The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008), Blu Ray Review

It seems that Hollywood is running out of original ideas. We’ve had a plethora of remakes over the last couple of years, some of them have been remakes of films that weren’t really that old! One genre that may benefit from a remake you’d think would be the old sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s. With modern day special effects, these films could be brought to life in a way never imagined by their original makers. The big question is can Hollywood update these films with fancy SFX, but still retain the excellent storytelling of these pioneering films.

The original The Day the Earth Stood Still is a classic sci-fi masterpiece. The concepts it addressed are as relevant today as they were then, although they’ve been tweaked somewhat for a modern world. The plot here revolves around the earths first contact with an alien. Scientists are tracking what they think is a meteor, that is on a collision course with Earth. A group of top scientists are quickly gathered to come up with a survival plan for after the impact, an impact that’s due in 78 minutes!

Unlike most meteors, this one has brakes. It slows to a hover in central park. This raises a whole other set of possibilities. From the glowing sphere a humanoid figure (without any features) emerges along with a huge robot. In the confusion the humanoid is shot, but not killed. The large robot activates and start to go on the rampage in response to the hostile action, but is deactivated by the wounded alien. On rushing him to a medical facility doctors find that his body is in fact a cocoon. It’s a jelly like substance that falls away and reveals a human male called Klaatu (Keanu Reeves).

Upon interrogation Klaatu reveals that he has to speak with the worlds leaders at the United Nations. The secretary of defense Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates) denies him and instead questions him about an impending attack on earth. Unfortunately Jackson is only confirming Klaatu’s impressions of earthlings as destructive and paranoid. It seems that Klaatu is here to make a decision, whether to kill the human race or let it survive!

Still intent on contacting our leaders, Klaatu escapes from captivation and runs into one of the scientists rounded up earlier (Jennifer Connelly as Helen Benson). Sympathetic to his cause Helen aides Klaatu in evading the authorities and meeting with one of Earth’s most prominent scientists. On the run with them is Helen’s stepson, Jacob (Jaden Smith). Jacob’s father died leaving Helen as his only family. Their relationship can be a bit strained from time to time as Jacob comes to terms with his fathers death and the fact that his stepmother, who actually loves him and wants to care for him, is all he has left. This dysfunctional relationship does nothing to convince Klaatu that humankind is worth saving, but as things become more stressed he sees how they come together in times of stress and a glimmer of hope emerges.

In the original film the central premise similar to the one presented here, however the alien races were afraid that humans, embarking on space travel and having perfected atomic bombs, would be a destructive force in the universe and had come to reign us in with robot overseers. In this re-imagining it’s slightly different. The other alien races have stood by and watched us pollute the earth to such a degree that it shortly may not be able to support life. With only a handful of planets in the universe capable of life each is very precious and must be protected. Protected from us. To this end Klaatu has been sent to see if we have the capacity to change or whether we’re beyond help and must be eradicated. The glowing sphere is in fact an ark designed to collect samples of all the wildlife on the earth so it can be re-seeded after our destruction. Can Klaatu see the good in humankind and stop the destruction to be caused by GORT (here standing for Genetically Organized Robotic Technology).

Aliens coming to Earth, a huge robot causing untold destruction, you’d be forgiven for expecting a sci-fi action extravaganza. It all starts along those kind of lines in the first part of the film only for it to tail off in the middle. From there on in we have a film that is more about relationships and how they reflect on us as a species rather than big action set pieces. The relationship between Helen and Jacob is supposed to reflect mankind. Strained and sometimes hurtful it seems that there’s no hope for them. When stress and trauma come they forget their differences and their relationship is distilled to its most basic form, they both actually love and need each other.

The film makers could have kept the central premise around mans ability to destroy through war given the current climate. Instead they decided to shift focus to that other chestnut, man poisoning the planet and ruining the environment. Either would’ve done the job as it’s not really the focus of the film, they just needed a reason for the aliens to be wary of us. Whether the film comes off overall is up for debate. The threat is clear, the possible solution and the consequences to us are also clear, but what changes Klaatu’s mind is less clear. He sees the possibility for us to change in the relationship between two people. That doesn’t mean that the whole human race WILL actually change however.

Keanu Reeves plays it pretty straight. Klaatu is essentially emotionless and monotone, so not much acting required! Jennifer Connelly and Jaden Smith do a good job of portraying a relationship forged from difficult circumstances. We see it change and evolve as circumstances change further and it’s this relationship that is key in changing Klaatu’s mind.

Picture and sound on this Blu Ray edition are both top notch. Having said it’s not an major action flick, there are a few sequences that will use a surround sound setup to the max and the picture is definitely five star quality throughout (there are quite a few dark and murky scenes but detail and contrast remain strong).

From the trailer you may be expecting a sci-fi action blockbuster, in which case you’ll be disappointed. If you’ve seen the original and know a little something about its plot then you’ll know to expect more of a character drama that focuses on relationships and how they reflect on us as a species. The film pacing varies, with a slow middle section and personally, if I were Klaatu, I wouldn’t have been convinced that we’d change and would’ve let GORT do his thing. Overall an interesting watch, it doesn’t live up to the original, but then very few remakes do.

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