Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

In many respects THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is a very dated film. Obviously a comment on Cold War paranoias, it has little in the way of special effects or high-class production values, Edmund H. North's script is surprisingly talky, and it captures the very clunky look of late-1940s/early-1950s America to an uncomfortable degree. Certainly few involved in the project took it very seriously--even leading lady Patricia Neal admitted that she and Michael Rennie had tremendous difficulty keeping straight faces while spouting "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!" But strangely, against all the odds, the film continues to speak, capturing the imagination of each new generation that sees it. The film's enduring power seems to arise from its very simplicity, which lifts the story of a visitor from outer space from mere sci-fi pulp to the level of a parable. As frequently noted, the film contains significant religious symbolism. It is easy to read the visitor as Christ, the woman who befriends him as Mary Magdalene, the man who betrays him as Judas, and the message the visitor brings as both call to repentance and opportunity for redemption--and whatever one's actual religious beliefs, the film taps into these archetypes to create a very effective modern morality tale that works on several levels. At the same time, the film makes a surprisingly acid comment on American and international politics, small minded bigotry, and media hysteria that still rings true today. And the film has surprising visual power. Although the cinematography is very basic, and the design of both the spaceship and the robot Gort are very simple, they combine to create a number of startling images: the first moment that Gort is seen standing on the spaceship's ramp; the spacecraft interior; Gort as he menaces a screaming Patricia Neal--images so simple and yet so powerful that they have become part of our cultural landscape. The cast plays very unpretentiously and cleanly, and although Rennie and Neal may have snickered on the set none of it shows in their performances. Both are very memorable. Hugh Marlowe is appropriately smarmy as Neal's unpleasant boyfriend, and Sam Jaffe and Billy Gray are enjoyable in their supporting roles; film buffs will also enjoy seeing Frances Bavier (television's "Aunt Bea") in a rare film appearance. Robert Wise's direction is impressively unobtrusive, and any review that did not reference Bernard Herrman's brilliant score--which easily doubles the film's effectiveness--would be incredibly remiss. If you want computer generated special effects, evil aliens, and lots of blood-letting, you should look elsewhere... but if you want something to think about, and something that will hold up under repeated viewings, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL is strongly recommended. GFT, Amazon Reviewer