Blu-Ray Review:
The Day the Earth Stood Still
By Jason Gillard
*Screen shots are not from the Blu-Ray source.
Movie
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a great example of the classic 1950's science fiction film. I had never seen this movie before and with the remake coming out in the theaters I thought this was a great time to visit it. The plot of the movie is: one day in Washington DC a space craft lands in a baseball field and out of the craft comes Klaatu (Michael Rennie) a human in a space suit. Surrounded by the military he is wounded by a solider that was told not to fire. Then, a rather large robot comes out with the ability to vaporize the soldiers weapons. Klaatu is able to recover from his wounds while in the care of doctors at a hospital. Klaatu wants to meet with world leaders, but he is turned down, so he escapes from his hospital room to find someone on earth who will listen to him. He rents a room and while he is there he meets Helen Benson (Patricia Neal) and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). He learns a lot about Earth's history from Bobby. Klaatu finally meets with one of the worlds most respected scientists and tells him that his people fear all of the human aggression and feel the atom bomb is a threat to their home world. Will the humans listen to what Klaatu has to say or will they treat him as an enemy which could lead to the destruction of planet earth? I guess at this point I want to cue that science fiction music. I actually found this movie to be quite good. There isn't a lot of action and it's mostly a character piece but even though the movie is quite old it was still entertaining. Of course a lot of it is cheesy, but I think that is part of the charm of it. Back then, people were worried about the cold war and that certainly shines through in this film. I think a lot of people who are my age wouldn't even attempt to watch this film, but you should give it a try. There is a reason why this movie is considered a classic.
8.5 out of 10
Video
The Day the Earth Stood Still is presented in 1080p at its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1 which will put black bars on either side of the picture on a widescreen television. The movie is black and white and I would suspect has never looked better. I was surprised at the detail I was able to see in the picture. I was able to see texture on clothing. Black levels are solid which is a good thing since the film is shot in black and white. There were a few spots on the print but nothing that would distract you from the good image quality shown here. I would have to say that the film has probably never looked better and certainly never this good on large televisions.
8 out of 10
Audio
Fox has give the audio a treatment of DTS-HD master audio at 5.1. It has also included the mono soundtrack for the purists out there. The DTS track definitely sounds fuller and more robust. I also felt that the audio plays really loudly and in some cases had me running for the remote. There isn't really any rear surround activity. Dialogue comes across well too. I think they have done an excellent job here and fans of the film will be pleased.
7.5 out of 10
Extras
Here is what you get in the way of extras:
An Exclusive First Look at the New Movie
The Mysterious, Melodious, Theremin
'The Day the Earth Stood Still' Main Title Live Performance by Peter Pringle
Interactive Theremin: Create Your Own Score
Gort Command Interactive Game
The Making of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still
Decoding 'Klaatu Barada Nikto:'
A Brief History of Flying Saucers
The Astounding Harry Bates
Edmund North: The Man Who Made the Earth Stand Still
'Back to Oblivion:' A Documentary
'Farewell to the Master:' A Reading By Jamieson K. Price of the Original Harry Bates Story
Fox Movietone
Theatrical Trailer
Galleries: Interactive Pressbook, Advertising, Behind-the-Scenes, Portrait, Production, Spaceship Construction Blueprints, and Shooting Script.
Isolated score presented in DTS-HD MA 5.1
There is a lot of material here and for fans of this film you're in for a treat. I really enjoyed the making of The Day the Earth Stood Still. This details how this movie was different from the other science fiction movies at the time. It goes into the origins and themes, talks about the director, shooting locations and more. I also really liked "A Brief History of Flying Saucers". This was a fascinating look into current and past UFO cases. UFO historians discuss the most famous cases over the last several decades. I also enjoyed the Decoding 'Klaatu Barada Nikto' .which goes into discussing the political climate when the film was released There is a lot of info here and is an absolutely fabulous selection of extras for the fan of this film.
9 out of 10
Overall
This disc comes highly recommended and is certainly worth a watch. You have a great picture, great audio and a fabulous section of extras. Fox has outdone themselves here with a great selection of material. A classic film has been given a classic release on Blu-ray.
9 out of 10
Highly Recommended.
The Day the Earth Stood Still Blu-ray is available now from Amazon.com