FREE: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL 1951 BLU-RAY Movie

Review - Part 2

On a bright Washington D.C. day, a flying saucer lands on the grassy fields of a baseball complex, and from the belly of the craft comes Klaatu (Michael Rennie), a humanoid alien adorned in a space suit. Surrounded by military personnel and hundreds of civilians, Klaatu is wounded in an accidental shooting by an overzealous soldier wielding a Colt .45. A second, larger, more menacing figure then emerges from the craft, a robot, with the ability to vaporize the soldier's weapons. Klaatu is able to miraculously recover from his wounds while in the care of human doctors. His wish to meet with the world's leaders is rejected, and Klaatu escapes from this hospital room in search of someone who may be willing to hear his reasons for landing on Earth. He rents a room where he meets Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray), whom he befriends, and from whom he learns much of Earth's history and culture. Klaatu ultimately meets with the world's foremost scientific mind, professor Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe), and tells him that his people fear the threat aggressive humans with the power of the harnessed atom may eventually pose to their home world. Will humanity listen to reason, or will Klaatu continue to be treated as an enemy, proving his point and possibly spelling the eventual destruction of all mankind?

Review - Part 3

One thing that sets The Day the Earth Stood Still apart from many other films is its to-the-point presentation. No time is wasted introducing unimportant characters or setting up secondary or even tertiary plot points that bog the story down and almost always add nothing but a chorus of groans to the proceedings. Shot after shot, scene after scene, sequence after sequence plays out to no end other than for the betterment of the story. The film also succeeds in creating many memorable and expertly staged scenes. For example, Klaatu at one point enters a house offering a room for rent. The occupants of the house, unaware of his presence behind them, huddle around the television, taking in the latest news of the mysterious spacecraft and its alien inhabitants. The juxtaposition of the family and the alien makes for a fascinating scene and an important moment in the film that will set off a chain of events that perhaps forever will alter the course of history. It is simple yet nevertheless infinitely remarkable filmmaking. Director Robert Wise's (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) direction serves as a model for filmmaking done right, never becoming intrusive or taking emphasis off of the characters or the story, allowing all that makes the film come together harmoniously without a detached sense of style and importance placed on more trivial aspects of the filmmaking process.

Review - Part 4

To that end, most of the film, and certainly its key sequences and lines of dialogue, reinforces the primary plot. So well-developed is the plot that repeat viewings and critical analysis only reveal its complex brilliance in its simplistic presentation. There are few to no mysteries about the story. Klaatu has been sent to warn against aggression. He is at first and throughout the picture met with aggression from those under the command of the men he has come to meet, reinforcing his statement that people "substitut[e] fear for reason." Time after time his attempts at dialogue are met with either violence or petty excuses as to why said dialogue cannot occur. The film's anti-war, anti-atomic age message is never obscured. Even the dialogue is to-the-point, never straying from message. In one scene, Klaatu informs young Bobby that on his world, there are no wars, to which Bobby replies, "geez, that is a good idea!" By film's end, viewers are left only to ponder the impact of Klaatu's visit and determine for themselves the consequences of further aggression, not to mention the film's obvious religious overtones.

Review - Part 5

Aside from the success of its to-the-point storytelling, The Day the Earth Stood Still is also a good old-fashioned entertaining movie, not to mention a technical success. This is riveting cinema; each scene leaves viewers anxious for the next. It is both at once fearful and enthralling, offering up edge-of-your-seat tension while playing as gripping drama. Also uniformly excellent is the primary cast. Michael Rennie is excellent as Klaatu, the alien whose power and purpose is matched only by his calm and collected demeanor. His portrayal in the film -- that as an intelligent, handsome, yet purposeful and politely insistent alien in the shape of a man -- makes the character all the more chilling yet at the same time, particularly as viewed through his relationship with Bobby, compassionate. Hugh Marlowe, Patricia Neal, Sam Jaffe, and Billy Gray also deliver top-notch performances. The Day the Earth Stood Still also features simple yet effective visual effects that lend credence to the story and add a bit of pizazz to what is a very serious, dramatic film. Last but not least, the film's astounding score, courtesy of Oscar winner Bernard Herrmann, is equally melodic, hypnotizing, and chilling, the unique sound of the Theremin (see supplements) in particular lending to the score what has become a trademark Science Fiction sonic experience.

Review - Part 6

Video Quality - 4 out of 5 stars
The Day the Earth Stood Still's black-and-white imagery has never looked better, presented here in 1080p high definition and in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio, which will place black bars on either side of a 16x9 television set. The movie isn't razor sharp in every shot, but it looks fantastic nonetheless, with an appreciable sense of depth, particularly during the film's opening, long-distance shots of Washington. Detail is particularly high; close-ups of articles of clothing, for example, reveal intricate textures. Blacks are deep and dark, looking particularly good at every turn. The print exhibits some spots in a few places, but the image never greatly suffers as a result. The high quality of the transfer even reveals some obvious wires at a most inopportune time that might be seen as a distraction to one of the film's most crucial sequences. Still, the film has never looked better, cleaner, more defined, and certainly never so good on large screens at home as it does here. This is no doubt the definitive home video presentation of The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Review - Part 7

Audio Quality - 4.5 out of 5 stars
20th Century Fox presents The Day the Earth Stood Still with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack, in addition to the original monaural sound presentation. The lossless track makes for a nice improvement of the mono offering, sounding fuller and more precise, noticed immediately during the film's opening credit sequence that is accompanied by the haunting notes of the Theremin. The score plays loudly and pleasantly across the front throughout the entire film. As the craft lands in Washington, the reverberations of its power can be felt permeating the entire listening area. The soundtrack produces some excellent lows within the confines of its original mix. Nothing ever sounds trumped up or phony. There is little in the way of appreciable rear channel activity, but the track does feature a few doses of low frequency effects in accompaniment of several crucial sequences. Dialogue reproduction is fabulous throughout. Much like the video presentation, listeners and longtime fans of the film will appreciate the high quality of this soundtrack.

Special Features and Extras - None. This is a bare bones release. Movie only. I believe this came from the 3 Disc set that included the 2008 Keanu Reeves remake as the disc is labeled not for individual sale or rental.