The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

1951 • 92 minutes

About this movie

The Day The Earth Stood Still depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who has come to earth with his deadly robot, Gort (Lock Martin), to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves--or else. After being shot at by military guards, Klaatu is brought to a Washington, D.C. hospital, where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White (Robert Osterloh) to gather all the world's leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come to warn them about. Losing patience, Klaatu slips into the human world, adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience and her inquisitive son. Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu, his message and the government's witch hunt for the alien. Seen by many as a political, religious and humanitarian effort, the film is based on Harry Bates' story, "Farewell to the Master."

Ratings and reviews

There are four landmark films in the science fiction genre, in my opinion. Starting at the best: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1969) It's the Citizen Kane of science fiction movies. Most critics consider it the gold standard. FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) The "MGM magic" shows. This is what you get when you combine millions of dollars, an A-list cast, great direction, cool sets, and a core idea that no one has ever topped. Aliens make their race go extinct because they forgot about their primitive subconscious instinct to kill. THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL (1951) See this Review. METROPOLIS (1927) I don't really like it, but there's no denying that it stood for 30 years as the best sci fi film. Just look at the props. It's CGI before computers. Please don't be angry if your favs are not here. I have 25 more, like War of the Worlds, Bladerunner, Interstellar, Matrix, Body Snatchers, etc. It's personal taste, but I bet your list would include most of my 4 top films. The Day The Earth Stood Still (DTESS) is an intelligent film about what would happen if we humans all had a 'close encounter of the third kind'; a face-to-face meeting with an extraterrestrial. It reminds me of the movie, Contact, based on Carl Sagan and his wife, Ann Druyan's book. Naturally, the special effects look cheesy and dated and the film is in black and white. The message of DTESS is that aliens consider outer space to be a place where "everyone must check your weapons at the door. Sorry, no firearms allowed in space." That rules out anyone having any Star Wars. I think almost everyone will enjoy watching it. I saw it when I was nine and loved it... and understood it. I still love it. The music is by the composer of Taxi Driver, Citizen Kane, most Alfred Hitchcock's movies, and the famous screechy violins in Psycho, Bernard Hermann. After watching it, I dare you to not say out loud, "Klaatu Barrada Nicto". They are possibly the most famous three 'nonsense' words of any film. Caution: Do NOT waste 2 hours of your life that you will never get back in watching the DTESS remake with Keanu Reeves. There's a good reason that Rotten Tomatoes give it a lowly 20% approval rating. If there was ever a time to say, "it sucks" it is when speaking of this abortion of a movie. In summary, WATCH THE DAMN MOVIE! lol Ignore the dated visuals and be amazed at the great acting and ideas in the movie.

A superb example of 50's Sci fi. Why they would try to remake a film this good is a travesty. In my top ten all time best films

Don't be put off by this brilliant film being in black & white, I mean that in more than one way, it is of it's time, but as poignant today as ever. Not a B movie sci-fi, a message in filmic form.