The day the earth stood still 1951

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 1951 American science fiction film that tells the story of a humanoid alien visitor who comes to visit the Earth with a warning, accompanied by his powerful robot, "Gort". Robert Wise directed this film, and its leading actors and actresses were Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Hugh Marlowe. "Gort" is also a primary character in this motion picture, but he is portrayed as a completely mechanical man. The writer of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Edmund H. North, based his screenplay on Harry Bates's short story "Farewell to the Master" (1940).

The film was made after the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan (1945) and during the cold war between USSR and United States (1947-1991). The film represents idea that humanity must stop the wars and aggression against each others. The main hero Alien Klaatu explains that if humanity will not obey this warning, the Gort will destroy them, because human beings understand only violence. The meaning of this film and philosophical content is brilliant. It forces you to think about all these issues even nowadays, I can only imagine what effect it caused 59 years ago.

Besides, the technical side of the film is very pleasant even for nowadays. I am not saying that it’s brilliant, but for those days incredibly beautiful. I liked everything from the camera movement, sets and especially montage. The sequence where we can see the neutralization of the electric power is strikingly strong. “A montage sequence shows that Klaatu has neutralized electric power everywhere, with exceptions for human safety, making the world "stand still" for half an hour.”

Therefore, the most critics are doubt whether this film is a B-movie or not.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a 2008 science fiction film, a remake of the 1951 film of the same name.

The remake is completely different film. The same Klaatu and the same Gort, but the meaning isn’t the same. The Klaatu is trying to save the earth from us. This idea reflects our reality which says that humanity spoiling and killing the planet. “Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.” © Matrix The film also shows how people are arrogant and stupid by their nature.

The both films are an actual for their times. However who cares about the meaning nowadays :) the special effects rule the world. And they are not so good in the remake.

The original film is still better. Much better.

Some interesting facts:

“Klato Verada Nikto”.Two instances where the phrase is used as a command are the films Toys and Army of Darkness. In the film Toys, the character Leland Zevo speaks the phrase to stop a rampaging robotic sea creature he calls the "Seaswine". In the film Army of Darkness, Ash has to speak similar words in order to retrieve the Necronomicon, but fails to remember it properly ("Klaatu... verata... n... Necktie. Nectar. Nickel. Noodle.").

In 1995, The Day the Earth Stood Still was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant"

I am glad that I had a chance to watch an original 1951 film.