Product Description

Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John CleeseDirectors: Scott Derrickson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4575 in DVD
• Brand: Blu-ray Science Fiction
• Released on: 2009-04-20
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .30 pounds
• Running time: 103 minutes

Synopsis
A remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic of the same name, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL follows astrobiologist Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) as she is unceremoniously plucked from her everyday life with her stepson (Jaden Smith), and whisked away to consult the government on a top-secret matter. That matter happens to be the arrival of a massive glowing sphere in Central Park, accompanied by a towering robot-like protector dubbed Gort and an alien ambassador named Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), who takes up human form to communicate with the people of Earth. When Klaatu finds himself faced with hawkish, uncompromising officials, he goes on the run with Benson and her son as the fate of the world gradually becomes clear.

Directed by Scott Derrickson (THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE), this reimagining of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is fairly reverent to the original film, while adding a number of 21st-century elements, most notably a darker tone embodied by a more threatening Gort and the chilly, contemplative Klaatu, who is portrayed with pitch-perfect remove by Reeves. While the film--and the fate of humanity--rests on Reeves's shoulders, the cast is impressively filled out by Connelly and Smith, along with Kathy Bates, John Cleese, and familiar TV actors Jon Hamm (MAD MEN) and Kyle Chandler (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS). Derrickson also tempers excellent special effects with a bleak colour palette and plenty of existential turmoil, making this EARTH a thoughtful and fascinatingly moody blockbuster.

Customer Reviews

A excellent update of the 1950's classic!!!
I can't believe all the bad reveiws this film is getting; maybe they are not sci-fi fans or don't understand the message behind this version. The original version of The Day The Earth Stood Still was an antiwar film as it was set and filmed during the cold war in the 1950's. This new version is set in present day and is telling people that we need look after our earths environment, because we are slowly killing it in the way that we treat it. This really is a real problem that we are facing right now and we have to think long and hard in how we can be a far more greener race of people. Keanu Reeves is a little spooky as the alien and the robot is at least 20ft tall. There is great support from Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Jaden Smith (who is Will Smiths son). The special effects are fantastic and the reworked story is done very well indeed. The original will always be the best but for me anyway this is a far superior remake then War Of The Worlds which was a real disappointment. The blu-ray transfer is ace and if you like your sci-fi then hopefully you will enjoy this film too.

The Day the Earth Stood Still - Blu-ray
This film feels like another missed opportunity from Hollywood. Formula is the key word here, and they seem to keep releasing the same formula over and over and over and over and over... again. What starts out as an interesting concept quickly fizzles away into another American glory-boy ending - yes they survive again - they CAN change, surely?!

Comparisons to the 1951 original are inevitable, but make no impact here at all. The story follows astrobiologist Helen Benson, a woman who lives a normal life with her stepson, and teaches at Princeton University. When she is unceremoniously whisked away from her home in the middle of the night by government security she is introduced to a top-secret (but not for long) incoming doom. A giant orb appears in the middle of Central Park, and out comes an alien ambassador named Klaatu. He is captured by the Americans, but eventually breaks free and takes both Helen and her stepson with him as the fate of the planet (or at least America) gradually, but inevitably, comes clear.

The film is riddled with Clichés. From the trigger-happy over-zealous American army, inevitable success, "heart-wrenching" back stories to... well... the message at its heart (though I find it hard to believe that humanity could REALLY change that dramatically so quickly, and it seems a bold statement from one astrobiologist). However, the movie IS entertaining, at least until your greeted to the same ending seen in every other Hollywood disaster movie released in the past 5... 10... 15 years. The niggling feeling that "this film could have been awesome" is ever-present when the credits scroll up, and this is the feeling that REALLY stays with the viewer after it's finished. The performances from Jennifer Connelly and Keanu Reeves are perfectly good, and young Jaden Smith is beginning to shine as quite an extraordinary young talent. John Cleese makes a small, but welcome inclusion, and the special effects are really quite brilliant (obviously a high budget). The blu-ray edition looks amazing, with the entire film looking pristine the whole way through. Unfortunately with it being priced so highly, one would wonder whether one would feel robbed after the initial viewing.

Overall feelings of this movie are... rent it, don't buy it. Watch it once and never again... unless the overwhelming urge to rekindle the disappointment are in order. You have been warned...

The Day the Earth Stood Still BluRay DVD
An unusual twist on the original film, but none the less still enjoyable. The HD quality of the DVD increases the enjoyment. A film to see.