Friday, January 29, 2010

#36 The Day the Earth Stood Still - starring Tom W.

1951. dir Robert Wise, starring Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray.

Seen it before? No.

So Sam gave you the plot synopsis...Alien comes in from outer space to stop earth people from using their latest inventions to disrupt the peace and harmony of the surrounding planets, galaxy, etc. The problem (among others) is that they chose to land in America which, at the time, was not getting along with the Soviet Union...

Klaatu mentioned something along the lines of, 'if you don't put together the top leaders of the nations of this world we'll have to resort to violence, it appears to be the only way to get through to you'...it's not the exact quote but it speaks volumes of 1951 and today, unfortunately. Take a look at the war in the middle east, what Bin Laden had his followers do to the United States; what people in some African nations are having to deal with - specifically children with guns who are toting weapons and killing others; etc. etc. etc. - Violence is the one thing that seems to call people to action...and it just makes me angry...but that's not the point of this blog so I'll save it for another time.

I liked the simplicity of this movie and the great effects the producers created considering the time the movie came out. Sam almost ruined this movie for me by saying that the man who played Klaatu looks like a certain person I have known since I was ten...both are quite good looking! I thought it was hilariously lame that the US government put so few men by the space ship to "watch" it and then the chase scene happened and the space ship was left by itself...um, HELLO!!?!??! And why couldn't they have just shot the tires off the cab? Why did they have military sit at posts and report in to the leaders? That's a freaking ridiculous waste of resources! ARGH!

I liked the little boy's tour of DC...Sam and I have done the tour ourselves but the perspective the little boy gave about the wars this country experienced gave Klaatu and probably the people who watched this originally and today, myself included, a LOT to think about.

Would I see it again? Absolutely.
Would I watch the Keanu Reeves remake? Um, no thanks.

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