The Day The Earth Stood Still [Blu-ray] [2008]

Ok. This is a difficult one. I love the original film. Yes it's black and white and a bit dated and the acting is a bit wooden, but the direction by the great Robert Wise and the story is a classic, and then there's GORT, one of the best robot creations in sci-fi and the classic line "Klaatu barada nikto".

So was it ripe for a remake? In my opinion "yes" as the production values of today could work wonders for the storyline. If they had `remade' it that is! And that is where it goes wrong. This isn't a bad film, it's actually better than I expected after some of the negative reviews I'd read, but it could have been a `Great' film, a modern classic, but it missed the core of the story by a mile and then some!

In the original Michael Rennie is Klaatu who comes to Earth to warn us of impending doom and is shot at by typically overzealous American soldiers. In this version Keanu Reeves is Klaatu but now he's a DNA clone of someone who was killed in the 1920s on a mountain? Go figure. Whoever came up with that concept I don't really know but they must have been on drugs!

Then we have the spaceship. A huge `flying saucer' in the original with an interior, controls, knobs, switches, the whole kit and caboodle, but a huge giant glowing sphere in this version which appears to have no controls, no interior, nothing which tells you it can travel through space or navigate or land anywhere!

But the biggest travesty is GORT. He looks great. Much taller than in the original, a truly GIANT robot. But what does he do in this? Hardly anything is the answer. And when he does decide to kick some human butt he suddenly turns into a swarm of metal insects which proceed to devour everything in its wake. Why? I mean, wouldn't it have been more impressive and a damn sight more exciting and cinematic to have watched a GIANT robot come to life and start blasting everything the army could send at it? The character of GORT was totally wasted, and yet that is one of the most memorable things and images from the original movie, so where is the logic in throwing that away?

It's not all bad though. Keanu Reeves is very good, but I've always considered him to be an underrated actor anyway. He's different and suits this part perfectly. Jennifer Connelly is also good as the woman scientist who befriends and tries to help him. The less said about the kid though the better.

So in summary a good film which could have been a great one if the Director had studied the original more closely and made it into more of a homage than the story he decided to produce.

The original THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL had a huge impact on those of us who watched it; we used to go around spouting "Klaatu Barada Niktu". Wisely the remake elects to have a different story-line which also allows it to avoid THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH territory. The Fifties was alive with the fear of the atomic bomb, the remake has a more ecological element to it, but the moment the US Government is involved (as ever with Hollywood) we know it's all going pear-shaped. It is of course always unwise to question the realism of Sci-fi story-lines but I had to say this one looked a bit wooly. The cost of the new way of life was kept quiet (but I sense it's no iPods for anyone) and the lamentable level of reconnaissance by the higher civilisation indicates they too have a Civil Service. But all in all it passed the time well enough aided by a nicely out-of-it Keanu Reeves, the luminous Jennifer Connolly and the horrid cute kid. I doubt its effect will equal the original.

It's hard to watch this and not compare it to the original, but it's a burden all remakes must carry. The special effects in the original stand up well to this day - within the first few seconds of this remake, Keanu Reeves' beard was less than convincing. So far it's one-nil to the 1950s version.

Instead of a scene-by-scene remake, this film veers away from the original plot in order to stamp its own identity on the title. It uses key images from the original and manages to contain the same central message but delivers it without the beautiful simplicity. I'm glad it wasn't an exact remake (why bother when it was so good the first time?) but I can't help but think that this would have worked better as a standalone film with a different title while acknowledging an influence by the 1951 classic - that way it could have been free to do its own thing and not be compared to a film which simply doesn't need remaking.

Keanu Reeves wooden style works well here, he seems 'otherworldly' and his expressionless face suggests that he is constantly analysing what is happening around him as he realises he must re-evaluate his plans. The extra-terrestrial view that the Earth needs saving from humankind rings uneasily true and it successfully raises questions about the future of mankind if we continue as we are, it reminds us that this isn't our planet - we are simply part of a vast biosystem and we threaten its very existence. Would the world be better off without us? Either way we have the power to give ourselves a second chance, not just in the context of the film but in real life too, it's a message which isn't rammed down our throats but sometimes gets lost in the desire to get a few action scenes in. It's not just an ecological lecture, man's violence against man is perhaps the biggest theme and it is a neat and fitting coincidence that a film using post September 11th paranoia eventually leads to an extra-terrestrial visitor requesting that we start to live in peace.

Despite the modernisation of the film, it does drag at times and seems to try too hard to introduce high concept ideas which don't quite work - again a pitfall of re-working a classic; the need to try and outdo it. This feels more like a made-for-TV film than a blockbuster, a high budget primetime feature designed to re-tell a classic story for a new audience. Hopefully it will inspire younger viewers to revisit the original and give it a new generation of fans. The Blu-Ray transfer is absolutely excellent and the many CGI sequences look brilliant with colours and movement all sharp and not artificial looking. I suspect the picture quality is one aspect which trumps the 1951 film!

In a nutshell: Having recently watched the original, I was keen to see how this would compare, but it isn't a film which needs updating as the core message is one which will always be relevant and the visual effects didn't look too shoddy either. This isn't a poor film, it's just a bit average. I can't really think of anything that this version has over the original - except John Cleese, though the giant Gort does look impressingly imposing.