Old sci-fi films have a rare talent for taking the most unsubtle premises and making them feel sincere rather than contrived. And The Day the Earth Stood Still exemplifies that talent better than most. The premise of an alien coming to Earth to deliver an ultimatum seems like something out of The Twilight Zone, complete with an obvious message that would be dismissed as heavy-handedness if it were done in modern times. For a lot of people this could easily be seen as a flaw, but for me it's part of the appeal. Movies like this manage to combine the goodheartedness of moral fables with the "anything is possible" intrigue of science fiction, which might be enough to leave an impact on even the most jaded viewers.
The highlight is Michael Rennie as Klaatu, the alien who comes to Earth with a simple yet powerful message: make peace or be annihilated. He pulls off a careful balancing act of class, wit, and deadly potential, without ever being too overt about his true nature and intentions. On top of that, his dialogue is superbly written, making any scene with him a joy to watch. And as he begins to find value in the planet he first savagely condemns, it forces the viewer to feel the same.
Admittedly, the production seems very obviously dated, so the goofy looking robot and flying saucer that are supposed to represent technology far superior to ours seem like benign threats at worst. Seeing the future through the lens of the past will always feel a little awkward, but this movie is smart enough not to turn itself into an effects spectacle, instead putting its focus on exploring humanity from an outsider's viewpoint. And in this respect it succeeds.
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Ian's take:
The film does still feel like a success, even after all these years and corresponding advances in CGI. But the reason why this film succeeds is not merely because it evaluates humanity from an outsider’s perspective. We have cheesy Keanu Reeves remakes and other preachy pseudo-Messiah films for that. Maybe this is just me being a bit shell-shocked from angry television commentary, but this film also works for me because it actually makes humans seem…real. Every reaction they have against Klaatu, from the man wanting credit for helping the Pentagon to the armed forces concerned about protecting the public, doesn’t seem forced and instead holds a somewhat justifiable (though not always correct) sense of reasoning behind it. At a certain point, the excuse that “humans will attack anything different from themselves” (aka James Cameron Syndrome) feels stale to hear at best.
The film does still feel like a success, even after all these years and corresponding advances in CGI. But the reason why this film succeeds is not merely because it evaluates humanity from an outsider’s perspective. We have cheesy Keanu Reeves remakes and other preachy pseudo-Messiah films for that. Maybe this is just me being a bit shell-shocked from angry television commentary, but this film also works for me because it actually makes humans seem…real. Every reaction they have against Klaatu, from the man wanting credit for helping the Pentagon to the armed forces concerned about protecting the public, doesn’t seem forced and instead holds a somewhat justifiable (though not always correct) sense of reasoning behind it. At a certain point, the excuse that “humans will attack anything different from themselves” (aka James Cameron Syndrome) feels stale to hear at best.
Particularly noteworthy are the characters that seem to modify their opinions properly, based on the new information they receive. In the process of finding temporary lodging under the alias “Mr. Carpenter”, Klaatu befriends a WWII-begat widow named Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). What works so well is that Helen and Bobby do not immediately think that “bright, strange man” is the same as to “message-bearing alien” at first glance. Instead, they simply note his unique intelligence (and lack of knowledge of basic US history), while Helen appreciates his bond with her naturally curious and surprisingly well-mannered son. Of course, they eventually piece things together and find themselves in the mix of world-altering matters…but their natural charisma and likability makes us eager to follow them along as they discover the truth, and Edmund H. North’s adapted screenplay (based off Harry Bates’s “Farewell to the Master”) really does make it feel like a fun mystery of sorts – intriguing for its characters, even if you can guess most of the answers before it ends.
But any cheesy Bobby/Encyclopedia Brown jokes aside, there really is a successful buildup to the final scene that feels organic and well-earned; and the ultimate speech by Klaatu really is a phenomenal payoff that allow for some fun interpretations of the film. Where do these aliens come from? Are they from another world in this present moment, or from Earth in the future? Is the warning of destruction solely related to outside weapons like Gort, or does it also involve the atomic-based chaos that humanity can now unleash upon itself? One thing is for sure: even with some special effects and suspense-building devices that feel a bit primitive, its central message remains as powerful today as it has ever been. For that alone, Gort stands head-and-shoulders above the average B-movie classic.
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TOMORROW (DAY 12): IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE
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