El día que paralizaron la Tierra

Up-front: anyone who low-rated this does not understand what science fiction is about, at all. To those who judged this harshly: You can go back to watching Transformers; you're in the wrong theater. Such people should be tied to the back side of a Bantha with tummy problems. ;D

Okay, on to the serious review: Who doesn't recognize the term "Gort, Klaatu barada nicto"? This film set the bar for so many films to come, in an age when monsters were a guy in a gorilla suit and a space helmet, giant ants were terrorizing a city, and another guy in a rubber suit was stomping on a miniature Tokyo. Among that, we suddenly find a movie with actual meaning, a moral, a great plot and story-line, decent acting, an honest-to-goodness valid warning-- and one of the best robot presentations EVER.

Was it perfect? No. I don't know as I've ever seen a perfect film. Were there flaws? Sure. What do people expect? It's the overall cinematic presentation that is the thing here-- the experience of a movie capturing the audience and making them say, "Wow". Relatively few films have accomplished that over the decades. This film did.

The special effects for that day were superb. The modern-day remake didn't come close to the quality of this 1951 film. The story has stood the test of time and is even more applicable today that it was back then (only now we can add the destruction of our own world to the mix).

This movie is as close to pristine as a movie can get (for that day) , and proudly takes its place among non-sci-fi classics-- and even sci fi classics that came later. Had the HUGO awards existed in '51 I have no doubt this film would have taken top slot.

A UFO lands on the Washington Mall which is quickly surrounded by the military. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) emerges and tries to make contact. A nervous soldier accidentally shoots him. His robot Gort comes out to defend him. He's brought to Walter Reed hospital and he asks to meet all of the world's representatives. International squabbling makes a meeting impossible. Klaatu escapes the hospital and goes to a boarding room where widow Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby are staying. While Helen has the day with Tom Stephens, Klaatu babysits Bobby and learns about the world. Bobby leads Klaatu to Helen's boss Professor Jacob Barnhardt. It is an iconic 50s sci-fi. The story is timeless although it doesn't have many exciting thrills. The 50s style directions are a little stiff. The staging is somewhat static but it is still quite compelling. This is more of a message movie and Gort is one of the great robots of all time.

"Klaatu barada nikto!"

When it comes to the Sci-Fi sub-genre of "Alien Visitation" flicks, I honestly don't think that they get much more intelligent and thought-provoking as this sparkling gem from 1951.

If there are other such "Alien Visitation" flicks out there that do promote this satisfying level of genuine intelligence in their stories, then I would sure like to hear about them. (Please feel free to message me with their titles)

Impressively directed by Robert Wise, The Day The Earth Stood Still (TDTESS) actually did manage to deliver quite a seamless and evocative blend of the ordinary melded very nicely with the fantastic.

This is the sort of motion picture that really gives the viewer the pleasant opportunity of actually getting to know (and, maybe, even like) its characters.

Even the 10 year-old kid, Bobby Benson, was a likable sort. And, believe me, I usually loathe kids in movies. They almost never fail to be totally irksome and nothing but spoiled, little, snot-nosed brats.

Yet, here in TDTESS, the young Billy Gray's portrayal of Bobby was very much like a literal breath of fresh air. This youthful, wide-eyed actor really seemed to understand his character and make him interesting.

Anyways - Traveling at warp-speed (that's 4000 mph.) and taking a 5-month, 250 million mile journey to get here, TDTESS's story has Klaatu, the very distinguished and cool-headed alien, arriving in Washington, DC in order to deliver his dire, top-priority message to all of us naughty-naughty Earthlings.

After being observed for many years by other outer-planetary civilizations, it has been determined that (through the discovery of atomic power) we Earthlings, with our unbridled destructiveness, have become a very-very serious threat to the overall peace and security of the other planets which exist in this endlessly vast universe.

Klaatu must now address all nations of the Earth and somehow convince one and all to cease with these violent ways, or else face some mighty devastating consequences.

You can bet that if Klaatu's firm words of warning can't induce us Earthlings to reconsider our ways, then, believe me, Gort, the all-powerful robot, definitely has his own special brand of persuasion that doesn't take "No" for an answer.

Trust me - In spite of its flaws, TDTESS is, without question, a classic Sci-Fi/Thriller that's really worth its weight in gold.

And "Klaatu barada nikto!" to you, too!

P.S. - This film's 2008 remake was an absolutely despicable desecration of the highest order.

A spacecraft makes its way towards the earth, it's like a saucer with a rounded, curving girth, when it lands, a man descends, he comes in peace, wants to make friends, and then he's shot, because of difference, we're averse. A robot then appears and shows its power, disintegrating weapons, with its glower, but the alien assailed, gets the giant to curtail, though the sentiment is clear for all to see. It's not too long before the foreigner has gone, assimilating to a world gone wrong, finding out about mankind, finding out how we're so blind, to trajectories that lead to our extinction.

I don't think the message is any different all these years later, just more pertinent.

When I first saw this movie (on television circa 1957)I was just a young child four years of age. I remember sitting on my father's lap and watched the whole thing through my fingers as I held my hands over my eyes for protection (yeah...right!). Gort and Klaatu were magnificent space travelers...and with a message of peace during a time that the Soviets and U.S. were deep into the 'cold war'. Very timely! Very scary! It spooked me then and I still get a chill watching the movie today. But, it's one of the classics that will live on forever! It's message is as meaningful today as it was back in the 50's. Maybe we should all watch it again and take notes.........