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The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951)

An alien (Klaatu) with his mighty robot (Gort) land their spacecraft on Cold War-era Earth just after the end of World War II. They bring an important message to the planet that Klaatu wishes to tell to representatives of all nations. However, communication turns out to be difficult, so, after learning something about the natives, Klaatu decides on an alternative approach. Written by Bruce Janson {bruce@cs.su.oz.au}

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Kelsey Adair

The Day the Earth Stood Still is a great movie for its time period. Surprisingly, there is still a large element of entertainment value today. Much of the entertainment, I found, comes from the cheesy acting and special effects. The special effects could not even begin to compare to what people are used to seeing in movies today. As far as the acting goes, it was entertaining to watch because people today are so much different than fifty years ago. For example, children do not follow the same patterns of “perfection” as little Bobby Benson from the film. It is interesting to watch a child say “Yes, Mom” and “Okay, Mom” every time he is told to do something. I guess it’s just so unrealistic in today’s time to expect kids to act like that. Overall, the movie had some great points presented in a solid, easy-to-follow plot line. The movie brought up questions of world peace in a time that was full of confusion during the Cold War. Knowing that we are still far from world peace, and will probably never get there, it is nice to think about the possibilities of living in a completely civilized world.

Matt Lynch

The Day The Earth Stood Still is a suprisingly good movie coming from the 1950s.  I was pleasantly suprised by this movie.  An alien (Klaatu) comes to Earth with an important message, but of course an American shoots him before he gets to explain this.  Klaatu then escapes the hospital needing to tell his message to the world.  He disguises himself as a normal human being and tries to understand our world.  Klaatu befriends a boy who shows him around and they become very attached.  When the boy and his mother discover who Klaatu is they are terrified.  Klaatu finally meets with a brilliant scientist and explains the need for him to give his message.  The Day The Earth Stood Still is a good movie that shows the flaws in our society and how unaccepting our society is.  The movie might lack on color, action and special effects but it is a good movie that is relevant to almost any generation and is a classic that should be seen by everyone.  I give this movie a 7 for its plot and relevance to everyone across the world.

John Nunns

The Day the Earty Stood Still, despite the lack of effects we today expect to see in a movie, was actually a decent film.  For a film that was made in 1951 to come out with a decent rating is really saying something.  For it's time I can imagine this movie was a big hit.  The story line was able to draw you in and allow one to see the way humans react to the unknown.  In this case the unknown was the alien named Klaatu with an important message of the need for world peace on Earth.  The movie accurately depicts what I think would be our reaction to this alien (firing their guns and just showing sheer terror).  In this way the movie shows a good example of what could happen in the future and what humans would do about it. As for the robot in this movie, it's role is simply to serve Klaatu.  No surprises come from the robot this time.  This was a good movie overall even in our time now and I would reccomend watching it to everyone.

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