The Day the Earth Stood Still

Terrible remake, original vastly superior

Intriguing, Spiritual, Insightful, Moving

"The Day the Earth Stood Still" (2008) is an intriguing, powerful and even moving modern sci-fi blockbuster. I particularly like the symbolism: Klaatu=Christ, GORT=YaHWeH, as well as the numerous biblical references: Noah's Ark, the death plague, human beings trying to put God in a box literally, the sacrificial nature of agape love, etc. In other words, the film tackles subjects of great depth that every human being can relate to whatever their belief system. This itself separates it from the usual idiotic blockbuster fare.

Now let me address some common criticisms (please see the film first before reading further due to SPOILERS):

The kid is initially quite annoying but this is understandable as he's an archetype for what humankind is: an annoying, untrusting, simpleminded child-race. His sudden change into "maturity" represents how humanity needs to "grow-up." This helps make sense of the kid's repeated statements about killing Klaatu, which were magnified by the media's slander of Klaatu as a dangerous escaped convict. Klaatu's strange actions helped feed this negative mindset. As for the kid's dead father, the boy was only 9 years old and understood his father to be a soldier. Why wouldn't he have a mythical impression that he killed 'bad guys' for a living, likely with his bare hands?

The judgment of mass human destruction was already set for the earth after hundreds of years of observation, including an Asian scout who lived with humans for 70 years. Klaatu was sent to activate the judgment UNLESS he observed some clear indication that the harsh judgment wasn't necessary yet. Klaatu didn't change the original plan UNTIL very late in the story, which is why he stated to Helen that he wasn't sure if he could overturn it. Although Klaatu was the primary agent, he wasn’t necessarily alone. Gort was there and he was only partially robotic, as well as Mr. Wu. There were probably hundreds/thousands of...