Big Picture Big Sound

The Films

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008):
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951):

Here, in The Day the Earth Stood Still 3-Disc Special Edition, we have two films from two different eras that are telling of their times. 1951's Earth was a prototypical science fiction B-movie rife with post-war paranoia. Its message of fear that humanity held in its hands the power to destroy the very planet we lived on through the harnessed power of the atom was endemic in 1950's society. In fact, the entire mood of director Robert Wise's 1951 film had an implied sense of Cold War tension married to its time, yet so easily translatable to a modern aesthetic.

The character of Klaatu (Michael Rennie), a strange alien, arriving with a message of warning for us mere earthlings of our impending doom lest we band together and stop our wars and aggressive inclinations was a strong political commentary in 1951, so soon after World War II. Of course, one of the most enduring and iconic images to come out of 1950's sci-fi is of GORT, the imposing, faceless monolithic robot who could destroy the planet at any moment.

Yes, Edmund North's and Harry Bate's story was filled with imagery that was, again, very indicative of the wave of paranoia sweeping the U.S. at the time -- flying saucers, hints of communist invasions, etc. But the story was quite well developed and, unlike a lot of the science fiction that was to follow later in the decade and well into the 1960's, The Day the Earth Stood Still was far more cerebral in tone, and less reliant on fantasy and special effects.

Flash forward to 2008, and director Scott Derrickson's remake of this science fiction classic. Suddenly we have a film where the message is shoved down our throats, the story is very much secondary to the visual effects, and things are not so easy to follow.

Keanu Reeves is cast in the non-emotive role he was absolutely born to play, Klaatu, with an absolutely marvelous looking and acting (she just keeps getting better with age) Jennifer Connelly as the single-mother scientist Dr. Helen Benson whom he is drawn to. Benson must convince Klaatu not to destroy the Earth, or rather humanity, all by herself apparently -- well, not exactly. There is a laughably brief stop off at the great thinker of their age, Professor Barnhardt's (John Cleese) house, who somehow manages to begin to change Klaatu's thinking within a few minutes. There's also the unexplained manner in which Barnhardt figures out that Klaatu is actually the escaped alien that the entire world is looking for without ever being told.

So, why exactly does Klaatu want to destroy humanity? Well, because we're destroying the Earth, and since the Earth is one of only a few planets in the cosmos capable of sustaining life, it must be saved, and he's been sent here to get the job done. I guess the audience is supposed to assume that we're destroying the Earth through global warming, but that fact is never really clarified, it's just reiterated -- again, and again.

What the 2008 remake also lacks in comparison to the 1951 version is a cohesive story. Like the omission of any clarification on how humanity is destroying the Earth, there are several leaps of faith employed, and omissions of dialogue that should move the story forward where there should be some.

Positively, GORT has been updated into a sleek, shiny, downright ominous killing machine made up of nanites that can swarm like a plague of locusts. Thankfully, the filmmakers did not go with any of the numerous GORT designs they had been considering that disregarded the classic iconic 1951 image of GORT. 2008's Earth is, frankly, a veritable spectacle of visual effects that fit quite nicely into the modern science fiction landscape.

The acting is also far superior, with Oscar winners Kathy Bates (Secretary of Defense Regina Jackson) and Jennifer Connelly leading the charge on that front, even with the rather limited and sub par material they are given to work with.

Want a different take on The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)? Check out our theatrical review by Tom Fugalli.

The Picture

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008):

Arriving on Blu-ray in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the 2008 remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still comes with what is now Fox's customary AVC/MPEG-4 video encoding. It is sharp and finely detailed, with a fine grain structure, strong shadow delineation, and natural flesh tones even in its slightly de-saturated, bluish and shadowy color palette. Contrast never blooms, compression artifacts are never an issue, and, frankly, any good HD transfer with Jennifer Connelly in it is worth at least extra half-star in my book!

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951):

The original 1951 film also shows up on Blu in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and in its original black and white; so don't try adjusting your widescreen displays when you see a black and white picture appear with black bars on the sides -- that's how it's meant to be. This 1951 edition also comes in a fine AVC/MPEG-4 encoding that looks wonderful for its age, has obviously been cleaned up with care and attention by Fox, but still retains its grain and film-like appearance and detail. The blacks are inky and the whites are solid without blooming. Convergence issues are nowhere to be found, blooming is not a problem, and the shadow details are exceptional in the Noir-style cinematography.

The Sound

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008):

The remake comes with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix as its primary soundtrack that is guaranteed to give the subwoofer a thorough workout. Low frequencies abound, with the boom of explosions, the flutter of helicopter blades and the roar of car engines. The surround channels are engaged for many discrete sound effects as well as a good amount of ambience to bring things together and dialogue is clean with no audible clipping.

There are also French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 dubbed versions available.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951):

By contrast, as one might expect, the original film's mix is a far subtler affair. Available in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English Dolby Mono versions, there are subtle differences between the two. The 5.1 mix adds a bit of stereo separation to the film's score across the front channels and the addition of ambience to the surrounds, but mostly it sounds nearly monaural. There are also some subtle signs of clipping and the dialogue is less than full, but this is to be expected from a film of this age. The monaural mix offers good balance and clarity, plus the added sense of authenticity that is immeasurable.

The Extras:

Only the 2008 remake is supplied with extras here, but Fox has put some effort into this and provided an abundance of materials that take advantage of the formats superior storage capacity, bandwidth and interactive capabilities. The Day the Earth Stood Still is given the BonusView Picture-in-Picture treatment, along with BD-Java interactivity as well as other featurettes all provided in 1080p/24 high definition. About the only thing missing from this release is BD-live.

The extras available on this release are:

• In-Movie Features:
  • Green Button to access Audio Commentary by writer David Scarpa
  • Blue Button for BonusView PiP track
  • Yellow Button to view Storyboards
  • Klaatu's Unseen Artifact's: The Day The Earth Stood Still Picture-in-Picture Track
• Build Your Own GORT -- Put together your own GORT by selecting from and mixing and matching various body parts.
• Deleted Scenes (2.35:1; 1080p/24):
  • "Equipment is Issued to the Scientists"
  • "Helen and Granier Discuss the Shot"
  • "Extended Version of Klaatu Being Wheeled Down Hallway"
• Re-Imagining The Day (1.78:1; 1080p/24) -- In this featurette the filmmakers and actors discuss remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still for a new era in rather great detail.
• Unleashing GORT (1.78:1; 1080p/24) -- The director and visual effects team discuss the many design iterations GORT went through before they finally decided upon the humanoid shape based on the one from the original film with three-weeks to go before filming began.
• Watching the Skies: In Search of Extraterrestrial Life (1.78:1; 1080p/24) --- Seth Shostak of SETI and Charlene Andersen of The Planetary Society amongst other astronomers and astrophysicists discuss the possibility of and the search for life in other solar systems.
• The Day The Earth was "Green" (1.78:1; 1080p/24) -- News Corp., Fox's parent company, has made a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2010, and this featurette goes behind the scenes on production of The Day the Earth Stood Still to show the many means the filmmakers used to reduce their environmental impact, such as reusing sets, donating wardrobe to Habitat for Humanity, recycling bottles and cans, using mud instead of toxic chemicals to "age" clothing for filming, and more.
• Commentary by Writer David Scarpa -- Writer David Scarpa's commentary is detailed, but rather dull and much of the information he offeres up can be gleaned from the various featurettes.
• Still Galleries
• Theatrical Trailer (2.35:1; 1080p/24; Dolby Digital 5.1) -- The original theatrical trailer for The Day the Earth Stood Still.
• Digital Copy -- Includes a bonus disc with access to a digital copy of the film that can be downloaded to a Mac/PC or iPod/Windows Media-Compatible device.
• D-Box -- Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control systems

 

Final Thoughts

What is meant to be the star attraction in this release, the 2008 sci-fi vehicle for Keanu Reeves, actually misses the mark by a wide margin, but it still provides some awesome reference material for the home theatre system. With the inclusion of the original 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still release as well as a digital download, this would make a good bargain as a purchase, but is at least strong rental material for those who want to compare the two films in their best possible light.

Overall Score:

Where to Buy

• The Day the Earth Stood Still 3-Disc Special Edition on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese
• Director: Scott Derrickson
• Writers: David Scarpa, Edmund H. North
• Producers: Erwin Stoff, Gregory Goodman, Marvin Towns Jr., Paul Harris Boardman
• Video codec: AVC/MPEG-4
• Audio/Languages: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby Mono, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: April 7, 2009
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
  • Audio Commentary
  • BonusView Picture-in-Picture
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Still Galleries
  • Build Your Own GORT
  • D-Box Motion Code
  • Digital Copy
  • 1951 Edition Included (separate Blu-ray Disc)