The Day the Earth Stood Still
Binding: DVD
Region: Region 1
Creator: Leo Tover, Bernard Herrmann
Actor: Frances Bavier, Marshall Bradford, John Burton, Wheaton Chambers, James Craven
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, NTSC
Run Time: 92 minutes
ASIN: B00005JKFR
Rated: G (General Audience)
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 2003-03-04
Average Customer Review: 
(From 324 total reviews)
List Price: $14.98
Amazon Price: $6.22 (49 new 33 used available)
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential video:
A hallmark of the science fiction genre as well as a wry commentary on the political climate of the 1950s, The Day the Earth Stood Still is a sci-fi movie less concerned with special effects than with a social parable. A spacecraft lands in Washington, D.C., carrying a humanoid messenger from another world (Michael Rennie) imparting a warning to the people of Earth to cease their violent behavior. But panic ensues as the messenger lands and is shot by a nervous soldier. His large robot companion destroys the Capitol as the messenger escapes the confines of the hospital. He moves in with a family as a boarder and blends into society to observe the full range of the human experience. Director Robert Wise (West Side Story) not only provides one of the most recognizable icons of the science fiction world in his depiction of the massive robot loyal to his master, but he avoids the obvious camp elements of the story to create a quiet and observant story highlighting both the good and the bad in human nature. –Robert Lane
Product Description:
The Day The Earth Stood Still depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary Klaatu (Michael Rennie) who has come to earth with his deadly robot Gort (Lock Martin) to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves–or else. After being shot at by military guards Klaatu is brought to a Washington D.C. hospital where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White (Robert Osterloh) to gather all the world’s leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come to warn them about. Losing patience Klaatu slips into the human world adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience and her inquisitive son. Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu his message and the government’s witch hunt for the alien.System Requirements:Starring: Carleton Young Fay Roope Michael Rennie Drew Pearson Robert Osterloh Patricia Neal Tyler Mcvey Lock Martin Hugh Marlowe Sam Jaffe Billy Gray Frank Conroy Frances Bavier Directed By: Robert Wise Running Time: 92 Min. Color Copyright 2003 Twentieth Century Fox.Format: DVD MOVIE
Customer Reviews
Dated but still highly watchable by Philip
It may be dated but I still found the film very watchable. Early SFI films have a nostalgic atmosphere all of their own.
The Best SciFi movie ever made by Noel J. West Jr.
The Day the Earth Stood Still was decades ahead of its time and being made in 1951 truly makes it so.
Not like the cheap junk that followed being stupid looking, jerky, monster aliens that ate, killed, enslaved or mind controlled every human, this movie has a believable story line with real actors, actresses, acting and a plot.
I saw this movie with my Dad and although he’s gone now remember being a kid and liking what my Dad liked and that was a good thing.
My father served in WWII and only talked of it when he recalled a funny or interesting story that never contained the death or grossness of war. He was able to put that behind him and see this movie as entertaining. As you can read in the inside jacket info the US military (then the War department) would have no part of the movie so the tanks and other military equipment was loaned by the Virginia National Guard.
Remember there was no CGI (computer generated images), heck there weren’t even any computers and special effects were extremely limited. So when and if you watch The Day the Earth Stood Still keep this in mind and don’t expect a display of 2000+ technology when this was made in 1951 and before color movies were a must, it is in black and white. However, you will see real actors, a mostly believable plot and of course remember it was the Winner of the Golden Globe 1951.
The decency of SciFi was not returned to until as far as I remember Star Trek. Also you’ll learn where and what “Klaatu Barada Nikto” means. My son had heard it many times but didn’t know where it came from or what it meant until he watched watch The Day the Earth Stood Still with me. Three generation can’t be all wrong, this is a timeless creation if you can let loose of your must be today stuff to be good intolerance.
Still holds up after all these years by old but not dead
Even as a kid growing up in the 50’s, i knew it was more than just an recycled sci-fi throwaway. We were so bombarded with space travel, alien invader and radioactive charged “big bug” movies back then, it was hard to separate them in my mind. But the 1950’s of my childhood was a science fiction orgy and i loved it. If not on the theatre, i managed to catch every one of them as they were replayed on Saturday afternoon tv.
But this movie stood out then as it still does now. The acting, effects, cinematography, direction and especially the script are just top notch.
I have recommended it to my adult friends over the years and except for the occasional jab at it’s obviously dated effects, every one of them reacted with the same admiration of the story and it’s emotional impact.
We are jaded and spoiled by today’s digital effects. But movies like this remind us of how well a great story, tastefully executed, can have a longer lasting effect on the moviegoer.
A classic movie, and classic reminder that nothing has changed by Jonathan Greenlee
This is a classic Sci-Fi move, the one that put “Klaatu barada nikto” into our vocabulary.
Re-watching this movie reminds us that in 50 years nothing really has changed. We still await (and yearn for) signs of intelligent life in the universe.
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Tags: 1950s, ai, alien invasion, alien invasion movies, aliens, best horror 100 2005, classic, classic movie, classic sci-fi, DVD, dvds, fantasy, flying saucers, movies, science fiction
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