The Day The Earth Stood Still Review

Day-Earth-Stood-Still-Review.jpgThanks for checking out our The Day The Earth Stood Still review.

I still remember back when it was first announced that Keanu Reeves was cast to play Klaatu in the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. There was a very mixed reaction. Some people seemed to think that while Reeves isn’t all that good of an actor, he was nonetheless a decent fit for the part. Others… well… the majority of people seemed to this this was a disastrous choice that would be sure to lead to the film’s ruin and destruction on a Gort like scale.

Then Comic Con came and some people had the chance to watch some footage from the film and even see a rough trailer… it actually didn’t look all that bad. There even started to be some sense of enthusiasm amongst some fans and I’ll admit I was one of them. One of the lines from teh trailer that struck me the most was the one Klaatu says to Jennifer Connelly’s character: “If the earth dies, you die. If you die, the earth survives”. The line gave me that little shiver of coolness and doom at the same time. I was officially looking forward to the flick. So did it meet my upgrade expectations? No… but it wasn’t as bad as I first feared either.

THE GENERAL IDEA

The synopsis for The Day The Earth Stood Still looks something like this: “Keanu Reeves tops this adaptation of the seminal 1951 sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still with this 20th Century Fox production. Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose) helms the story of an alien traveler, Klaatu (Reeves), who heads to Earth along with his bodyguard robot, Gort, to deliver a warning of planetary destruction if the people of the world fail to bring peace to their civilizations. Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, and Kathy Bates co-star in the Ryne Douglas Pearson-penned film.”

THE GOOD

As I mentioned in the introductory paragraph, I really don’t find Keanu Reeves all that good of an actor. However, sometimes it’s less about talent and more about “fit”. In my opinion, Reeves was a solid fit for the character of Klaatu. Klaatu usually has that same sort of “where am I? This seems strange. Whoa.” disposition that Reeves usually portrays in most of his films. For this film, it’s just what he character called for and thus it worked for me.

Some of the visual effects in the movie were jaw dropping (not all of them… I’ll get to the bad ones in a minute). The one effect in particular that I think was most effective was the one we see in the trailers where a “cloud” was evaporating everything in its path. As this “cloud” raced across the country it gave me a grave sort of “holy crap they’re all screwed!” feeling… which is a great one to give your audience.

The first 15 minutes of the movie were quite effective in getting the story up and running and creating a decent sense of mystery at the same time. Who was this visitor? What are his motives for being here in the first place? Why does he look like that dude from The Matrix?

I had forgotten that John Cleese has a part in the movie, so when he showed up on screen it was a pleasant surprise. He’s not in the movie very long, but when he is there it feels like the quality of the movie is kicked up a notch or two.

THE BAD

While the destructive “cloud” effects were done very well… just about all the other effects shots were nothing short of piss poor in my opinion. Gort look ridiculous and completely fake every second he was on screen (Gort is the giant robot protector of Klaatu) even even simple mundane effects shots like helicopters looked pathetic. I’m don’t know why they didn’t just use real helicopters for the shots. I’m not even talking combat shots… just simple flying from point A to point B kind of shots that for some reason they decided to do in all CGI and it looked like something out of a 1999 video game cut scene. With today’s technology and talent out there, there is no excuse for that type of poor work on a multi million dollar film project like The Day The Earth Stood Still.

The Kid. Dear sweet heavens the kid. Jennifer Connelly’s step son is played in the movie by Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith. The kid flat out annoyed me every single unpleasant second he was on the screen. There are some child actors out there who can do their jobs… and Smith did pretty well in The Pursuit of Happyness with his father… but he was just annoying as hell in this movie.

It wasn’t just the actor… it was also the kid character. Totally unnecessary to the movie. The boy’s father died a year ago and he is left to be raised by his step mother (Jennifer Connelly). Ok fine… whatever. But the movie constantly has to stop and remind us of this fact. As a matter of fact… with global destruction and the annihilation of the entire human race imminent… Connelly has to stop trying to save the human race for a moment to console the stupid kid about his dead daddy issues and delay rushing to the city to save the world so she can wipe his little stupid tears from his little stupid face because he’s sad that his dad is gone. CONSOLE HIM LATER!!!!!

The dialog in the film is pretty brutal. I understand why Klaatu’s dialog may be purposefully strange and offsetting (I mean after all he is an alien) but that didn’t explain why Connelly’s or Kathy Bates’ dialog (she plays the secretary of defense) had to be so painful to listen too.

This film could have very easily spiraled into some sort of environmental political message movie. It was pretty clear to me that the director didn’t want that to happen, and I’m glad he didn’t… but he tried so hard to make sure it didn’t come off as one that it left the “message” of the film feeling vague which made the movie lose some of its bite.

OVERALL

The Day The Earth Stood Still ends up being an enjoyable in places / painful in places sort of movie with just enough enjoyable stuff that it’s sort of worth seeing, but enough painful stuff that you’d probably never suggest a friend go see it either. I ended up not minding it too much, but at the same time wouldn’t say I “liked” it either. Overall I give The Day The Earth Stood Still a 5 out of 10.

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163 thoughts on “The Day The Earth Stood Still Review

  1. I can’t agree more with you about this annoying stupid kid. I literally would have strangled him myself if I was his step mother in the movie. He is selfrighteous and dumb, he ruined the movie to its core. Why the hell the movie need such an unneccessary part anyway? I wouldn’t call this movie a complete crap if the kid didn’t survive the insect flood in the end, but hell he did, shame.

  2. I stumbled on this blog just after I watched the movie. MY WORD !!! DID U READ MY MIND IN ADVANCE !!!!???? I said practically the same things to myself about the actor, the kid, the Secretary od Defense, etc,… and I gave it 5 over 10 before reading your blog ; EXACTLY LIKE U !!!!

    WOW ! JUST WOW!!!

  3. Man, you kids today. This movie is typical leftwing glow bull war ming crap. Now go drive yer cars and watch yer tvs and type away on the keys and call it GREEN!!
    green green green…blah blah blah.
    Thank God for file sharing. I didnt pay a dime to watch this pos.
    Suck it leftys.

  4. Reeves is doper than crack cooked in the kitchen. if i ever met him i would shake his hand and thank him for the hours of entertainment he has provided me with all his movies. i don’t think anyone could have played it better. As for the kid, hes got more talent in his left thumb knuckle than any of you talkin’ shit about his performance, so i suggest you all watch the movie one more time and take notes. For the people who didn’t get the point where he saw how people change was when Connally noticed her and her step son were both dying and she told him to save the kid and not herself. pay attention next time. now by no means am i telling you how to watch your movies but all you nerds out there picking this movie apart because its not technologically possible need to get a life you have way to much time on your hands, try dating. As for all you people saying the original was better maybe you’re right (I’ve never seen it) but the topic at hand is this movie (2008) its like comparing Tom Cochrane’s version of life is a highway to Rascal Flatts’ version, they don’t compare AT ALL. This was an awesome movie and that’s my input, but I’ll be fair, anyone who thinks they need to tell me otherwise hit me up my email is [email protected]

    Peace

  5. in the end when the bugs were flying through the city… and she was sitting there holding her step son, he said “you were right… people do change at the peek of destruction.” and then he left and the chaos stopped. well up till this point the US army was shooting missiles at the blue orb, the vehicle they were riding in, and i almost forgot the attempts at trying to drill through GORT!! at what point did we change?? at what point did klaatu think we changed?? any anwers.. just hit me up. [email protected]

  6. yup!! its the best movie ever. it just shows how humans are. scared, egotistic and fucked! and i loved it!

    u wanna keep bitching about effects and technical bullshit? go do a movie. that stuff is yaawwnnn..

  7. Yeah, you could go on and on. But you still couldn’t convince me that the 1951 version is better than the 2008 version. Come to think of it, no one could convince me that the 2008 version is better.

    Perhaps one day, someone will film a version of this story that might end up impressing me on a major scale. Hollywood has certainly failed to achieve this in both 1951 and 2008.

  8. I am old enough to have seen the original in 1951, and this new film is nothing compared to the original. I did not connect with the characters or the plot like I did the original. And just to be sure time did not warp my thinking of the original, I rented it a week before seeing this one. I hold my ground; the original is far better than this new rendition.

    The plot of this new one glosses over the great storyline of the original. When the day the earth was supposed to stand still, the build up in the original was more riviting. Michael Rene (Klaatu) was in an elevator with Patrica Neal when it stopped. She looked alarmed, and Klaatu looked at his watch and said something like, “it will be back on in a half hour.” Then the sceen broke away to all the places on the earth where you saw trains, cars, etc stopped. You did see this in the new version but there was no buildup to it, and there was no timeframe suggested to the audience like in the original. Electricity stopping just happened as an afterthought.

    Why, where was the famous line, “GORT, Klaatu Mirada Nicto?” uttered by Klaatu to Patricia as he faced impending death.

    In the Original, it was Klaatu who told us the name of GORT. In the new version it was mentioned in passing as a couple of military guys rand down a hallway. Pathetic!

    In the Original, Klaatu was far more engaging where the audience could connect with him and Patricia. In this version Klaatu was almost an automaton devoid of any feeling.

    I Could go on and on.

  9. The movie was terrible. For trhose of you who thought it was good, I pity you. Do yourselves a favor and rent the original – to see when movies were made to entertain, not “train” the audience.

    Who in the hell are you to judge those who disagree with your taste in films? And two, I saw the 1951 version less than a week after the 2008 version. The story is slightly different, but in terms of quality it was the same as the recent version. At least I think so. I had to struggle to stay awake during the last half hour of the film.

    1. Yes, people can enjoy whatever moive they want to enjoy! I hate old movies, i don’t even want to see the old version, i am perfectly happy with the 2008 version!

  10. Don’t get me wrong. it was a good movie and all, but it was completely miss cast. first of all, jaden smith is poorly trained as an actor for action movies such as this. he was an excellent caracter in the pursuit of happyness, but if the world was going to end, they wouldn’t stop every second to help ease this little boy’s pain about his fathers death.

    And why should everything always have an emotial side to it? What should have been on everybody’s mind in the movie was how to survive instead of how to chage. Survial should have been their main goal, instead of comforting a little boy.

    John Cleese’s role should have been explained more because no one really knew who he was and why he was there in the first place,

  11. As a huge Keanu Reeves fan, I drove two hours to see this movie in IMAX in extremely snowy weather . What a disappointment!!! Watching it in IMAX could not This movie is a HUGE disappointment. Connelly istotally miscast and jaden Smith is totally annoying. Keanu is as always superb as a robot-like creature but the movie has no climax, it just totters along. Come on, the world is saved because of a woman and a little brat! The ending could not come soon enough and after such a great beginning. The stature looked like an Oscar that has been possessed.

  12. I agree with all the negatives I have read. The film concentrated on the woman and kid which was a total mockery of the original movie. The writers need to go back to college and the producer needs to get a real job instead of working on this type of crap. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY

  13. What happened after “The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)”

    -Spoiler Alert!-

    1 Second after Klatu unleashes a massive EMP;
    – There are ten thousand car accidents
    – Fifty thousand people trip and fall in the dark
    – Over a million people log off of the World of Warcraft
    – Over a billion people look annoyed and confused

    5 Minutes after the EMP
    – Four thousand aircraft crash.
    – Ten thousand people run out of air in dark places.

    1 Day after the EMP
    – Each government declares martial law.
    – Ten billion non-electronic mechanical devices are dusted off and put into use.
    – Six billion people start hording food.

    1 Month after the EMP
    – People are still discovering that martial law has been declared
    – A hundred thousand cars are put back into use.
    – Five hundred thousand horses are saddled.
    – A million people succumb to infection.
    – A billion people are suffering from withdrawal.
    – Four billion people do not have enough to eat.
    – Enough food to feed four billion people spoils.

    6 Months after the EMP
    – Global social services have vanished.
    – The human population has been reduced by half, mostly from starvation.
    – Knowledge of WHO killed half the human race has almost circled the globe.

    2 Years after the EMP
    – America finishes constructing the first new nuclear weapon.
    – The first computers are available on the market again.
    – Three major wars are raging.
    – One hundred million light bulbs are produced.

    10 Years after the EMP
    – A day of mourning is declared world wide.
    – “Klatu” is adopted into the English language as a new profanity.
    – New York turns its lights back on.
    – Fifty thousand people log onto the internet, crashing it.

    50 Years after the EMP
    – Greenpeace replaces the UN.
    – The Alien-hate party wins a landslide victory in United North America.
    – The Stock Exchange starts up again.

    100 Years after the EMP
    – The first nanite technology is reverse engineered and duplicated.
    – Every electronic device on Earth, the Moon and Mars is EMP shielded.

    300 Years after the EMP
    – Earth declares war against Klatu’s people.

    301 Years after the EMP
    – A hundred billion aliens look annoyed and confused.
    – Greenpeace prevents a hundred billion alien deaths by provide aid and supplies.
    – The President of Earth tells Klatu that Earth –IS- our planet.

  14. I didn’t have to waste my money because it was a free download ………….all it’s worth!

    No comparison to the original story.

    Klatoo gets formed from DNA and to say that the ET’s are worried about the various life forms on earth going extinct is a contradiction.

    The only reason people watch this is if it’s for free or because it’s about ET’s. ;)

  15. ****ending spoiler***I saw the movie yesterday. The original was on TV 2 weeks ago so I was looking forward to a modern version of it. Not a totally bad movie, as it was watchable throughout. I was more disapointed with the end with the way the lights just went out and that was it…..end of the movie and then the credits. They didn’t even show out-take scenes either(haha) As I was driving home with my friends from the showing I suggested that possibly an appropriate ending would be the lights going out….then perhaps showing the professor under candle light finishing the final touches on his blackboard formula(from the help of the alien). Move ahead 3-5 years and show the human race enjoying clean enviromental power as the result of the formula, with the professor overlooking the city from his 50th floor office and seeing energy everywhere like the spheres glow, powering everything. Perhaps with the robot coming back from the swarm of bugs to watch over everything. I guess I hate abrupt movie endings! haha

  16. major letdown! one word to describe this movie ‘LACKING’. the screenplay was weak and the little boy was annoying and i didn’t buyin to the story at all. save your money!

  17. Dear God, was this a bad remake or what. All the producers had to do was follow the story line of the original 1951 movie scene by scene and they would have had a way better movie. This remake was no coherency. Some of the best story lines were left hanging in the air or went nowhere. The meeting with Prof. Barnhardt, GORT, and the ending to name a few. It seems like someone just did a hatchet job to try to compress the run time with no regard for the story. This edit crew is better served working for some local news station and not on a major motion picture.
    Keanu did an ok job as Klaatu but John Hamm would have been better as the straignt faced no nonsense alien. This was a real case of role reversal. I could go on….
    My final recommendation: See the original with Michael Rennie. Made in 1951 (if you can believe it) it towers over this horrible remake. It has a flowing story line, is coherent and intelligent. And all that with next to no special effects. Imagine that! Now that’s film making.

  18. I thought the movie was a good adaptation of the original. The kid annoyed the living crap out of me though. They did make him overly broody and a whining brat. It was unnecessary. I didn’t even mind the CGI this and that. Most of what people have pointed out as inconsistencies I don’t have a hard time explaining in the context of the movie, but what dumbfounds me is the ending. As noted but the secretary’s wristwatch all electronic devices were disabled. Most people have no experience with starting up power plants so I’ll give you this one: it takes power to make power.

    Our one hope is that at least one hydro-electric power plant was able to retain enough hydraulic pressure to operate it’s valves to supply at least one generator. Otherwise, it’s one would have to rig up a hand pump and pump that little turd for several days to several weeks. Depends on the size of the system and size of the hand pump. In effect, he’s impeded out progress a few decades, at best. Given the nature of mankind and the fact all communication is now lost, that estimates goes up to a couple hundred years at worst. Regardless, with the destruction of our power grid he had completely invalidated his entire purpose for his arrival. By the time we can recover our losses it is most likely most of the people who were here when he arrived are now dead and the data in the computer will likely be un-recoverable (either due to the hardware degradation or the people who knew how to access it being dead or otherwise unavailable). Klaatu’s existence has become invalidatable and his message lost on mankind. A bedtime story like any religion in the world has now. So, in that respect, the Christ allegory still applies.

  19. Added as an extension from Baruch

    baruch

    alot of problems with the movie.1).FBI new everything about scientist but her military husband was dead? 2).our government already owned vehicles retrofit to carry 65ft walls for aliens?

    OK

    ALSO.

    Why does Keanu suddenly have the power to veto the destruction of earth? If it takes those insects one second to eat a car, why does it take them a minute to eat Keanu or the kid?

    When they are hiding under the bridge, why did the insects suddenly decide NOT to go under the bridge? Did they not see there was a space under the bridge? In fact… weren’t they going to be eating everything…including the bridge?

    The original was made long, long ago, and the message was then, huimans can change. In that time we have had Vietnam war, WWII, Attack on Iraq, Sept 11, Afghanistan, Cold War, countless terrorist acts, child suicide bombers… NOW the new one is made with the same message?? nothing changed. With more technology, humans simply got worse.

    A better ending would be kill humans, and then move forward in time where the aliens put the animals back on the planet to bring it all back into balance.

    Also, why does Klaatu think that any message will get to the U.N? Why does he think it’s best to leave his message with Connelly?
    The U.N doesn’t even know what he was wanting to say.
    Who could think Kathy Bates could have any influence at all?
    Why was nothing filmed in a white house?

    What I think is that the military will find those little metallic insects and try and create a new weapon.

    All power shut down around the world? Won’t take much to start it all up. Most of the world would simply think aliens are attacking. No message would have ever gotten out. Connelly didn’t have a voice to anybody with influence.

    Me and my girl couldn’t stop picking it apart.

    Just because a black kid and a white woman are crying, Klaatu thinks there’s hope for humans? Didn’t the aliens see a Live 8 concert? The world came together then! yet a crying spoiled brat changes his mind?
    What about Ghandi’s influence in peaceful protest? Or the million man march? Yet one crying kid?

    It reminded me of The Day After Tomorrow. The story is about the end of the world, yet somehow they think it’s a great additive to throw in CGI wolverines! Just useless crap!

    Of course, now that Connelly convinced Klaatu to spare the humans, the U.S givernment can say “It’s ok, America saved the world today… again…”

    I’ll have more to say but my brain has gone blank… hey maybe this is a great time for me to write a sequel, when I’m lost for original thought!

  20. I don’t know what this critic is talking about!
    Are you kidding me!
    This was a fantastic movie
    I loved it so much I went to see it twice
    I might not of seen the original and maybe that’s why the critic doesn’t like it a lot but I think that Keanu Reeves was a great actor in this movie and the kid wasn’t piontless. I thought that it was a great twist for the mother ( Jennifer Connelly) to have to deal with both predicaments.
    and don’t you ever notice how Klaatu starts to form a bond with the child. He was amazing. The effects didn’t lok as fake as the critic says. They looked fine.
    overall I give it a 9 out of ten
    I would say ten out of ten but ya I don’t know why I didn’t.

  21. Just got back from the movie and watching the original now. It was the best. Of course owning all the originals and knowing it front to back. I have to say the new version was done very well. Loved it! I hope all you young people take this to heart. Cause shit could hit the fan some day. Can’t we just all get along. Hard for humans to do this.

  22. ….. and another thing. someone tell me how annoying was little Will Smith??? that kid needed an old school beat down. i’m so damn pissed. i haven’t seen a movie in months and i waste my cash on this pile of crap

  23. Well, just to tell how good of a movie this was….. my wife had to poke me on the shoulder because I was snoring. LOL, snoring! This fits right in with Dreamcatcher and AVP Requiem as the worst movies I’ve ever seen. So sad because I’m a SciFi freak. Was a stinking turd Keanu left in my stocking!

  24. I think the movie was really good. I would definitely watch it again and I plan to add it to my DVD collection. I watched the original first and I’m glad I did. However, at the same time, I wish I would have waited because the remake, while decent, does not hold a candle to the original.

  25. I have watched the statistics on my web site tracker and found that a lot of you people took it upon yourselves to check out my web site. Some of you are vendors of DVD’s It would stand to reason that you want to say this movie is bad in odrer to sell your DVD of the original. You need to find another venue to see your DVD’s other than to trash this movie. Only people who seriously like the movie are actually giving reviews. The rest of you are in the movieblog/review site to tell everyone that the movie doesn’t meet up with the original. Don’t expect people to follow you up on that. The original was good but different. The child (Will Smith’s son) in this movie is in it because that was part of the original plot in the first movie.

    One more time I will repeat what someone else said earlier: If you have attention deficit or cannot watch back to back action movie scenes or follow the stories in music videos then you shouldn’t see this movie. If you have a lower than IQ you should forget it. If you watched “The Matrix” and you couldn’t understand it then it is best for you to watch it on a DVD when it comes out so you can pause it and discuss. No one seems to know what was happening. in the movie. Either you didn’t watch it or you took a date or children. This forum is for reviews. No people to fight and argue about which DVD to shop for. You waited for this to come out so you could sell your DVD’s. What makes you think they’ll buy yours if you have already told them the movie isn’t any good?

    It was not the BEST movie that I have ever scene. It still rate 5/5 or 9/10. The only thin I would change is to make the audience feel a sense of romance or tension between the alien and the human femal. This would have brought the audience to the front of their seat. A sequel should have been made with this very thing in mind.

    No, Sean….I am not a plant. Get off the drugs and you will make a better artist yourself. Again, I repeat this forum is for reviewing the movie.

  26. The movie was terrible. For trhose of you who thought it was good, I pity you. Do yourselves a favor and rent the original – to see when movies were made to entertain, not “train” the audience. Once again, hollywood took its best shot at the military, only this time with a new twist – a shot at the president. From a common sense perspective, the movie makes no sense. The movie fails to capture the eerie realism and purity of the original, and resorts to techno mumbo jumble to fascinate the audience.
    The movie is said to be “green”, and while the production crew may have saved a few of our natural resources, they certainly failed in that they waste the film upon which the movie was recorded.

  27. I don’t see why everyone is making a big deal over the two versions of this film. Although the story and characterizations differ slightly, both the 1951 version with Michael Rennie and the 2008 version with Keanu Reeves are nothing more than solid and entertaining films that did not seem mind blowing at all to me.

  28. This movie stunk. It could have gone the direction of a killer-CGI-end-of-the-world flick, or it could have gone the direction of a good, Make-you-think sort of film. It did NEITHER. The effects were mediocre at best, and I agree with the review: Dialog was PAINFUL, and PAINFULLY short on ideas. You can get better end-of-world drama watching a 30 minute spot on Sci-Fi channel….

    Almost every line made me cringe. PEOPLE JUST DON’T TALK LIKE THAT UNLESS THEY’RE MENTALLY DEFECTIVE. My sister’s 7-year old twins have deeper conversations. And the kid…. ugh. The only redeeming part was the sub-10-minute conversation with John Cleese’s character. Everything else was astoundingly contrived, forced, and painfully weak.

  29. the movie reminded me “The day after tomorrow”

    but still the effects are as usual great!
    there were some moments when you want to start cry….yeah
    anyway thanks Keanu

  30. Well I saw it yesterday and jezzz I felt like I was watching (The day After tomorrow ) again!
    Keanu, this movie didn’t help you at all. You should have quit after reading the story line.

    It’s not hard to see the the Eco-freaks went crazy with this one.

    Then there is the “end of the movie” What the heck?

    PS, yeah the kid sucked too. Go rent the first movie and enjoy a good sci-fi.

  31. OMG…. this is one of the WORST turkeys to come out in years.
    The casting was horrible, the acting was horrible, and the special effects was already done in “The Mummy”

    Will Smith’s son was so abnoxious and the plot line to get him in the movie in the first place was shallow.

    His mother a supposedly scientist, was at best a C grade actress…yes..actress… I couldn’t bare to say actor…that would be an insult to the industry.

    Keanu Reeves should buy up every copy of the monstrosity so that his previous performances will never be and talent will not be overshadowed by this crummy picture.

    Please, my advise is stay home, save your money and by a GM product instead…… UGH

  32. Good lord, who the heck are you Laurie Foston? I see two essential problems with your review. First of all, you love this movie way too much. Any one that has seen their fair share of movies would likely know that this is not the best movie ever made, if you even think it ranks highly among any movies at all. Secondly, your complete scene to scene summary is wasting everyones time. It might have made sense if you used the summary to analyze the movie and add to your points, but you didn’t.

    Also, a good cast does not make a movie great.

    The plot line was so irrelevant by my standards that I agree with many, the fact that they ran with it is an insult to the intelligence of movie watchers.

    Even avid environmentalists were disappointed with the level of fail this movie reached. If the movie really was environmental they would have showed how we are poisoning the earth, instead, they had Klaatu decide to kill the world at a McDonalds.

  33. This is my response to your review. You didn’t get it , did you?

    Please be forewarned that there are spoilers in this review.

    I have heard critics say that the remake of “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is a disappointment and others say even worse. It is now a controversial film because movie goers shot this one to the number one rating over the weekend. In two days this movie, which cost $80 million to make, earned $70 million domestic and internationally combined.

    If you are an old movie fan and you saw and liked the original hit sci-fi, this one will make you teary-eyed with compassion for mankind and give you the same effects as the first, except far superior. If you’re young and have never seen the original, you should be struck with awe.

    It recreates the original, paying homage to a finely directed 1951 film that still places in the top 30 greatest sci-fi films of all time. This same thing cannot be said of some of the other sci-fi remakes and this movie should not be thrown into that pile of rubbish.

    I thought that this film was edited so beautifully to flow from one scene to the next without in-between garbage that sometimes is enough to disrupt plots to the point that one could lose interest. Sci-fi movies should be made to keep audiences on the edge of their seats, or at least hold the audience captive with special effects. No scene was wasted. Everything that was said had some significant message in it. As one major newspaper put it, the movie gets right to the point and moves on. I didn’t see one person get up and go to the refreshment stand or leave the room after the show began. This, to me, indicates that the audience was under the spell of either the 3D effects or the plot kept them going. For me it was both.

    An object is spotted in space and a trajectory shows it to be on a collision course with the Earth. The Earth has seventy-eight minutes to count down, when suddenly the UFO slows down at count zero and code red goes to yellow as the mother ship releases the smaller ones to circle the globe. This “sphere” or rather I should say “mother ship of many spheres” has now landed in Central Park and is approached by a cautious scientist, Helen Benson, who is played by Oscar nominee (A Beautiful Mind) and Golden Globe winner, Jennifer Connelly. She is the scientist assigned to study the alien species and chosen for the team to make first contact

    An alien comes forth from the foggy mist for first contact and as usual, mankind can’t control his urge to shoot first and ask questions later. Klaatu has brought with him a gigantic robot, and from its first behavior, appears to be only his protector. But the robot, GORT, which is the acronym for Genetically Organized Robotic Technology) is actually a weapon of mass destruction…the terminator of all human life on Earth. The robot is programmed to activate only when there is hostile or aggressive activity or when the emissary is threatened.

    In fact, this is also the nature of Klaatu as well. His destructive nature only activates when threatened. The robot disarms all of Earth’s weapons, sends out an ear drum bursting high pitch and causes everything operational to shut down or to “stand still” while it moves out of the fog toward Helen and the emissary. Unknown to Helen, it leaves something in her possession that can regenerate living tissue, but she isn’t aware of what he is doing until later when it becomes apparent that it is for the alien’s personal medicine cabinet.

    Keanu Reeves, international superstar and earned a Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, as well as top 10 favorite actors globally, plays Klaatu, the emissary from another galaxy who has been shot down, hauled off to a classified information facility, interrogated, and operated on by a doctor who suddenly is enlightened telepathically on how to extract the bullet. Klaatu has an embryonic type outer skin which will allow him to be born as a human on Earth. The doctor begins to remove this outer skin as it starts to peal away. While in captivity, Klaatu evolves into a human cloned from a mountain climber in India many years before. All of this evolution takes place in a matter of hours.

    Klaatu’s mission is speak to the Earth’s leaders to enlighten them on how to restore a dying Earth, as it will effect their galaxy if it were to come to sudden destruction, but who cares? Homeland Security must obey the orders of the president and those orders are to take the alien into custody and interrogate. The old “take me to your leader,” will not work with a leader who believes he/she speaks on the entire Earth’s behalf.

    The Secretary of Defense, played by Kathy Bates, is trying to find out whatever she can but her boss, the president, lacks diplomacy and compassion for alien life forms or just doesn’t want to listen to anyone else’s advice. Klaatu is put through interrogation but instead of giving answers to his interrogator, he first gives a warning and you can predict the rest as Klaatu would not be here on Earth without some resourceful powers. At any rate, it is now Klaatu who gets answers from the interrogator. Klaatu makes his escape with a little tip from Helen who was supposed to administer a truth serum for this interrogation but administered a saline solution instead, whispering in his ear “RUN!”

    Klaatu hides out in a busy train station and finds himself with the new human feeling called, “hunger.” He is able to manipulate a vending machine to drop a sandwich down for him to eat. He stops to observe humans while he is eating and sees a struggle between two men over a train ticket. Irritated by the arrogance of the man who owns the ticket, he causes him to have a heart attack while his impoverished enemy grabs the ticket and runs. He still has not been able to control his reaction to aggressive behavior so far and his inclinations are to side with the underdog.

    He goes to the bathroom (I’m sure he found this to be a disgusting human habit as well) and realizes that his wound is bleeding and manages to manipulate people to make a call to Helen to get his medicine.

    Helen comes to his rescue but must bring her stepson, Jason who is played by famous actor Will Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, the child star of, “The Pursuit of Happiness.”

    Jason knows aliens have landed because he has been monitoring the TV which depicts the planet in a stage of “standing still” while everyone who can loot continues to do so and the stocks fall to below sea levels.

    When Helen and Jason arrive, she asks Klaatu, if he is our friend. He answers in partial truth by saying that he is a “friend to the Earth.” He asks her to take him to meet someone who turns out to be an alien scout who was planted on Earth seventy years earlier, so it can be determined if man is a species that they can reason with. At this point, Klaatu still lacks emotions of a human being and still resembles the robot that actually is made in their likeness…all reasoning, apart from emotion.

    That’s when the decision is made that the humans on the Earth can’t be reasoned with since Klaatu’s attempt to reach the United Nations has failed. Without the cooperation of some cohesive authority representing the entire Earth, Klaatu is not willing to negotiate with the inferior people of the hierarchy.

    The dialogue between the aliens definitely moved me to sympathy for mankind. “I will not leave Earth,” the alien scout said. “I find that being a human is difficult,” but he went on to say that as he grew near the time for his life to be over, he was happy that he had lived it. He had learned to love the humans. This puzzles Klaatu but his mind is made up.

    Klaatu explains his mission to Helen. He must destroy humankind to preserve the planet Earth as it is one of just a few that is able to sustain life… and we are killing it. He tells Helen, “If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives.”

    Helen pleas with Klaatu to tell us what to do to change things and we will make those changes. Klaatu is persuaded to at least hear her out for the time being. He follows along with her to a scientist, a Noble Peace Prize winner, in hopes that Klaatu will be convinced that man can understand, learn, and develop to something greater than he is right now. Klaatu shuns the scientist’s idea that mankind is moving in a new direction. He shows Klaatu an equation that mathematically proves man to be a species that makes an evolutionary change on the precipice of extinction. Klaatu sees the equation differently.

    Klaatu, still pragmatic and not convinced that those equations are right, asks Helen to take him to the sphere to carry out his mission. Helen’s stepson is brought along due to circumstances beyond her control and Klaatu is exposed to the child’s input on what Klaatu is about to do. Klaatu has, after only a few hours of being human, started to become sensitive to their ideology. Klaatu shuts out their pleas so he can put the wheels in motion and the spheres start gathering male and female of all species of life forms on Earth…except for mankind.

    Meanwhile, The Secretary of Defense has collected data from every surveillance on Earth and found that Klaatu has been collecting species from all over the globe and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what comes next.

    But the chain of command in this situation is already breaking down. The Secretary tries to give time for Helen to change “its” mind, but tells Helen that there isn’t much time left for negotiation. Reminding Helen that she (the Secretary of Defense) is under obligation to report directly to the president, she orders the department of defense to stand down until further orders. But there are others who will stop at nothing to capture Klaatu.

    The military uses a peaceful non-aggressive approach to capture the robot and he’s under study when suddenly he starts to break down into tiny insectoid bots. (Metallic looking locusts would be a good description to people who are not familiar with sci-fi terminology.) With the use of the DMR sound, the insectoids can be heard crawling on the roof of the theatre. Again, special effects are part of the success of a good sci-fi.

    The fugitives from the government now are Klaatu, Helen, and her stepson, Jason. Jason soon discovers Klaatu’s true identity, and out of fear he secretly makes a call on his cell phone and alerts authorities of their location. This hinders the plans of the Secretary of defense taking matters into her own hands to buy Helen some time to persuade the alien that he is wrong about mankind.

    While they are about to get into a car to leave, a police officer points his gun at the three and uses the usual threatening tones for them to freeze, telling Helen to get the child out of the car. Klaatu responds like the robot and interprets this action as violent. He tells them, this will not hurt but just a second. Then he crushes the policeman between the two cars but when he sees the reaction of Helen and Jason he realizes that “death” and “trauma” are both something that humans find to be a very difficult thing to deal with. Klaatu then restores both policeman and his vehicle. He’s still learning what it is like to be human at this point. “It was only my intention to stop him,” he explained.

    Helen can now see Klaatu as a species with a nature similar to that of the robot and she must try to convince him in a logical way to change his mind. “What’s the matter with you? You just killed a man and brought him back to life and what for, you’re going to kill us now?” This begins a breakdown in Klaatu’s logic. His emotions have been sneaking into play.

    Jason starts to see Klaatu a little less menacing, because instead of seeing him as evil he sees his lack of understanding of the human race, but he’s not convinced to trust him yet. Klaatu and Jason are separated from Helen when the authorities come in by helicopter and take Helen first, but Klaatu resists them, using similar powers as the robot.

    Again, like the robot, Klaatu begins to become protective of Jason because of the human side now developing in Klaatu, he is forming a bond. Nevertheless, Klaatu is still determined to move on with his plan. Man and everything that man has built will be consumed by GORT.

    Later Klaatu talks to Helen on a cell phone and it is agreed that Klaatu will take Jason to a cemetery for Helen to reunite with before the final destruction of mankind takes place. Jason suggests this as he has a secret plan of his own by now.

    Meanwhile GORT senses that the elected creatures are already taken into the spheres and it is now time for him to carry out his own mission. Everything has begun. GORT disassembles into trillions of tiny insectoid bots that multiply rapidly. They are to consume human life and anything made or needed by humans for their survival.

    Jason’s plan to meet his mother in the cemetery turns out to be a scheme to get Klaatu to raise his father up from the grave. He thinks Klaatu has this power after seeing Klaatu restore the life of the policeman. Klaatu hears Jason’s plea but he explains to Jason that there were some things that he could not do. He explained that we never really die, but rather we are transformed into something better. Jason’s father has been gone too long.

    Klaatu contemplates the many tombs of the dead military that fought for mankind and he starts to evolve in his own thinking. Helen arrives and Klaatu turns to them and says, “There is a side to humans that I did not see before.” Although Klaatu does not actually say it, the crosses marking the graves of our military means that man is willing to die for man. That makes him a higher form of life than Klaatu had anticipated.

    However, the dye has already been cast for the mass destruction of humans.

    I also saw a lot of points well taken in “The Day the Earth Stood Still” 2008 version that critics overlooked. I did not find it to be one-sided at all. The dialogue gave us a lot of food for thought.

    I saw the pros and cons both exhibited equally for humankind as well as the environmental viewpoints… the loss of our ecosystems from man’s folly

    I have never seen so many critics with bias against politicians and environmentalists who took it out on Fox. I think we should all suck it up and move on from the issues of the last election while trying to be objective about a movie. Give Fox a break. They took old material and made it look very new. Some critics called this film “preachy” and others thought it all translated into a “save the Earth” type movie and ignored a brilliantly laid plot.

    CNN said Jaden Smith was getting a good taste of success in this Fox film.

    It was thought out from start to finish casting Oscar and Golden Globe nominees and winners for some very difficult roles.

    I would like to point out here that in the first movie, the robot was more powerful than the emissary and was a representation of God and all of God’s power to strike down the Earth. In this 21st century movie the theme really doesn’t have a heavy religious allegation. This could be the complaint of those who loved the first. The emissary is higher in the ranks in this movie, than the weapon of mass destruction.

    This movie is entertainment at its best. The producers used two cameras for certain 2D and 3D effects, and this is the first Hollywood movie to be filmed from start to finish for IMAX theatres.

    Children under thirteen should have parental guidance in an IMAX due to the fact that some sci-fi scenes could be interpreted by young children as horrific.

    In a regular theatre or a theatre that has the 3D technology and digital sound that wraps around, other violent scenes can be easily excused by saying it was no more violent than “Hancock,” although the overall tone of the movie was very sobering and serious in content.

    There’s no nudity, sex, or foul language. This movie is very high in altruism and moral ethics. One critic said perhaps this was its downfall. What a shame that films have to have sex, nudity, or foul language to achieve the highest ratings.

  34. Both versions of the movie are excellent!! If you look further then only the scifi
    and the action then you will get these messages:

    The first version : “We have to live peacefully with each other
    otherwise it will be the end of the human race “.

    The second version : “We have to stop to take the earth for granted
    otherwise it will be end of the human race”.

    Think about…

  35. alot of problems with the movie.1).FBI new everything about scientist but her military husband was dead? 2).our government already owned vehicles retrofit to carry 65ft walls for aliens? 3.)is it me or did the size of gort in the facility not match up to the size of gort on land; outside that beast would have been about 10 to 15 yards wide in the facility 10 to 15 feet. 4). with all our modern lasers and machinery we used a home depot bought drilling assembly and pathetic remdition of a drill. 5) gort obviously was not their to protect Reeves, since Reeves stayed in danger. 6)connelly leaves disturbed child in car in the woods alone to seek after alien. 7)connelly an little smith are running in woods with alien while helicopters are chasing him. only to have FBI propell down and grab only her. what was the girl and boy running to? 8)what was the purpose of the asian man in the restaraunt 9)when did we build the 500ft tunnel for the new alien.10)with all of the advance knowledge that these aliens seem to have about our culture as human beings you mean they have never seen a compassionate act? it seem entirely to easy that Reeves changed his mind so easily. it was no great cataclysmic event that he witnessed. but definitely more significant things has happen in our recent existence as humans that would have had the same effect.11) why would they purposely lock up Reeves in a room with no one watching him. no guards in the room, just one man giving a lie detector test who has no possible way of defending himself. In my opinion this what a bad movie due to the insult of human intelligence. do to the lack of respect to common sence. whether or not they followed the old movie is second to the fact that they could not stay consistent to the story. lastly i have no problem with interacial marriages or children who are a product of it. But the distraction of connelly who obviously had no parental skills within her existence, and lacked basic childrn rearing.Coupled with the girlish looking african american boy, who appears to have not been given any home training prior to the death of his father. he has no other relatives alive. he gets away with anything he wants to say just for the sake of trying to make a point later. that point being ive discovered this alien can kill me so let me apologizes for the mean things i have said. the alien cant bring back my dead father so im sad,mommy give me a hug. the movie was right up there with Bill Cosby movie Leonard part VI . should have not been unless your going to crosss your t’s and dot your I’s

  36. Had potential but ruined by the kid. Unfortunately the child was in almost every scene. Smith’s son cannot act, and I wonder whether he would get roles without his famous parents!

  37. I thought the movie was good while my boyfriend said it didn’t meet his expectations. We both have never seen the original and reading all of these reviews makes me want to go rent it.

    Anyways, a few points to hit:
    Even though Keanu Reeves plays the same roles of melancholy supernatural being, this role most definitely fit him. I cannot think of any other actor to play off Klaatu.

    Jennifer Connelly was alright.

    Jaden Smith, I will admit, he was very annoying in the movie. My boyfriend kept suggesting ways for him to die throughout the film (GORT picking him up, letting the bugs have him, etc.). The acting from Jaden was deplorable and I couldn’t stand it either. Up until a certain point, I was wondering what the purpose of his role was. I saw near the ending, but I think there could have been a better way to have shown that “humans can change” or something.

    Political Correctness was featured throughout the film and I wanted to them to just come out with the issues, but I guess they wanted to leave just a little for our imagination.

    I did laugh a bit at seeing GORT because I instantly thought of the OSCAR statue, but I got used to him and he was pretty cool.

    There was a lot of product placement. World of War Craft (Jaden played it), Microsoft (used it to show Klaatu’s 3 DNA prints). McDonalds was…very obvious. I didn’t know McD’s served warm tea until seeing this movie. I missed this brand, but Connelly kept looking at her watch and someone else did too, same brand. LG was stamped everywhere, phone, Jaden’s Laptop.

    After saying all of that, I did like the movie because for once, it matched the expectation the trailer gave off. It wasn’t too hyped by the trailer. And I am a beleiver that we are destroying ourselves. There were some cool effects that had me whispering “D***”.

    Overall, this movie just depends on who you are. For me, I didn’t even know it was a remake until I went to a friend’s house earlier and her mom asked if I saw the original. So for me, as a stand alone movie, it was good. Put against the original, I guess it sucked, but that’s for most things now a days and not just in films. (makes me think about the original metal Buick cars and the crap plastic Buicks they sell now)

    So for me 6-7 out of 10 for the moive. Kill Jaden off to make the movie goers happy, cool effects, good casting as far as Keanu, okay storyline.

  38. At the end of the movie i was left with a WTF moment and my only question was:What happened to the ever so wonderful animals at the end? They got jacked by the alien spheres.

  39. +1 that the CGI sucked bad! CG is only good when you don’t know its CG. I mean, sure when I watch the LOTRs I KNOW that Gollum is CGI because he doesn’t exist.. but not because he looks fake and plasticy.
    also,
    +1 that the little black kid was annoying.. not his acting.. just the crap character. Growing up I got my ass spanked for MUCH less than what the kid got away with.. What about what he did in the scene with Cleese? haha, my momma probably would’ve slapped the teeth out of my mouth! ;)

    oh and the environmental / political thing was very in your face! Anybody who didn’t think so has just heard so much leftest propaganda that they’ve become desensitized. What was the message of the movie? Human beings are what’s wrong with the Earth. Save the Earth and all is furry little inhabitants at all costs. Humans are expendable. It also made the US government and military out to look pretty bad. The stereo-typical kill foreigners or anything that’s different. Shoot first ask questions later.. zero diplomacy.. kill them all, let God sort ’em out. The movie should’ve been call Eco-Terrorists from Outer Space vs the World Police Warmongers.

    We even got some product placement.. LG, Mc Donalds, WoW, and what kind of wrist watch was Connelly wearing? If Michael Bay had made this movie Klaatu would’ve interfaced with an Xbox 360, which riding around in a GMC truck and hacked into the defense satellites using the OnStar system. ;P

    BUT the number one reason the movie sucked.. because Keanu never said “KLAATU BARADA NIKTO!”

    1. When Klaatu was shot and Gort came out he stops him with his hand and said VERY low Klaatu Barada Nikto.

      But he practically whispered. Thanks to the closed caption I read that he said it, but I never really heard it.

  40. Honestly, I never felt the pressure of total annihilation during the entire film. There was no sense of urgency.

    If I was an adult in that movie I would have back handed that kid and said, “If you don’t shut the hell up, we are ALL going to die.”

    Also, the U.S. Government was portrayed far worse than it could ever really be, even if Bush was in the drivers seat. Would it not make sense to have treated such a being royally? Perhaps telling him something along the lines of, yes, lets take you to the leaders so that you can not kill us.

    And if I was Klaatu, I would not have been moved by that kid. I might have wanted to do it with Jennifer Connely though, because she is hot.

    Does Hollywood approve every plotless pile of garbage or what?

    Did I mention that Jennifer Connely was hot? I woulda had the right mind to beam her up and left the rest of the world for imminent destruction.

    The only good part was the “plague of robobugs”. I coulda watched that without the rest of the movie and been like, cool. Next.

  41. I saw it yesterday. Other than the fact it was $11.50 for an 11:20 am showing, it was a pretty bad experience. I have walked out of the last 5 movies I saw in the theaters. I did not walk out of this one only because I wanted to see how they would butcher and ruin this remake. It was awful.
    Hollywood is running out of ideas so they are doing remakes of movies and tv shows that people under 25 who know nothing except text messaging and the iphone of the week will never even hear of. The Dukes of Hazard will prove that point. Movies in general have been crappy the last 11 years or so. I think Hollywood hit its peak in the mid 1990’s when the Pulp Fiction type movies were hot. I have not seen a good flick since 2000.
    Dont waste your money of this movie like I did, especially in this economy. Hollywood has enough money, but Im sure we will be seeing them infront of congress soon begging for a bailout.
    This movie was so bad it made the Star Wars movie with Jar Jar Binks seem like Gone with the wind. F Hollywood

  42. SHE STOPPED TO CONSOLE THE CHILD, AND KLAATU REALIZED THAT “(HUMANS) HAVE ANOTHER SIDE”

    EMOTIONS, WORRIES, FRET, LOVE, PAIN, MEMORIES, ETC!!

    THUS THE POINT OF THE MOVIE!

    DIPSHIT

  43. 5 is acceptable…Jaden Smith was terrible and even Jennifer Connelly, albeit visually stunning and an above average actress, could not save this overhyped flick. Keanu was Keanu and again, Will should be ashamed of his son

  44. SPOILER ALERT: like i said i hated the ending, which you could tell was rushed because Klaato just goes and gives us a second chance. He decided to after Jaden’s character cried????? I was like “ok….”
    when they were running into the tunnel, and the bugs were chasing them, i was a little on the edge of my seat, and literally like 3 minutes later, boom1 it’s done!? so rushed, but i didn’t mind the film

  45. and i forgot to mention this, they completely rushed the ending, and a cuople of times i was thinking “please don’t end like what i think your going to end like” however, it did. i still give it a 7 because i really enjoyed it, but there was so much wrong with this. A critic i listen to every friday morning said it should be called “the hour and 40 minutes where nothing happened” i’m sorry, but i have to agree. Even nothing really happened in the disappointing ending. Still, I can’t see anyone fit Klaato better than Keeanu did, he was amazing! Liked it, like i said, but wow what a shame of an ending

  46. Also, if you never say the original, please people shut the hell up. It’s imperative that you see the original movie and the real message of this film. There is a lot lost in translation regarding the remake.

  47. I have to agree. Jaden Smith was completely mis-casted. What a stupid decision to use him. He also really ruined it for me. Otherwise I think a 7 our of 10 would be appropriate. Although the original was so much better.
    Jennifer Connolly was really cute in this movie and I enjoyed her. Back to the kid, oh my gosh, horrible horrible horrible.

    What a bad move by the producers.

  48. The kid annoyed me too but it is a little short sighted to not recognise that the story of this kid, his step mother and dead father were key to Klaatu recognising that the human race deserved a chance. It wasn’t a pointless part of the film, just perhaps over (maybe badly) done.

  49. i liked the movie, don’t kill me, however, the ending was a really bad one.
    no action, bad dialouge, and it was just somewhat dragged out. An incredibly rushed ending and i could tell they didn’t have anymore reason to carry on the film so it just ended, with an ending that wouldn’t have really happened. However, despite all that, including Jaden Smith playing the role good but his character a bad one, honestly, i liked the film, i would give it a 7. i really liked it, but noticed a lot wrong with it.

  50. Ok. wow. Every Single Review of this movie has been rough, so Im posting why I liked this movie. I thought the movie was amazing and I think that alot of reviewers Missed alot of things. First, the movie avoids alot of typical hollywood stuff that made me groan when I thought it was approaching.. Thank god. You think there is going to be a car chase…nope(Thank god). You think there is going to be romance between Klatu and the woman….nope(thank god x2). And you think that when Klatu says “You must die for the earth to live”, when I first heard that, all I could think was “OMG how typical”. It wasn’t. The trailer was misleading and this really peaked my interest in the movie when it finally did occur.
    Alot of people complained about the kid but I think the kid was needed in the movie. Infact the Snotty Brat Kid was Exactly what the movie needed. When you first see the kid, all you can think is “Why, would the directors do that? Why the hell is this kid, who isn’t even related to Connely’s character, here”. and to me…thats the point. The Kid isn’t related to connely’s character. He’s the kid of some guys other woman. They’re not even related. The kid is abnoxious, thinks that the aliens should die and, to me, shows the typical human attitude towards things. Which is “use violence”. I don’t even agree that this movie was a “green movie”. Perhaps everyone missed the INSANE amount of vehicles that surrounded the sphere at the beginning. A bit of overkill. And what is the first reaction of the police an military upon seeing the alien…They shoot him. WTF does this have anything to do with enviromental issues? Nothing. The movie is about our destructive tendacies on everything, not just the enviroment.
    If you’ve seen the original version of this movie, then you know it had a theme of “Nuclear destruction”. The new movie follows a similair premise but just using, “Mans destructive effects” as a theme or premise.
    So, I notice that people compare it to the original and say things were changed and left out. Yes they were…and thank god some of them were. First, it is a remake and it needs to be tailored to our generation a bit more. So some changes I can accept. I noticed that one person Said “he didnt Say “Klatu berati nikto”. I thought the same thing when I saw the movie and I was expecting it and I’m damn glad that they didn’t say it cause it would ahve made the movie worse. For all of you Movie buffs out there, you will recognize that the words “klatu something Nikto” were also used in another movie “The army of Darkness”. I think it’s a Sam Raimi Film. When ash, along with his boomstick, find the Necronomicon, Ash must repeat the enchantment “Klatu Berati Nikto” to seal the power of the book(or something).

  51. Klatu, well put. Since the ending of this movie was anticlimactic, I have a better one. Gort (after experiencing a case of robot diarrhea) reaches down and picks up the brat. He then wipes his ass with him (ie his $500.00 hairdoo) and throws him in the air like gunslinger does silver dollar. Gort then blasts the annoying little bastard with his patented eye laser, but not at full strength (no, that spoiled little brat is going to suffer like we had to suffer through the whole movie). The scorched and stinky little creature is now falling back to earth at a very high rate of speed and headed directly for the secretary of defense. He hits her like a ton of bricks and they end up in a crumpled heap. Gort, the efficient robot that he is, makes sure the job is done by vaporizing the hell out both miserable characters and the world is now a better place.

  52. Never saw original but will rent it I thought the movie was very good I loved the green message at the end of the movie Keanu Reeves nailed his part maybe sci fi fans want the world to end for real and can not handle a black kid with a white woman ? If Bush was president in the movie he would have destroyed the planet just like he destroyed our economy !
    Save our planet from the human race !

  53. Sweet Jesus, this is one of the most insanely stupid movies I have seen in years. Along the lines of sci-fi, “The Core” was better than this… that says it all.

    By the end of this movie, I had figured out why they made it. It was made almost entirely to be a “green message” to all of us. This was THE “New World Order” poster movie. Politically Correct bullshit strung throughout, such as the white woman who married a black man, and he was KIA in Iraq. And wow, the character that annoying piece o’ shit kid played… if my child spoke to me that way, he would be eating his fucking fruit roll-ups out of a blender for a long time.

    Anyways, before I go into too much of a rant… do not waste your time or money on this so-called “movie”. I’m pretty pissed off that I wasted $10.00 – seriously, what an absolute joke.

  54. The movie was another Hollywood left wing subliminal left wing agenda that hijacked a great original film and rendered it into a failed political statement.

    It should have read: Al Gore as Klatuu, Hillary as the Secretary of Defense, and Obama and his momma as the annoying kid and worthless left wing, ultra liberal, giving aid and comfort to a foreign enemy. Instead of rampant nuclear arms being the arbiter of destruction to human civlization as in the original film; it was Al Gore’s treatise of humans killing Earth suggesting it was Bush. What a crock!

    What a sore disappointment. Another shameless and arrogant attempt by Hollywood liberalism to inject their agenda into our psyche with implanted film messaging. Shameful.

  55. For those of you who are suggesting this movie deserved more than a 5 out of ten, did you see the same movie? If I were reviewing this, it would be closer to 3…

    This was point blank the worst film I’ve wasted cinema money / time out of my life to watch this year. Hand on heart I think Starship Troopers 2 was a better film, and that sucked so bad it should never have gotten in front of a camera, let alone transferred to a VHS.

    I don’t care about the acting, I don’t care about the CG, I don’t care if Will Smith’s son was boring / annoying / whatever, my only thought at the end of this film was, “So what?”. With a good story, you can make event the worst acting enjoyable and even the worst CG look good… the story just came off so dry and pointless.

    How very very dissapointing.

  56. Dear Film Critics… I have never been moved to comment about a movie before but this one I am thrusted to make a statement. Here was another golden opportunity to remake a classic into a next generation classic, building on the excellence and fore-sight of the genius of the original. Instead we are again subjected to the social engineering of the politically correctness that hollywood has proclaimed as their responsibility.

    This piece of digital trash was a paid (by the consumer) political announcement on how we need to think and how we need to tolerate several pronounced “hip” themes that have been so reduntantly pushed that they are rapidly loosing their significance.

    I for one do not want to go to a SCIENFICTION MOVIE and be subjected to yet again the “we are a bad specie” because we have yet to figure out how to transport our selves efficiently enough without toxic vapors. We will… figure it out. We will over come this challenge.

    What discust me more then anything else about this rendition of The Day The Earth Stood Still is that it was nothing about what the original theme so elegantly stated… “If you bring your instinct for self destruction beyond your own boarder the planitary police will end your existance.” Now environmental issues are important…” Very important. But what is even more important is for us all to stop killing each other over differences of opinions. The environmental issues will quickly become extinct if we cannot solve this destructive human trait…

    And one more observation. Everyone who recognized the two themes in this film… ie., 1. Environmental Stewardship, and 2. The Abandoned Child… and commented on the later are correct. This story had no place for an angry child who lost not just one, but both parents and is now the step child of a women who has very little in common with him. There are no grand parents, aunts or uncles? No… this was a feable attempt to again remind us that we are all the same. Right? Poly-Correctness at its worst!

  57. I saw this yesterday, and I have to say it was disappointing. I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t. Too much time was wasted on things irrelevant to the plot, and the end was noticeably anticlimactic, to say nothing of the fact that the original ending was completely ignored. It was done right the first time. This remake was totally unnecessary.

  58. The movie was ok, I was a little disappointed with the ending and the fact that “Klaatu” did not speak to more people like the group of world leaders and scientist at the end like the original and I wanted to see Gort do more and to see a modern ship but all you saw was the stupid giant sphere.
    And where was the classic phrase ‘Klaatu barada nikto’ when you think of the original you think of that phrase and they left it out? I know a remakes arent exact but to leave that out is too much.

  59. It wasn’t that bad of a movie. It wasn’t as good as the original – I’ll give you that, but it wasn’t that bad. I’d give it a 7 our of 10. There have been a lot worse sci fi movies than this.

  60. With total disregard to the story and plot, this movie is simply “The Matrix 4 – Neo’s Playground”. Watch the movie and you’ll notice that he is simply in the matrix again, and does several things Neo would do. I think he was the perfect one for this role because of Klaatu’s powers are very similar to Neo’s. Subliminal Perception is sometimes the only way to enjoy crappy movies and some really good movies really suck when you watch them under the influence of perception altering substances like MJ. Watching this movie with the idea, “That’s Neo” , will greatly improve the enjoyment.

  61. I saw the movie. I loved everything about it and most especially GORT.
    I’ll be watching it again this Friday.
    I hated that Jaden kid. I kept hoping he would fall into a river or something.

  62. SPOILER ALERT:

    Well, I saw it with my teenage daughter (who thought it was an okay popcorn movie, but nothing to write home about). Keanu Reeves was horrific. Wooden. Stiff. BORING. But beyond that, my beef is that the movie just missed the mark entirely from the message of the original. And the climax of the original (where the actress must somehow remember the important message to give to the robot and save the world) was totally lost, since the robot in this movie disintegrated into a million bugs. And I’m sorry. I really am, but Jaden Smith did indeed suck. I hate to say that about a kid, but he was such an afterthought that it was unbearable to watch. It was clear stunt casting that required ongoing dialogue to explain his being black–nobody came right out with the race issue, but it was clear that’s why they had to keep talking about him being her stepson. It would have been easy enough to give Jennifer Connelly a kid of her own with a father/husband that died, but since it was so damn obvious that they wanted Jaden Smith in the role, they had to keep explaining how she was his stepmother. It got old. And the character, as written, was not only NOT CHARMING, he was a royal pain in the ass. Did anyone else notice his billing? Pretty high in the credits. A complete travesty. Actually, he was the worst thing about this picture.

    And so many GREAT actors in this movie. The fabulous Kyle Chandler–his lines were laughable. Kathy Bates?? In this???!!! She was also a joke.

    But again…A popcorn movie. Much like The Day After Tomorrow. But certainly not worth my ten bucks!!! This is something you MIGHT see OnDemand if you have NO OTHER CHOICES. But do not pay ten dollars for this dumb movie.

  63. My wife and I just saw this movie last night. I just had to make a comment on how dissapointed we were. Not as entertaining as the original. I was particularly ANNOYED with the character portrayed by the mop, I mean Wil Smith’s kid. The movie would’ve better off without him. A movie is supposed to be entertaining, not annoying. He didn’t belong in this movie AT ALL. I was hoping he would get a full strength laser blast from Gort or get caught in the crossfire, something, just get him off the @#$%ing screen! Anyway don’t waste your money.

  64. The original reviewer was too kind.

    This movie should be called “Will Smith is a powerful man in Hollywood”

    How many pointless scenes with that boy does it take to embarass these people? Reeves and the rest must have nearly died when they saw the final version.

    I’m not saying anything bad about the kid, but it was REALLY embarassing. I so much wanted to see that cool robot do his thing but it was more like “ok here’s 5 minutes of that robot, now back to a closeup of that kid crying”

    I can’t believe I spent 14 bucks at the matinee for this crap

  65. Typical Hollywood junk. Nothing comes out of Hollywood that’s any good anymore because the current film industry is filled with morons whose only goal is self enrichment. Its all about the money. Current Sci Fi films are some of the worst becuase noboby in the film industry knows anything about science. I’d fall out of my chair if any of the current crop of Hollywood screenwriters, directors or producers came up with an original thought or made a thought provoking science fiction movie. Current movie making is stictly pablum for the dumbed down masses designed to enrich the Hollyood elite for the least outlay of creative input or talent.

  66. I agree wholeheartedly with your review. I actually really hated the movie. I loved the 1951 version, it had an excellent message and it was really well done for the time period. This movie started out well and then fizzled out into nothing. The problem of the story wasn’t even resolved! I’m terribly upset that I wasted $10 on this movie, it put the old one to SHAME.

    I thought the kid’s part was really cute! However, totally unrelated to the story.

  67. The original movie featured a very likeable space man who came here to warn us that his people had created a race of robot policemen, “who patrol the planets in spaceships, like this one”. These robots were given absolute authority over anyone who was acting aggressively- so the aliens were forced to live in peace or be eliminated for their violence. That was the big surprise in the original; there is nothing at all about “Stop fighting among yourselves or we will destroy you!” (as many have mistakenly interpreted it)- the aliens were harmless, the danger was with the ROBOTS, and ONLY “if you threaten to extend your violence”. As [the real] Klaatu said, “It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet”… so, how did this hour and a half of TRASH end up being called “a remake”????

  68. I enjoyed the first 20 minutes as it hooked me setting up the Jennifer Connely character, but after that it just falls apart. When all is said and done it turned out to be fairly awful. Word of mouth will be toxic as people were walking out of the theater saying it was really bad!

    Chuck

  69. Thanks for the voice of commonsense Dan. Having read so many comments that seemed to be more concerned about slagging people off I was beginning to think I’d accidentally logged onto the website version of Trisha! I naïvely thought this website was about giving one’s opinion on the film.

  70. I saw it today and i loved it but one friend with me said he hated it and my other friend said he thought it was ok. so i mean its just ur opinion, which is the reason we shouldn’t trust critics. If you think it looks good just go see it

  71. “The Day The Earth Stood Still” is a great movie if u look deep into its shows America and the whole world dying physically&spiritually,,,,,i see repent all the way through this movie..people have the free will to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior…destruction and murder is and will increase…suddenly Jesus will come back for the Church

  72. dont waste a penny on this POS/ total waste of time. politicaly correct BS – whit mom black kid- dad killed in th earmy/ global warming……… BS.

  73. “I haven’t seen either the original or this version yet and I’m still astonished how everybody’s a critic.”

    Thanks for starting my Saturday evening off with a chuckle. You’re ‘astonished’ how everyone’s a critic? Why? What part of that notion ‘astonishes’ you? Quite frankly, I’m astonished that you’re astonished.

    “So the lesson to be learned is not what goes into the movie but what comes out of the movie. What can you take out of the movie? Are you smart enough, imaginative enough, to fill in the holes? Do you want movies that come straight out and tell you what is what or do you want to watch something that will have you shake your head in disbelief and get you thinking again? Different people get different ideas/feelings from the same thing. Should they just pander to only one way of thinking or try to reach a broader spectrum? And if you are trying to reach as many people as you can, do you really think anyone can effectively do this where someone is still not disappointed or confused? It’s easy to take the low road and critique but why not take the high road and try to understand why you were disappointed and if there was anything positive that you got out of this experience? And if there was even one thing that was positive, how can you dissuade anyone the opportunity to get something positive also?”

    Please tell me this was part of your recent high school debate team smack-down, where the topic d’engagement was ‘Why Critics are Poopyheads and Why We Should All Just Try To Get Along (Can I Have a Hug)’.

    But I will give you top marks for chutzpah, having posted so heartily…never having even seen the movie. What was that about everyone being a critic…?

  74. This movie sucks! I am still trying to figure out how a white step mother from a black annoying kid is supposed to save the world. If anything, this movie should be called John Hancock Part II

  75. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. I haven’t seen either the original or this version yet and I’m still astonished how everybody’s a critic. I will still go see this movie and rent the original and decide for myself if it was worth my investment. There are some that claim that the story is weak and doesn’t go as far as it should while opposing sides say it is a cheesy attempt by Hollywood to enlighten people about the state of the world. Sure, the original was a classic but how can you ruin something that is already a classic? Remake or not, they can’t just tell the same story the same way so they have to change it up while keeping some basic concepts. But aren’t all movies like that and in that sense, remakes of other classics? How many movies have you seen that retold the story of Romeo and Juliet?

    Even before seeing either movie, I can tell you that what the movie lacks is time. There was too much to encompass in such a short film. The Lord of the Rings movies turned out better because they were epic films with time to fill in more details. I’ve heard reviews that there were too many holes in the plots and questions left unanswered and later on complaining that Hollywood is saying that humans are stupid and unable to learn. If anything, both Hollywood and those who critique are proving exactly this point.

    So there are many that say the original was WAY better than this even though less money and special effects went into the original. So the lesson to be learned is not what goes into the movie but what comes out of the movie. What can you take out of the movie? Are you smart enough, imaginative enough, to fill in the holes? Do you want movies that come straight out and tell you what is what or do you want to watch something that will have you shake your head in disbelief and get you thinking again? Different people get different ideas/feelings from the same thing. Should they just pander to only one way of thinking or try to reach a broader spectrum? And if you are trying to reach as many people as you can, do you really think anyone can effectively do this where someone is still not disappointed or confused? It’s easy to take the low road and critique but why not take the high road and try to understand why you were disappointed and if there was anything positive that you got out of this experience? And if there was even one thing that was positive, how can you dissuade anyone the opportunity to get something positive also?

    You can’t please everyone. What is good for some are bad for others. What is right for some is wrong for others. Whatever reason you may have/or had to want to see this movie, don’t let anyone else keep you from seeing it. Satisfy your curiosity and make up your own mind.

  76. This movie is wet fart in the middle of a long road trip. You are all excited about the destination but than the whole trip is ruined and you head home to get a change of pants.

    Spoilers… (Or “Savers” if you don’t want to waste $10)

    The aliens arrive in the usual idiotic fashion that makes the Conquistadors arrival in the new world look like a well planned diplomatic mission. The response by the Americans is predictable and right out of the Hollywood cliche’ handbook of STOOPID Americanism. The military’s lack of common sense is matched only by the oblivious idiocy of the enlightened Klatu who only realizes that killing 6 billion people is a bad idea when he sees a child crying about his dead daddy. Than the whole movie wraps up with an unexplained sudden ending as Klatu turns off all the lights and leaves. So now what? Are we left in the dark ages forever? Is the blackout a temporary measure to teach us a lesson or can we look forward to a Mad Max style sequel where humanity splits up into tribes and starts killing each other while they all starve to death in famine in a new enlightened more green style of misery?

    Avoid this turd. Word of mouth should kill it off in a matter of weeks. But on the bright side the Wolverine preview looked pretty cool.

  77. the only time i ever used someone elses display name was when i used gwyneth paltrows to curse someone out who dissed her…you dont mess with The Paltrow and get away with it

  78. TDTESS is a bomb. Most disappointing movie of 2008. And we’ve see most of them. This fiasco was probably the fault, first of all, of the producer who didn’t demand a better script, a better writer, or a better director. Maybe there was a money problem, the way this production gives up and pulls the plug at the end. Pardon the misnomer, since TDTESS doesn’t actually have an ending. It just stops. Monoliths, whether genuine blocks, or spooky spheres, have been old hat since Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” That was 1968. Spheres themselves have been passé since “The Prisoner.” That was 1967. Reeves isn’t all that bad. Connelly is marginally okay. But Kathy Bates is painfully miscast, as is John Cleese. TDTESS is not our all time worse movie, that dishonor goes to “Wild, Wild West,” 1999, and “Clue,” 1985. Sadly, TDTESS ain’t a lot better.

    1. Whoever cast Kathy Bates for this movie should be fired on the spot. This movie would have been a lot better if we did not have to suffer through all of the horrible acting of Bates. For the most part I like Bates – but in this movie she SUCKS! Her bad acting takes away from the rest of the movie. She needs only to play roles that typify the average American Housewife etc. She by no means makes for a high powered “Defense Secretary” The producers should all be kicking themselves for agreeing to cast her. BATES – I bet you laughed all the way to the bank on this one… But, I hope in the future people avoid watching movies with you in it – cuz you stunk up what could have been an okay flick…

  79. My guess is that ‘Jordan’, ‘Paul’ and ‘Dan’ are either the same person posting under different names (My first question is ‘WHY?!?’) or they’re part of some bizarre cult. (Again, ‘WHY?!?’)

    Regardless, their comments, in contrast to just about everyone else’s, are downright creepy.

    Ironically, I’m finishing reading a novel that’s as deplorable as this movie…and suffering through each…and every…page. Ugh.

  80. mofo toshio

    I just saw the movie in IMAX. I have never been disappointed with watching a movie in IMAX before. But the TDTESS, well, I have to say, I regret every single penny I spent on the ticket. the special effects do not at any moment satisfy the use of IMAX technology.

    Don’t compare it to the dark knight, as it doesn’t even come close to that.

    As for the script, acting etc, totally crap. In fact, the whole movie is pointless, and the end is so abrupt, that you just feel that you’ve been duped.

    I’m against piracy, but for this movie, I think you would be more than satisfied by a boot legged copy!!!!

  81. I just came back from seeing the film. In a nut shell, i’ve enjoyed seeing Keeanu in this film, i also enjoyed the climax that the movie gave,

    I didn’t appreciate how the movie didn’t complete the climax with an appropriate closer or a more thrilling ending. If there were any way possible to have changed the orginal script then for the benefit of arguement then it should have been done.

    overall i give the movie 6, and 9 for suspense! Action was 6, creativity 7, and orginality 3. Definently could have been better but i’ll settle.

  82. I had high hopes for this remake but was pretty disappointed. If you’ve seen the trailers, you’ve seen the best scenes, which aren’t that good. I cannot imagine worse casting or dialogue- seriously, Kathy Bates as Secy of Defense?? I cannot suspend that much disbelief. John Cleese is on screen for about two minutes and there was no attempt to even connect the “math on the blackboard” to anything else in the movie- it was as if the writers had certain scenes they promised to keep no matter how forced they seemed. The Jennifer Connelly charater and her “stepson” seemed like they just met at the beginning of the movie and never could stand each other. Special effects were ordinary at best and it seemed like I’d seen most of them before (how could the insectoids eat a whole stadium in five seconds and be over Manhatten for several minutes without much effect??
    Finally, after being hit over the head with “man’s destruction of the planet” (can a movie be made without this theme anymore?) throughout the movie, the ending mercifully did not include the requisite lecture and simply ended. Nothing to give away here since the story was utterly predictable.

  83. I just saw it today and it was very good. It kept me on the edge of my seat; very intense. The only thing I was disappointed with was the ending but still overall is was well worth seeing. If you like intensity buildup and cool special effects, you’ll enjoy this movie. It’s not all action, but it still moves along well and the intensity and suspense keeps your eyes glued to the screen. And I have to say Keanu might not be the best actor, but he does have screen presence and he’s cool. He’s at his best in sci-fi movies so he should just stick to that genre and give up the boring romance movies. I am even considering seeing it again next week.

  84. *** SPOILER INFORMATION****

    Just saw the film. It was AWFUL! What a way to ruin a classic film. This version has NOTHING on the original.

    Plot, (Global Warming) WEAK! Beginning sequence disjointed and confusing! More holes in this story than swiss cheese!

    What did the opening sequence have to do with the story?

    Klaatu walks out of the “Globe” (where is the ship???) and just as the good Dr. is about to shake his hand, he is promptly shot! He wasn’t reaching for anything but a handshake the universal sign of ‘hello’.

    Klaatu is taken to makeshift hospital where we learn that he was walking in a ‘placenta’ suit one minute and then the next minute they are marveling about how he was ‘just born’. ???

    Later in the film he uses some of this ‘placenta’material to bring back to life a cop he just KILLED.
    It grossed me out when he stuck his finger in the ‘planceta’ and then in the dead cop’s mouth!

    Why did he bring the cop back, if he was on a mission to kill the entire human race?

    Later we learned that the Globes were all over the planet, and they were the ‘ARK’ that was saving stuff to be used after the world was ‘cleansed’. (They actually used the word CLEANSED in this context)

    Then there is the ACTING, (If you can call it that)

    The acting was DEPLORABLE! Probably the worse I have seen in any movie in the last 10 years!

    Kathy Bates as Sec of Defense SILLY, OVER THE TOP, NOT BELIEVABLE. ( I kept looking for her to break somebody’s ankles)

    “The One” as Klaatu is just plain PITIFUL and PAINFUL to watch! He sleep walks thru almost the entire film. (Oh wait that is what Reeves calls ‘acting’)

    Jennifer Connelly was terrible also. She was not believable as a Scientist nor as a mother! She never connected with Reeves or Jaden Smith on any level! (It may not have been her fault, I don’t envy what she had to work with!!!)

    And the Simth kid, What in the world made them think this kid could act! I looked for the credits to see if they were the producers on this film! I didn’t see their name! How did this kid get the part!

    It didn’t help that the part they wrote for him was as a spoiled brat who needed his butt….. (I wish I would call an adult who is now my mother by her first name….)

    I would not even rent the DVD to see this movie, I am sorry I wasted $6.00 on it.

    Save your money, The Day the Earth Stood Still was when I wasted an hour and 40 minutes of my time watching this crappy film!

    Thank you “HollowWood” for messing up another Classic Film! “No soup for you”!

  85. I’m a big fan of the original and have been waiting for a remake. Sadly it sounds like they missed the mark on this one. Not unusual for Hollywood these days.
    I can’t wait to see what the Southpark gang does with this one.

  86. This is a good remake and has great special effects. I liked the indepth story line and was very happy with the acting. It deserves to be watched. I also imagine many people not liking it because of its pertinent message but it would be a shame to give it negative feedback because of this. I understand some will have valid reasons though if there making a comparison to the original classic. Its just a shame aliens haven’t come down to save the earth as we don’t seem to be doing a good job so far!

  87. John;

    Just got back from seeing it.

    I agree with your assessment.

    As it’s my feeling that everything begins -and often ends- with the script, this one was ABYSMAL.

    A horrible, horrible, horrible effort.
    Should never have been filmed. (And not because it’s a remake; I honestly don’t give a toss about the original.)
    For once, Reeves’ acting was appropriate…and not the worst thing about a film he’s in. (That’s kinda strong, considering I’m a fan of his.)

    I would recommend it…to NOBODY.

    I want my money back, my time back…and some time in therapy wouldn’t hurt. LOL

  88. i just got back from watching this movie and had a few things to say. for all you people going to watch this movie, get ready. the special effects are outstanding. i thought the giant globe was coming right out at me! the storyline sucks a little, as the plot unfolds that its all about pollution and the o zone layer. this is made up by intelligent acting and supreme filming talent.

  89. It was awful. It really was. I havent fully watched to original, so im not seeing this through the eyes of some sci-fi aficiandao or fanatic, but id still like to think i have reasonable taste in sci fi movies, as its my genre of choice. This is the worst hindenberg of a disaster, i have ever seen in my 23 years. I dont even know where to being. I love sci fi because it asks us to suspend our belief sometimes, not in spite of that. But i have to draw the line somewhere. This movie was so utterly ridiculous: the governments response to the alien, the poor effects, the miscasting of two of my favorite actors, the annoying kid, the plot holes, the terrible endingm the overuse of cgi, the least scary robot ive ever seen, terrible acting from academy award winning kathy bates- the list just goes on and on and on and on. The movie just kept getting worse, even when i swore that it could not. Avoid this like the plague for real.

  90. lol i was never gone lol
    its just my comment was erased because i coursed out a very ridiculously aggressively retarded individual

    no but i really want to know about the x men trailer!

  91. JOHN

    i have a very important question for you

    did they show the wolverine origins trailer?
    if so did it look like shit or was it awesome?

  92. And how do you know he didn’t get the part the fair way? Maybe he auditioned and they liked his performance.

    As far as the movie goes, John, thanks for the review. I had been looking forward to this movie but I think I’ll skip it and wait for the DVD.

  93. Am I jealous Will Smith isn’t my dad? Yes. Yes I am.

    Does Jaden Smith’s performance still blow, and should movie stars’ kids have to get their parts the fair way like everyone else? Once again, yes.

  94. Ok Nate props to you for trying to pursue a career in something you love, most people don’t have the balls to pursue their dreams.

    Maybe nepotism sucks, but I absolutely can’t hold a grudge against self made people who want to give their family every chance that they didn’t have.

    In his review, John called the kid and the character annoying, which I’m sure is accurate. He didn’t say he hated him.

    The comments you made sound a lot like jealousy to me.

  95. John,

    You were generous… I gave this thing 1.5/5 stars.

    http://screenrant.com/day-earth-stood-still-reviews-vic-4527/

    I also found it weak that they didn’t have the balls to come right out and say what they implied about the environment. What a weak, lame concept for a remake of the original.

    And to Nate, while I hated the CHARACTER that Jaden played (annoyed the living hell out of me) I certainly have nothing against the kid personally.

    Vic

  96. ok so i seen this movie and i have to say that a 5 is way to low…i seen other movies that u have rated and it astonishes me how u rate movies john….a 5 wow thats pretty bad…..this movie is more like a 7…some of the cd graffix were crap but some where really good…….and its funny when people say hack director….dude who gives a shit if your job is similiar to johns at themovieblog…..what u want a dam cookie…haha internet ego king……now im not saying this movie is a great movie but a 5……thats like putting it on line with a paris hilton movie….and this is better then that for sure.

    1. i have seen a movie with paris hilton playing an important part in it, and found it to be one of the best movies i’ve seen in years.

      Repo! The Genetic Opera

      you should see it

  97. Why would you HATE Jaden Smith? Maybe he sucked in the movie but it’s not his fault that his dad is the biggest movie star in the world.

    Will Smith built his career out of nothing and he and his family deserve all the success that they have. If I was Will Smith and my son wanted to try acting freakin right I’d let him do it. He should be encouraging his kids to do what they want, reach for their dreams.

    How the #&*( would you know whether or not the kid’s spoiled? Just because his daddy got him his start in movies? He probably is spoiled but in Hollywood this sort of thing is done all the time.

    What are you, a *$&^ communist?

  98. Nice review John. Saw this at a sneak screening last Saturday (my job is similar to yours) and pretty much hated it. Scott Derickson is clearly a hack director and could neither handle the visual effects, actors or even where to put his camera.

    I, too, HATED Jaden Smith. I just hated looking at his awful, spoiled, overprivileged little face. He pissed me off in every scene. He and Connelly had no connection. Connelly was awful. Keanu was good enough.

    But I disagree with you about one thing: how could you say they weren’t heavy handed about the environmental message? Every other line Connelly has is, “We can change!” Every other line Keanu has is, “You’re destroying the earth. You’re destructive.” “We can change!” The filmmakers treated us like retards ’cause they’re retards, and they want this film to sell in the fly over states and Pakistan.

  99. I always thought that the lost father was US realising that we have to grow up!!!! That’s why it’s in the original, In fact it must be in the film and the annoying kid IS the feudal and monetary system humans use.Can anyone tell me what an allegory is?

  100. That’s disappointing. I was really hoping for something better.

    BTW – you should really proofread what you write before posting…weird grammatical stuff all over….

  101. I read another review, saying the movie was crap, but the kid was good and saved the movie from being a total trash heap.

    I love how subjective movies are.

    Reading both review makes me want to go see the movie to form my own (and most likely different) opinion.

    1. it was practically THE MOST ANTICLIMACTIC MOVIE ever, genius. how in hell would klaatu suddenly see that he should stop the destruction through the momentary “truce” between connelly and jaden (the freaking annoying unnecessary-in-the-movie kid)? a real smart alien would vaporize that kid, then leave! haha

    1. A wise comment my friend! Y ou just brought up a very good point! I doubt as many people would be complaining about this movie if it were turned the other way around!

  102. This is one of this year’s worst. I watched the original the night before I went to go out and see this and they really fucked it up. This was a “disaster” from start to finish. I agree with you on the Reeves and Cleese parts, too bad they didn’t have much to work with.

  103. I liked it. It sort of slowly fizzled out and was by no means a high quality film. But it gave me that entertaining popcorn sci fi fun I wanted and I was able to just go with it and enjoy it.

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