Woah!
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!
These are famous sci-fi words you probably won’t hear in the 2008 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. But, some sacrifices must be made. This is not your mother’s memory of Klaatu, and I should know: the original movie is one of my all-time favorites.
The other night I watched a rerun of the first episode of Fringe, not because it looks very promising, or because I needed to reexamine the spooky stuff, but because I knew I was going to see a trailer for the 2008 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
When Harry Bates wrote his original short story, if he even thought of a movie, he probably could well have envisioned Michael Rennie as Klaatu and a hulking silver robot as Gort. Rennie was a perfectly groomed English actor who calmed everyone down in the middle of the Red Scare, even though he told Professor Barnhardt if the Earth didn’t shape up, Gort would ship it out. Who cared when there was a Russian spy under every bed?
The new trailer shows mass destruction, a mysterious silvery sphere, and Keanu. Did I mention Keanu?
Remaking movies just because you can – Psycho for example – can be a giant and unexpectedly hilarious mistake. However, tackling a classic because you now have the full gamut of CGI and other special effects at your disposal could be fantastic.
I am almost positive the first words spoke in this version won’t be “Holy mackerel! Call Headquarters… get the lieutenant!”
