The Day The Earth Stood Still

Classic SF. Do I have to say anything? Klaatu Barada Nicto.

Considering this is a based on a short story, it stretches well to a 90 minute movie. Enough techno wow in Gort "The" robot of the 50's. The lighting in the spaceship is both SF and classic noir with a hint of expressionism in it too.

Of course it is preachy and moralistic, but you can also see it as a little too much pro American and UN. After all Klaatu represents a union of planets that is slapping Earths wrist for getting weapons ahead of their maturity level. This is typically seen as a warning against maintaining nuclear arsenals, but in our contemporary world it's analagous to the UN, NATO and the USA keeping the "lesser" and "more volatile" nations in a low tech non-nuclear state.

Patricia Neal is no Jennifer Connolly, but she is a credible heroine.

I never noticed before, but the Klaatu resurrection sequence is almost an homage to the Hel/Maria animation sequence in Metropolis.

rated A/D