The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

John Chard

10.0

Nov 2, 2013

I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. The Day the Earth Stood Still is directed by Robert Wise and adapted to screenplay by Edmund H. North from the story Farewell to the Master written by Harry Bates. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray and Frances Bavier. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Leo Tover. Classic sci-fi is right here as director Robert Wise gives a beautifully steady hand to Harry Bate's short story. Peace for the world or else is the message and I don't see anything wrong with that…

Filipe Manuel Neto

7.0

Sep 13, 2023

**An excellent sci-fi film.** This is one of the best and most influential films from the early days of sci-fi. The theme was not new, there were several films about aliens and flying saucers, but this is one of the best and most impactful. The script is simple: the atomic arms race was threatening the world with yet another war and the hypothetical insertion of nuclear weapons into rockets led to an alien species fearing for their own safety, as they had learned to live without weapons and in peace. So, they decided to send a messenger to our planet. I find it very interesting that the…

CinemaSerf

8.0

Jun 14, 2024

This is probably Michael Rennie's best cinema role here as he lands his spaceship in the middle of Washington DC. Of course, the Americans panic and surround the thing with tanks and machine guns, and when he emerges looking as human as the rest of us, only clad in a silver suit, they go and shoot him! Luckily, "Klaatu" isn't a man to bear a grudge and from his hospital bed informs the powers that be that he wants a conference with world leaders. This will be a tough ask say the politicians, so he absconds from the hospital and takes up residence in the home of "Helen" (Patricia Neal) and her…