The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Jaden Smith, John Cleese ... (see more) , Jon Hamm
Renowned scientist Dr. Helen Benson finds herself face to face with an alien called Klaatu, who travels across the universe to warn of an impending global crisis. When forces beyond Helen's control treat the extraterrestrial as a hostile and deny his request to address the world's leaders, she and h... (read more) Renowned scientist Dr. Helen Benson finds herself face to face with an alien called Klaatu, who travels across the universe to warn of an impending global crisis. When forces beyond Helen's control treat the extraterrestrial as a hostile and deny his request to address the world's leaders, she and her estranged stepson Jacob quickly discover the deadly ramifications of Klaatu's claim that he is "a friend to the Earth." Now Helen must find a way to convince the entity who was sent to destroy us that mankind is worth saving--but it may be too late. The process has begun.
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PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.
Directed by:
Scott Derrickson
Release Date: Dec 12, 2008
DVD Release Date: Apr 07, 2009
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Flixster User Reviews
Not terrible, but that's about as much as I can say. I don't know why Hollywood insists on remaking classics. The message of the film is quite heavy handed, which is annoying.
This film wasn't as good as I thought it would be. The special effects in it were good, but the storyline was a bit strange.
Well at least Keanu got to play his favorite type of character - a robot with no emotion or depth. And MAN that kid was annoying.
J'adore l'original de Robert Wise, pour moi celui ci est aussi bon que mon niveau en anglais.
Environmentalists from space? Really? You'd think an advanced alien race would realize that in terms of time, the human race will probably go extinct before the planet does. We have the ability to cause nuclear winter and eliminate most species on... (read more) Environmentalists from space? Really? You'd think an advanced alien race would realize that in terms of time, the human race will probably go extinct before the planet does. We have the ability to cause nuclear winter and eliminate most species on the surface of the planet for a while, but after a couple of hundred thousand years, maybe a few million, life will flourish again. To actually destroy a planet takes a lot more power than we have. And anyway, the sun will take care of that in a few billion years.
The original film focused on human nature and our propensity for violence. This one doesn't. It alludes to it through several scenes that were lifted from the original, but the overall message is completely changed. That and I wanted that little kid dead the whole time. Most annoying kid since Phantom Menace.
This was kinda weak. I was expecting a mind blowing experience but this movie left me walking away unsatisfied. Seemed kinda pointless and absurd.
I wanted to see an alien invasion.
I'm going back to watching zombie movies.
Even it has a good plot and story.
It cannot make any emotion to join the movie.
A very interesting and touching movie filled with the finer points of human nature that would be great if it didn't spend so much time shaking an admonishing finger at the military-industrial complex and demanding that we start recycling.
Critic Reviews
This film is a perfect illustration of how to screw-up a remake despite having a perfect example in front of you.full review
The remake of that fine old fifties alien-invasion picture The Day the Earth Stood Still comes to a standstill about an hour before the Earth does in the wilds of New Jersey.full review
A boldly mediocre remake of the 1951 sci-fi saucer-man movie.full review
I'll give it credit for being at least moderately entertaining, with a handful of effective moments of adventure and suspense. At the same time, it's really quite a shame that the film wimped out on driving the message home.full review
Where the original film was unpretentious, this version, with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu, is insufferably full of itself, an X-Files episode pumped up to pseudo-cosmic proportions.full review
A good portion of this sci-fi disaster movie is unintentionally comical. And the parts that aren't funny are just plain dull.full review
Unfortunately, it's the demise of even passable screen storytelling, rather than the earth itself, to which audiences will be treated in this dreadful remake.full review
Neither offensively bad nor particularly good, The Day the Earth Stood Still may be best remembered for the clumsiness of its intrusive product placement.full review
The new Day the Earth Stood Still lacks the courage of its own eco-pessimism, and the final scenes play like a rushed, embarrassed concession to our need for happy endings, no matter how far-fetched.full review
What shatters your hope for a new classic is the movie's descent into semicoherent spectacle.full review
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