Movies
The Day The Earth Stood Still (remake)
“It really is the perfect “family” holiday thriller (the edgy side of Christmas) and carries a message that is so perfectly fine-tuned to our problems of today it might actually make you feel a little guilty. If a movie can entertain you and make you reflect on your lifestyle, there’s got to be something good there….”
Spoilers follow…
Walking out of the theater, the negativity looming through the halls was almost shocking, considering how well thought-out the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL was. Granted the 20th Century Fox holiday disaster pic is far from perfect, but there’s still a lot there that makes it worth checking out this holiday season.
While taking on any remake these days seems to be taboo, revisiting a classic such as the 1951 film of the same name, directed by Robert Wise, seems liked a dead-end from the beginning. Yet, a quick trip back to the original would prove that remaking the black and white classic was not only a great idea, but also necessary.
I don’t want to sit here and review the original film, but I will point out some obvious flaws that drive me crazy. Something has always pissed me off about the original was Michael Rennie ‘s performance as Klaatu, an alien sent to Earth to save mankind from their magnetism to war. Klaatu I supposed to be over our feeble emotions, omnipotent if you will, yet he walks around Washington with his nose in the air completely arrogant and annoyingly cocky. He’s a flippin’ know-it-all and it makes absolutely no sense why he’s be the one to judge our society. Scott Derrickson and co. fix this problem in the remake where Keanu Reeves plays the news and improved Klaatu, who plays the role strikingly fierce. Many of the reviewers after the film were slamming his performance, but on closer observation, and with a little logical thinking, it becomes clear that he nails it on the nose. In the remake Klaatu is sent to Earth to save to EARTH from mankind, as opposed to us being a threat to the alien race. Reeves plays Klaatu as an alien who is on a mission and dead-f*cking-serious… we’re killing our planet, and one day they might need it. So his goal is to destroy us.
David Scarpa does a fabulous job of modernizing such a silly story and making it believable and creepy. The unfolding of the events is strategically placed and the characters are well developed. One of the problems with Scarpa’s screenplay are the hideous choices of dialogue. There are some horrid lines and awful delivery that will most likely have you cringing instead of laughing (I still don’t know which is worse).
Director Scott Derrickson did a pretty solid job of taking the screenplay he had to work with and creating tension. He made this dated and cheesy sci-fi movie feel more like a serious apocalyptic horror film, while also keeping the message in tact. One of his only major, major flaws is that he makes the mistake in making New York a little too desolate. While the giant robot GORT is standing guard, there’s not a single human in site (other than the army). It’s impossible to believe that, in a situation like this, that there wouldn’t be a single person not interested in seeing this giant robot on display in the middle of NYC. I’m sure there are tanks and soldiers standing guard all over the place, but people would find a way. SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW also makes the fatal flaw, which has been known to capsize an entire film.
Speaking of GORT, while the design was pretty rad, the special FX work was shoddy at best. Having a completely CG object placed in front of a CG backdrop only makes it look like we’re watching a videogame, or a crappy Disney movie. It makes no sense why everything had to look so incredibly digital, especially GORT. And in the finale, you can see the layers clear as day between Jennifer Connelly and the ground behind her – seeing it in digital only made it more obvious.
All in all, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is a descent film, with some hefty flaws. With a pretty solid story and believable acting (I love John Cleese’s scene), the film does give you plenty of reason to see it. It really is the perfect “family” holiday thriller (the edgy side of Christmas) and carries a message that is so perfectly fine-tuned to our problems of today it might actually make you feel a little guilty. If a movie can entertain you and make you reflect on your lifestyle, there’s got to be something good there….
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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