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The
Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly
Director: Scott Derrickson
U.S. Opening Date: December 12th, 2008
THEY SAY
In The Day the Earth Stood Still, a contemporary
reinvention of the 1951 science fiction classic, renowned scientist Dr.
Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) finds herself face to face with an alien
called Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), who travels across the universe to warn of
an impending global crisis.
When forces beyond Helen’s control treat the
extraterrestrial as a hostile and deny his request to address the world’s
leaders, she and her estranged stepson Jacob (Jaden Smith) quickly
discover the deadly ramifications of Klaatu’s claim that he is "a friend
to the Earth."
Now Helen must find a way to convince the entity who
was sent to destroy us that mankind is worth saving – but it may be too
late.
WE SAY
Now was there anything to suggest in
director Scott Derrickson’s CV to suggest that he is ideally suited to
remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, a 1950s film
justifiably considered to be a classic of the genre? Were the studio execs
at Fox so impressed with The Exorcism of Emily Rose that they
thought, “Hey, let’s give this guy a chance to make a new version of that
cool 1950s flick we saw on the telly the other night”?
At least the previous sci-fi classic to be
remade by Fox had Tim Burton (Planet of the
Apes) — but remember what a pointless mess that movie still turned out
to be? Didn’t the Fox suits learn anything?
Yes, we here at SciFiMoviePage.com think
that remaking a beloved classic such as The Day
the Earth Stood Still is one of the worst ideas in the history of bad
ideas. Why bother remaking a classic flick if there are so many great
unfilmed sci-fi stories out there? By remaking a classic you just come
across as arrogant and misguided – just what was it that made you think
that you can do a better job than an acclaimed director like Robert Wise?
— but if you turn some obscure SF novel into a nice movie everybody will
love you for it.
Anyway, Klaatu says nikto to this remake!
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Trivia
- Dr Barnhardt's first name is Basil. This is a tribute
to John Cleese's iconic hotelier Basil Fawlty.
- The original film's electronic score, which was
composed by Bernard Herrmann, has been recomposed by Tyler Bates and
used for this film.
- The design of Gort is similar to his original
portrayal in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), but Gort is
now a biological form rather than mechanical, as Scott Derrickson
considered some extraterrestrial races would develop advanced biological
forces instead of technology.
- Director Scott Derrickson was an ardent admirer of
sci-film director Robert Wise, and had wanted to remake Wise's The
Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) this film since 1993.
- Jennifer Connelly was Scott Derrickson's first choice
for the role of Helen Benson.
- According to Keanu Reeves, in The Day the Earth
Stood Still (1951) Klaatu was an alien WITH a human body, while in
this film Klaatu is an alien IN a human body.
- Keanu Reeves was producer Erwin Stoff's first and
only choice for the role of Klaatu.
