Movie Review: "The Day The Earth Stood Still"

Many will remember the original black and white movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. It was a classic. This year’s version is a remake. Like most remakes, there are two story lines. The first is the movie itself and it’s message. The second is the contrast between the re-make and the original and it’s portrayal of the cultural changes that occurred between the two movies.

The classic black-and-white version of The Day the Earth Stood Still has been recognized as a Christian allegory: An alien (higher being) taking the form of man comes from the heavens to Earth preaching peace. He's murdered by those he came to save even thought they reject or don't understand his message. He rises form the dead and preaches a message that if not embraced by men they will die. In essence He saves man.

In the 2008 version instead of simply warning mankind to behave, Klaatu (played by Keanu Reeves) and his robot pal Gort (much larger and with more dramatic special effects this time are on a mission to retrieve a sampling of Earth's species ( symbolic of Noah's Ark) before the Earth and Mankind are wiped out. The Earth is dying or should we say being destroyed by man (environmental message). Man had their chance. Now it's time for the higher powers of the Universe to reboot the planet. The emphasis shifted from saving “Man” to saving the “Earth”.

Klaatu is shot and wounded- not killed and brought back to life (i.e. the resurrection imagery is removed). His birth is pictured as his DNA in a cocoon that resembles “placental tissue” growing into a man. The government and military complex is again portrayed as evil and unable to “get it”. Their only solution is violence.

It’s reasonable to view Klaatu as a Christ figure. He arrives from another world and is "born" as one of us. Nonviolent by nature, he has healing power, can restore life to the dead, warns that our sinful predispositions will lead to our destruction, and appears to surrender his life to save humanity. It breaks down from there, but comparing and contrasting the missions of Klaatu and the biblical Jesus could profit mature viewers.

-Larry Dormois, DDS, PhD, etc.