Jennifer Connelly Movie:

		List Price: $39.99		Label: 20th Century Fox Salesrank: 2659 Released: April 7, 2009
		Our Price: $12.99
		Used Price: $8.99
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:

Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 7-APR-2009
Media Type: Blu-Ray

Description of The Day the Earth Stood Still (3-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray]:
Impressive special effects are the key selling point for this big-budget remake of Robert Wise's classic 1951 science fiction parable about an alien visitor who delivers a chilling ultimatum to the leaders of the world. Keanu Reeves, who seemed ideal at first blush but ultimately turns into another case of miscasting, steps in for Michael Rennie as intergalactic watchdog Klaatu, who with his robot Gort (now super-sized), promises global destruction unless the powers that be unless drastic measures are undertaken regarding the Earth's environmental issues (or so one assumes). Jennifer Connelly is largely wasted in the Patricia Neal role of scientist/single mom assigned to study Klaatu, who offers a somewhat chilly father figure to her son (a grating Jaden Smith). Connelly isn't the only fine actor in the cast left standing idle while director Scott Derrickson's effects team constructs eye-popping scenes of wholesale mayhem; Mad Men's Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Rob Knepper are all adrift in the aimless script by David Scarpa, which never even fully explains why Klaatu is so bent on blowing us to smithereens. That lack of focus, as well as the B-movie quality of the dialogue (say what you will about the effects in the Wise version, but the film was polished from top to bottom), all help to cement what science fiction fans have been muttering about the film since its inception; the original film needed no high-tech updating --Paul Gaita

Stills from The Day the Earth Stood Still (Click for larger image)

The Day the Earth Stood Still (3-Disc Special Edition) [Blu-ray] Reviews:
It's not THAT bad
2009-12-01 - The original movie version of The Day the Earth Stood Still is one of my father's all time favorite movies. A science fiction classic that permanently embedded the catch phrase "klaatu barada nikto" into the geek lexicon, the first film was a parable about the Cold War. Both the producer and director were criticized for the liberal themes of the film, which promoted world peace and a draw down of military hostilities. The "standing still" of the world was a reference to all electrical systems on Earth freezing for a half hour, with the exception of critical systems. In short, the movie's message was thought provoking, intended to begin a discussion about American policies.

The remake is no different (spoiler alerts abound). This new version features a hostile military led by Regina Jackson (the stalwart Kathy Bates), the monotone human-like alien (Keanu Reeves as Klaatu), an aggrieved scientist widow (the beautiful Jennifer Connelly) and her angry son (played by Jaden Smith). This new version pokes viewers with a stick: the Benson patriarch died in Iraq; the president's response to an alien invasion is openly hostile; and the Message is no longer about the Cold War but Global Warming. In other words: the movie's message is thought provoking, intended to begin a discussion about American policies.

But is it a good movie? Overall, the film bulks up special effects, smoothes over some of the rough edges from the original, and does its best to translate the original to modern sensibilities. GORT now stands for Genetically Organized Robot Technology, is a giant nanotechnology war machine, and the descending globes of light are arks to save the Earth. The computer graphics are outstanding.

The acting, not so much. Reeves sleepwalks through his role, which, while not inappropriate, doesn't stretch his acting chops either. Klaatu is suitably creepy as a blank-faced drone, but difficult to sympathize with as he becomes more human. Connelly has little to do besides plead at the camera with her eyes. Smith comes off as recalcitrant and unlikable, a weakness in the child actor who represents the sum of humanity's relationship. The sole stand out is John Cleese as Professor Karl Barnhardt, projecting a level of warmth and kindness that's we rarely see on screen. If I had to pick a person to argue for humanity's survival, Cleese would be an excellent choice.

The ending feels sloppy. GORT transforms from a giant robot (scary!) to a hissing swarm of metal locusts (biblical, but not as scary). The biblical parallels continue with Klaatu's birth and sacrifice, but the film seems conflicted as to how to wrap things up. The movie concludes with the Earth standing still, permanently - hospital machines and airplanes be damned.

Whether or not you agree with the movie's tenets is moot. If you're nodding your head or rolling your eyes then this version, like the original before it, did its job. But in comparison, the original has better acting and a tighter plot.

More Nonsensical Hollywood Gunk
2009-11-30 - My 11-year-old son hit it on the head: while just passing through the living room as the big climatic scene of the GORT/alien microscopic locust swarm devastates the outskirts of Philadelphia and the doom of Earth is becoming a reality, he paused, and as the manmade landscape melted under the ostensibly totally awesome CGI alien-swarm, he exclaimed, "This film is nothing but computer graphics," and headed right on out the door to play with his friends.

So, if the F/X in this film, in the full righteous and roaring (literally) glory of its best scenes of mayhem, chaos and destruction, can't hold a young boy's attention, what can in this lame, lame, lame film?

It was just so bad, on so many levels. The story was convoluted and meandering, full of contradictions, holes, and ridiculous, nonsensical action. The military characters were absolutely ridiculous, seriously awful parodies, as were the truly stupid military operations they were ordered to execute; they were lame props for more CGI action-glop.

And Kathy Bates as "Madame Secretary?" What in the world? So, the only real guess is that she's supposed to be the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. And she apparently has all of the elements of national power at her disposal, including the launching of all manner of sophisticated military operations on US soil--how is this Constitutionally doable? And why is "the Secretary" apparently in charge of everything in the entire country as the entire planet comes to an end? All she does is talk on the phone with the President. What in the world is the President doing that's more important than the Secretary's management of the alien threat to the existence of the planet? Working on reelection fundraisers? Again, just totally ridiculous.

The only really cool thing about this film was GORT, a great homage to the original, now seriously amped-up, very nicely rendered and absolutely menacing in his silent waiting. He's got the whole eye-bar laser beam thing going on, very cool. But then he gets captured--what!?--and then disintegrates into the microscopic alien world-muncher swarmy-thingies, and that was that.

Bottom line: Over-the-top CGI and a coupla big-name actors do not a successful remake, uh, remake. Although it's B&W, and the F/X are thoroughly prehistoric, stick with the much more satisfying and better-in-every-way original.

"We can change --- We can start by melting all copies of this DVD!"
2009-11-30 - This is easily one of the worst remakes ever. It's an insulting updating of the splendid 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, which, though low tech, has a storyline that still sings to the human heart.

Michael Rennie's Klaatu was erudite, gentlemanly, and pacifistic. Keanu Reeves (who would seem to have been a perfect match for the role) starts out very strong, but degenerates into an muttering intergalactic bully. Where Rennie's Klaatu brings a message of world peace and human amity, Reeves' Klaatu seems set on exterminating the human race in order to protect the biosphere. Where Rennie's Klaatu sees the best side of human nature even after being shot and killed, Reeves' Klaatu despises the human race for it's destructive qualities, deciding that we aren't worth a fig.

Reeves' Klaatu comes to Earth and demands to see humanity's leadership. Instead, he gets stuck with a particularly cranky Kathy Bates as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, a mindless bureaucrat who can't figure out whether to kill Klaatu outright or have him dissected. This character is not worthy of Kathy Bates.

The only decent human being Klaatu meets is Jennifer Connelly, who wastes the Patricia Neal role by intoning, "But we can change" every time Klaatu decides that the entire human race is expendable. Connelly is saddled with her politically correct (of course) African-American stepson, a dreadlock wearing little waste of protoplasm played by Jaden Smith, who does nothing but b*tch and moan, kick Connelly in the shins, call the cops on Klaatu, yell, "if my (dead) Dad was here he'd kill you!" and make the viewer miserable. Frankly, Klaatu could do a lot to improve humanity by just killing the kid. Smith would be the perfect prom date for Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds, another worthless remake.

The irony is Klaatu doesn't kill the kid, he saves him. Letting the little whatnot live is probably a worse punishment for humanity after all, and that seems to be Klaatu's main mission in this ragged movie, punishing humanity. Forget about the plot bump of addressing the United Nations. Forget about asking Earth to join with other planets in a peace league. Forget the fail-safe order "Klaatu barada nicto." Forget anything positive. Just unleash a bunch of special effects mass destruction all over the place, turn Gort into a homicidal maniac on the scale of Genghis Khan, and bore the viewer to death.

Comparing the 2008 version with the 1951 version is frightening. We seemed so much more optimistic in the Post-WWII Cold War Era than we do now. Hollywood's got to get over this apocalyptic trash. I'm frankly surprised Keanu Reeves, a practicing Buddhist, took this role, which, unlike Rennie's, has nothing to recommend it. Yeah, this version is flashier, but who cares? It's crappy.

Silly Propaganda
2009-11-26 - This profoundly silly movie recasts the nuclear anxiety of the 1950's as environmental anxiety for today. Almost every radical environmentalist position has been blended together into a FX-infused shout: "watch out, or the planet will get you!" I don't mean to be snarky about this, but hasn't Keanu overdone the poker face a bit by now? I don't want to say that he can't act, but.... oh well, at least he doesn't act. I was sorry I wasted precious time out of my limited life on Gaia to watch this one!

Pretty Terrible
2009-11-25 - If you are of a certain political persuasion, you may enjoy this movie. For the rest of us, this movie was pretty terrible. There was a line in the movie that was continually used to explain the unexplainable. The line was: "Only when humans are brought to the precipice will they change." Evidence is pouring in now that the Earth is cooling, so the question must be asked: if we are brought to the precipice will we become so irrational that we will believe data that is not sustainable over the long haul? That's possible, but I don't think it was the intention of those who made this movie. In my opinion, the only way to make bad movies like these is to sell it to the studio heads and investors with the idea that it will proselytize a specific viewpoint that is difficult to get out otherwise. The movie itself is one of those movies that continually promises greater scenes to come, until the movie is over and you realize that moment never occurred. The cliche moments of "aliens attack" movies are all in play here. Humans are dumb and dangerous, the military is useless in stopping the aliens, and only a scientist (or a reporter in some movies) can stop or stall the inevitable. Then, of course, you have the naive, cute kid that figures it all out with a degree of logic that the bloodthirsty adults never considered. Nothing new here, nothing entertaining here, but I've watched a lot of these movies so I may be a little biased.