The Day The Earth Stood Still

UK Release: 12th December 2008

Watched on TV: Sunday 19th June 2011

Rating: 12

Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Runtime: 1hr 44mins

Tagline: 12.12.08 is the Day the Earth Stood Still

IMDb Plot Summary: Dr. Helen Benson is summoned to a military facility with several other scientist when an alien spacecraft of sorts arrives in New York City. Aboard is a human-like alien and a giant robot of immense size and power. The alien identifies himself as Klaatu and says he has come to save the Earth. The US military and political authorities see him as a threat however and decide to use so-called intensive interrogation techniques on him but Dr. Benson decides to facilitate his escape. When she learns exactly what he means when he says he is there to save the Earth, she tries to convince him to change his intentions.

My Review: I’m so glad I didn’t listen to the critics with regard to this film. If I had (which I almost did) I would have missed a pretty good film! 

The basic premise of the film is similar to other disaster films, which I’m not often a fan of except The Day After Tomorrow. The use of special effects was evident but it wasn’t reliant on them to tell the story. Instead it was surprisingly character based, even if they weren’t completely ‘fleshed out’ like in the case of Kathy Bates who played Regina Jackson, the President’s spokesmen. However the journey that the film went through was centered on the leads of Dr Helen and her step-son Jacob and their fractured relationship after her husband and his dad died. Throwing Keanu Reeves as the ‘alien’ Klaatu into the mix makes a great dynamic, which made me see it through to the end. 

This film isn’t necessarily a classic (some may argue the original was, which perhaps may be why the re-make didn’t go down so well) but it was a fun watch, with amazingly little cheese. Which is always a Good Thing.

Score: 7/10