DVD Reviews: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Not one of the most exciting movies around, it does hold some historic value though.  At the time of the making of the movie, the science fiction phenomenon had just begun, you could even say it started it.  After the movie was completed it was a great hit and received an award for the greatest sci-fi movie of the year. 

Commencing with sightings of an unidentified flying object circling the Earth at amazing speeds, The Day the Earth Stood Still deals with what happens when a UFO actually touches down and the inhabitants make contact with us.  The movie follows a young boy, his mother and the alien.  When the space ship lands the alien is met with great hostility, at this moment in time the Earth creatures have just discovered the mighty power of the atom. 

In his infinite wisdom the alien has come to quell Earth’s plans to build such a device.   The alien is not so much interested in stopping the production of atom bombs but the halt to any rocket or even space flight capable device, as it would endanger the entire universe and their way of life. 

When the alien does arrive he brings a tremendous creature with him a robot that is about eight foot tall, he is of no metal that is known to our science and his body can not be melted or shot or damaged.  The gigantic robot man can only be instructed by the aliens home language, and with out any orders he has the potential and authorization to destroy the planet.  The alien how ever looks the same as a human and only his native language, superior intellect and lack of local knowledge puts him apart from the rest of humanity.  

The sound and picture quality rocks, and is a credit to the time in which this movie was produced. The sheer quality of  what they did have and what they restored it to it’s a wonder it doesn’t cost heaps, the film they had was shocking the final product what they must have had to do to get the movie up to such great picture and sound quality must have cost a bundle.  Features include original trailer I small film on the award that the movie received and of course the film to digital transfer. 

All the special effects in the movie comprise of a glowing light around the object that is doing something special, and when things disappear they glow until they are bright white and then fade to nothing, kind of like a disappearing act.  Bearing in mind this movie is in black and white giving you some idea of its age.