The Day the Earth Stood Still Movie Review

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)*
By Jason F. Smith
January 6th, 2009
In 1951 Director Robert Wise made a movie based on a story by Harry Bates with a screenplay by Edmund H. North. It gets about 8 out 10 stars on an average of reviews. In 2008, Director Scott Derrickson with writer David Scarpa revised the movie with some nifty special effects, which gets a 6 out of 10 rating by current viewers. I give it 1 star out of four.
I've never seen the first movie, but I know the genre it comes from. It's a 'space aliens invade the earth' movie. As I sat in the theater watching the first half of the current movie, with my two sons, Asher age 14, Riley age 12, it occurred to me over and over again that this was a classic and basic form of Science Fiction. We have evidence of it everywhere. From the 1996's Independence Day, to HG Wells The War of the Worlds, to Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. There is Arthur C. Clarke's take on it, not once, but three times at least: 2001, Rendezvous with Rama, and Childhood's End.
The basic premise is that our peaceful normal existence here on earth is interrupted by invading Aliens. In his forward to his shorts story 1408, Stephen King mentions that every horror writer has to tell a tale of a haunted house. It's just a basic requirement. And for him, what is more scary than a haunted hotel? Well I think a basic requirement of all Science Fiction writers is to tell a Aliens Invade Earth story. Coincidently enough, Stephen King has one of those too, in the book Dreamcatcher, which was subsequently made into the movie of the same name.
There are twists on the theme, from how the aliens act, whether they are good or bad, etc, etc, etc. As I was watching this movie my head was spinning with ideas of my OWN alien invasion story. What kind of twists on the subject can I come up with?
But that's beside the point. The point is that this is a classic alien invasion story, and I loved it. There was this mysterious ship that showed up. You had your scientists investigating it, and being all logical. You had your government trying to kill it, of course. It was fascinating stuff, a great mystery. Who were the aliens? What did they want? Could we stop them? Would they be friendly? Or would the eat us for dinner? This was a great movie. Right up until the point where Keanu Reeves (playing the Alien Klaatu) reveals why he's come to destroy the earth. Why? Because Humans are bad.
Yep. Were bad. Were simply bad people. There are only a few planets in the entire universe that can support life, and we are destroying ours. It doesn't explain HOW we are destroying earth. It's just that we are doing it. Of course.
And that kind of liberal left wing 'people are bad' and we are 'destroying the earth' kind of propaganda just makes me shake my head. Klaatu explains that in order to save the planet, he must MURDER ever single human being. Every woman... ever man... every child. FLAT OUT MURDER THEM ALL. Why? Because humans are bad. They are destroying the earth.
This guy comes off as the good guy trying to save the planet, when in fact he's an evil SOB. And he's decided the earth is doomed, unless he destroys it. So he sets in motion the swarm of robots to destroy the earth . And it begins to do so. But, along the way, he meets a woman and her son and sees that she... loves... her son. This love... makes him realize, hey, maybe humans aren't that bad.
The worst part of the movie is the INSIPID way the humans, the woman, and a scientist played by John Cleese keep saying: "Please, we'll CHANGE!" The way they whine the word CHANGE over and over again. "Give us a chance... we'll CHANGE!"
The movie would have been better had Klaatu simply been an evil bastard who wasn't buying any of that change crap, and was here just to eat baby children. That's what makes a good science fiction alien movie. Sure you can make your bad guys the good guys (Childhood's End) or you can make them misunderstood (The Buggers in Ender's Game), but more satisfying is a good old evil alien who wants to suck the marrow out of your bones.
In the end however, our Klaatu decides that the humans are worth saving. Evil, unrepentant, horrible creatures that they are, there is worth in them, and maybe... just maybe... they will change. However, in order to INSURE they will change... he fixes a price tag to his saving them. Just a little 'price to pay'.
All electrical functions on the planet cease. All electricity. All cars. Boats. Planes? Though it doesn't show it, they all fall out of the sky. But it's okay, it's WORTH IT. We will survive and CHANGE.
The movie ends as if humanity has been saved. Never mind that the 100% cessation of all electricity on this planet would cause immediate and full riots, starvations, war, genocide, and such a wave of suffering as has never been seen on the planet. All learning and advanced culture would cease to exist. We'd go back to being... animalistic hunters and gatherers.
And that is what makes this movie so terribly BAD. The makers are telling us that humans are evil, and all they are good for, all they really should strive for, is to destroy our culture and our science and our learning, and get back to the forest, with our bows and arrows and our furs and a cabins. This kind of thinking disturbs me to no end. Always these liberals portray humans as evil nasty need to be exterminated bastards. Never do they celebrate the goodness of humanity, the love, the charity, the beauty we have created and the achievements we have reached. It's a metaphor for how modern liberalism looks at America, as somehow bad, hurting the environment, hurting the world through our prosperity.
I just don't buy it. And I just can't recommend this movie. At least the 2nd half of it. The first half was great aliens invade the earth fun!

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