The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)--4/5

I had the Keanu Reeves remake sitting on my shelf well past the due date, taunting me. At about the third or fourth dismissal, I actually opened the case to find the original film inside, on a second disc. "The Day The Earth Stood Still" is one of the few sci-fi films from the fifties that is worth watching today in a non-campy mood. ("The Forbidden Planet" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" are also on this list.)

Klaatu, the alien Jesus, is just as much a reaction to nuclear war as "Godzilla." That film's pained destruction is replaced by the competing hubris and humility of post-war America.

Klaatu's flying saucer settles in a public park in the center of Washington D.C. As an interstellar diplomat in a Hollywood film, where else would he land? Testaments to U.S. importance, like the Washington Monument and the Capitol, are visible in the foreground of Klaatu's touchdown. They're meaningless in the face of Gort, an unstoppable robocop capable of destroying planets. It's implied more than a few times that humans have been of no galactic consequence until now.

Trailers for the remake show mass destruction of a stadium, a semi truck, and other man-made things. Not knowing the context, I can only speculate, but it seems as if this misses the point by a few parsecs. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a powerful anti-war film, memorable for its lack of unnecessary violence. Gort is terrifying despite only using a small percentage of his full power. He vaporizes weapons and later--after Earthlings have shot Klaatu for the second time!--two soldiers. Thrilling as the 1951 special effects are, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is still watched for its pacifism and indictment of humanity.