Supplements:

• Commentary by Director Robert Wise and Nicolas Meyer
• Commentary by Film & Music Historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg & Nick Redman
• Isolated Score Track 5.1
• The Making of " The Day The Earth Stood Still" (23:51)
• The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin (5:39)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still Main Title Live Performance by Peter Pringle (2:15)
• Farewell to the Master: a reading by Jameson K. Price
• Fox Movietonews from 1951 (6:21)
• 3 Trailers (teaser, theatrical, 2008 re-release
• Decoding "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto"; Science Fiction as Metaphor (16:13)
• A Brief History of Flying Saucers (33:59)
• Edmund North: The Man Who Made The Earth Stand Still (15:42)
• The Astounding Harry Bates
Farewell to the Master: An Audio Presentation of the Original Short Story (11:01)
• Race to Oblivion : A Documentary Short Written and produced by Edmund North (26:41)
• 7 Galleries

Product Description: The Day The Earth Stood Still depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary, Klaatu (Michael Rennie), who has come to earth with his deadly robot, Gort (Lock Martin), to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves--or else. After being shot at by military guards, Klaatu is brought to a Washington, D.C. hospital, where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White (Robert Osterloh) to gather all the world's leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come to warn them about. Losing patience, Klaatu slips into the human world, adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience and her inquisitive son. Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu, his message and the government's witch hunt for the alien....

 

 

 

The Film:

Robert Wise (The original Haunting, West Side Story, The Sound of Music and Star Trek: The Motion Picture are among his credits) knew how to make a film. Devoid of the multitude of CGI and special effects that seem necessary for today's fans, The Day the Earth Stood Still is quite a landmark in sci-fi films, especially for the 1950's. It bases its interest in suspense and the personality of the 'invading alien' as Michael Rennie's timeless character of Klaatu.

Poignant dialogue is reflected in a positive absolute of our civilization and growth as a species as well as purporting our realization of not being alone in vastness of space. A marvelous and intelligent film that deserves its large fan base and place in cinema history....

Gary Tooze

Extras:
Stealing from our review of the SD 2-disc SE - "Okay onto the 'meat' - there are plenty of extras to feast on - with a few duplicated - including the Wise/Meyer commentary and 'Making of..." - Now we get a second optional commentary covering some of the music and other production detail minutia. The participants are film and music historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg and Nick Redman. Redman is knowledgeable and the only one I believe that I have heard previously. I *think* I still prefer the original more 'basic' commentary although this has some definite merit. Bernard Herrmann's isolated score is a great idea and despite owning so much of the composer's soundtracks on CD - this is a new keepsake for me. There is some filler here - but it may appeal to some classic sci-fi aficionados - include in that category The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin with Peter Pringle for about 5 minutes, plus the audio only presentation of the original short story and even Pringle conducting The Day the Earth Stood Still Main Title in a Live Performance for about 2 minutes (I admit to enjoying this a great deal). The 30 minute Race to Oblivion: A Documentary Short Written and produced by Edmund North on disc 2 is in rough shape but very cool with Burt Lancaster. Geeks, (like moi?) will get a kick out of Decoding "Klaatu, Barada, Nikto"; Science Fiction as Metaphor (16:13) and there are two separate featurettes - one on Edmund North (15 minutes) and the other on Harry Bates (11 minutes). There are trailers and quite a few galleries with stills."

December 3rd, 2008