nibiruorr

When you consider that this Japanese Kaiju creation, which, translated into English, literally means "strange beast or creature" was Japan's response to the destruction and devastation in the aftermath of the atomic bomb leveling Hiroshima and Nagasaki, any remake (or, reboot, to those of you are hip to the current terminology presently in use) seems irrelevant in 2014 and on. SPOILER ALERT: Yes, Warner Brothers is planning on a follow up sequel. Still, director Gareth Edwards and screenwriters Max Borenstein (screenplay) and Dave Callaham (story) have done their best to retain the spirit of those films back when "Godzilla" was King of the Monsters rampaging and stomping through an already downtrodden Tokyo. How and why "Godzilla" (back in the day when ol' radioactive breath was brought to life through suitmation, スーツメーション) would eventually become a celebrated champion capable of committing giganticide of any and all post-atomic mutations threatening Japan is a process which most creatures (the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, et.al.), emerging from mere legend must undergo before passing into popular folklore. So, I suppose for this reason more than any other, the fact that talk of a sequel currently in the works is a good thing, because, "it's good to be the king"!

I don't believe it would be much of a spoiler alert to say that the title of the film refers to Streisand's character Daisy Gamble's extraordinary gifts for clairvoyance, ESP, past life regression as well as an uncanny ability to make her rooftop plant life grow that goes quite beyond having a mere green thumb. And she discovers these deeply- suppressed talents with the aid of Dr. Marc Chabot (Montand) who inadvertently dredges them to the surface in an effort to get her to kick an everyday commonplace nicotine habit to empress her stuffy staid fiancée whose strictly squaresville. Coming after Streisand's Oscar winning role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" (a shared win with Katherine Hepburn for a "Lion in Winter" that same year of 1968) and the miserable drubbing she received from the critics for her unique interpretation of Dolly Levi in "Hello Dolly" (1969), it was hoped by all that her performance in "On a Clear Day..." would solidify her prominence as a reigning star in Hollywood. Such was not the case. Nevertheless, Streisand's dominant bubbly, effervescent personality always managed to emerge transcending her many characterizations to radiate despite the various roles she elected to appear in establishing her considerable mainstay to this very day. Nor was this Vincente Minnelli's best directorial effort who was responsible for such cinematic musical milestones in everything from "Meet Me in St. Louis"(1944) to the Oscar-winning Best Picture for 1958 "Gigi" as well as keeping his hand in as an unqualified expert dramatist with film adaptations such as "Tea and Sympathy" (1956). Still, there's still quite a bit of magic evident in this film to have made this journeyman effort on his part a bright enough light among so many musicals which lit up Broadway to justify the estimated $10,000,000 Paramount Pictures sent on "A Clear Day..." well worth anyone's while.

What could I possibly add that hasn't already been written about this expertly crafted sci-fi classic that 158 film critics (presumably of considerable scholarship coming from the position of being a respected authority either nationally or internationally on the subject of film critique) to say nothing of the 375 user reviews because let's face it, everyone thinks he or she is critic, myself, as limited and meager an offing mine might be, included. Let's recap a few interesting tidbits of trivia most of us know about the film. Oscar winning director Robert Wise ("West Side Story", "The Sound of Music") and Oscar winning screenwriter Edmund H. North (Co-writer: "Patton") claim that the allegorical Christ-reference in alluding to Klaatu's alias while on earth of a certain "Mr. Carpenter" was purely coincidental and unintentional as astonishing as that confession by both men might be 63 years after the film's premiere. Still audiences simply can't resist drawing parallels. Klaatu is other-worldly. Christ demonstrated time and again to his many followers His other-worldliness (transmuting water molecules into wine, defying gravity by walking on water, resuscitating life in one who was pronounced dead by means of an electro-chemical discharge, etc.). Christ delivered a sermon on the mount. Klaatu delivered a message of warning from his interstellar spacecraft, not exactly a mount but close enough. Christ was crucified. Klaatu was shot (twice in fairly close succession during the course of the film). Christ rose again from the dead after lying in a tomb for three days. Klaatu was revived with the personal assist of his traveling companion and intergalactic constable on patrol Gort. Christ then ascended into heaven and after Klaatu had conveyed his warning completing his mission on earth, does likewise. The parallels are not only irresistible, they're unavoidable. And, perhaps for this reason, more than any other any film critic or critic cum movie-lover (first), may have for commenting on this film, this is what resonates most with us who have loved and cherished this film over these many years. Because now, in the new millennium, more so than ever, we need a Christ/Klaatu to come around just to remind us to shape up and fly right...or else!