The Day the Earth Stood Still (the classic version)

So Jay and I got this book called 501 Must-See Movies. It was published in 2004 and has a nifty checklist inside the covers to keep track of all the movies you watch. It spans from the very first talkies to modern-day classics. We thought it would be cool to watch as many as possible and have been slowly working through it. We saw Ben-Hur for the first time a couple months ago and wondered why we never saw it before...fantastic movie...go watch it if you haven't yet. Charlton Heston is just amazing.

This review is on The Day the Earth Stood Still. The old one. I still haven't seen the Keanu Reeves one yet and debating if I want to. As you can see in the pictures, looks like campy 50's sci-fi that would be fun to go all MST3K on. We watched it in Blu-Ray, black and white (and if you have a Blu-Ray, definitely watch that version!). It held our attention from the very beginning. The first thing we noticed is Robert Wise is one of the greatest directors of his time. He had creative shots that really built up suspense and made you feel like you were one of the characters in the movie. He used cut scenes often instead of dialog to get a feel of anticipation from all over the world.

The time was the 50's, so the Cold War was raging following a deadly World War. Aggression between nations, especially the U.S. and Russia caused paranoia throughout the world. Citizens of the U.S. felt that on any given day an atomic bomb would drop on them and "duck and cover" was the answer. Then this spaceship comes and an ambassador from another world comes to warn the entire world that if they don't stop their petty squabbling that there planet must be eliminated for the safety of the universe. Of course the xenophobic humans don't listen to helpful Klaatu and he gets shot a couple times.

This movie isn't a cheesy sci-fi flick. It has rich political undertones and fantastic directing and acting. Now, does the new version live up to the message? We shall see...
--Maegann

Jay gives this movie 4 out of 5 tacos.