanu Reeves uses the fact that his character is an alien as an excuse to be even more wooden than usual, the guy is just boring; he brings absolutely nothing memorable to the role.
Unfortunately, I found very little to like about Scott Derrickson’s remake of the sci-fi classic. The film is just a complete mess; the “save the Earth” message” could have worked if that were the real focus. Instead, the filmmakers chose to bury the story under layers of CGI and special effects. My advice is to stick to the 1951 original.
The Day the Earth Stood Still arrives on Blu-ray with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer that is easily of reference quality. Fine detail is striking, and the clarity of the transfer is remarkable in most every scene. Various nighttime, exterior shots of New York City feature startling levels of clarity. Close-up shots reveal detail that is perfectly lifelike in appearance; a close-up of a doctor’s surgical mask, for example, showcases every stitch and texture in the material; his several-hour-old beard sees every hair, and the fine lines in the face, particularly around the eyes, reveal every nuance of the skin’s surface. The film takes on a blue-gray, steely look. Although the film has a somewhat cold, uninviting appearance, detail, texture, sharpness, and clarity never suffer. Whites remain stable and blacks are inky. The disc sees no apparent edge enhancement, heavy noise reduction, blocking, or any other visible anomalies at normal viewing distances. In short, The Day the Earth Stood Still is another fine transfer from Fox.
Fox delivers The Day the Earth Stood Still to Blu-ray with a very solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. From the opening moments of the film, this soundtrack proves its mettle and establishes itself as one of the strongest, clearest, and most realistic tracks yet. A cold wind swirls about the soundstage, flowing precisely through each and every speaker, while music plays with precision across the front soundstage. The remainder of the film’s reference-quality segments comes from more traditional, action-oriented sequences. The many scenes featuring military hardware shine. Helicopter rotors spin around the listening area in several scenes, the sonic impact of the blades practically devastating to the senses. Bass kicks into overdrive throughout the film; the revelation of the spacecraft in chapter four features a practically nonstop rumbling that is deep and low, providing the subwoofer with a hefty workout. Every action sequence sounds excellent, with the soundstage and subwoofer used to incredible effect, creating a truly immersive environment that places the listener directly into the movie. As expected, dialogue reproduction is perfect.
The 3-Disc Edition of The Day the Earth Stood Still has quite a large selection of special features:
The first disc is the new film and its associated special features. The second disc is a DVD that contains the Digital Copy of The Day the Earth Stood Still for Portable Media Players. This will allow for either a Windows Media Player friendly format or something that can be loaded via iTunes. The third and final disc is the Original 1951 Movie on Blu-ray. It is my opinion that the third disc is the most valuable supplement and the classic is worth watching.
The first disc starts up with trailers for Wolverine, Quantum of Solace, Taken and Australia . The disc does contain some features to enjoy while watching the movie. These “In Movie Features” can be toggled with the colored buttons on the remote. The green button enables or disables the Commentary by Writer David Scarpa. In the commentary track, comparisons are given between the versions and the writer gives his insight on his homages and reasons for changing plot points and characters. The blue button turns on the BonusView: Klaatu´s Unseen Artifacts. There is some nice PiP footage of the film through its various stages of production. Thirdly, the yellow button brings up Storyboards for comparison to the final shot.
The stand alone features range from interesting to blah. Build Your Own Gort allows you to play with various incarnations of Gort through the design process. The Deleted Scenes (1:56) consists of two removed scenes and an extended scene showing Klaatu being wheeled down the hall. Re-Imagining the Day (30:06) talks about the decisions and steps taken to remake the classic 1951 picture. Unleashing Gort (13:52) finds the director talking about how he wanted to change the look of the alien technology for the film and this focuses on Gort.
A few more features may be of interest. Watching the Skies: In Search of Extraterrestrial Life (23:08) ties footage from the film and interviews into discussing the notion that there is alien life forms out there and this talks about finding them. The Day the Earth was Green (14:04) helps the viewer realize the message is about the environment and this features discusses pollution, global warming and other environmental issues. Some Still Galleries and the Theatrical Trailer are also included.
