The Day the Earth Stood Still

The Day the Earth Stood Still, 1951
The Day the Earth Stood Still





Each week before I start watching the next list of movies, I send out a mass text or email to my friends in hopes of borrowing DVDs and trying to find someone who might want to watch some of the movies with me. I didn't expect to get the response I got back about The Day the Earth Stood Still, having not really realized there was a bit of breakdown in the lines of communication. Apparently there are two versions of this movie. Perhaps better known or recognized as, "The good one and the the shitty Keanu Reeves one."

I'm both equal parts excited and just okay with watching this movie. At the very least though, I'll be watching "the good one and not the shitty Keanu Reeves one" - right?

After having watched the movie:

(Possible spoilers below)

I loved this movie, and now I'm starting to think maybe Science-Fiction isn't what I thought it would be. 

First of all, I didn't expect for the movie to be in black and white so that was a pleasant surprise. However, my absolute most favorite thing about the movie though was that it took place in Washington D.C. It's similar to what a lot of people say about The Sound of Music, I really enjoyed the scenery. It was exciting to watch the movie and to be able to recall the day I spent in the city with my family when I got to see a lot of the same buildings and National Monuments for the first time. It made the movie feel a bit more personal. However, the cast and a large majority of the crew never actually set foot in the city as the film was shot on the backlot of 20th Century-Fox. All of the footage from Washington D.C. was shot by a second unit crew and was carefully cut in around action sequences and was used as backdrops. The scenes then with Bobby and Carpenter were also part of the second unit and were shot using body doubles.

I also thought it was incredible that the spaceship was made out of plaster of paris, wood, and wire. I guess even though I realize there is a bit of "movie magic" involved in every production I forgot that a lot of times cheaper materials and supplies will still read the same way on film as a more expensive and authentic piece. And just to clear things up, I'm not suggesting that I thought they used an authentic spaceship borrowed from Area 51. I had just automatically assumed some type of fiberglass or plastic had been used in place of plaster of paris. This of course may also be a great reason as to why I have never worked in the Art Department.

As far as the story goes, well I was buying it up until the time Mr. Stevens decided he was going to be a hero by reporting the whereabouts of Carpenter to the authorities. I felt like the story was was paced well enough up until the last ten minutes. It was almost as though the writer realized he was at the top of page 90, and realized he needed to quickly wrap things up or risk not selling his screenplay. Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but the ending and last few scenes seemed to come together almost too abruptly. I know from reading online there was a deleted scene from the end of the movie, and I'm willing to bet that's the scene I needed to make the movie feel more bridged together than it was.

Final thoughts: Apparently Patricia Neal and I were on the same page. She reportedly had a hard time taking the movie seriously during production, thinking it was just going to be another trashy-flying saucer movie. It was said that she had no idea realized that this movie would become one of the greatest Science-Fiction movies of all time. I too certainly hadn't expected to like the movie when I watched it for the first time and I was pleasantly surprised.

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Next up: Stripes