The Day the Earth Stood Still: From Head to Fist

Juana 2022-04-20 09:01:40

It is undeniable that the new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is a good look for fans who like hilarity. With the maturity of technology, the new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" has excellent visual effects and spectacular scenes. It can be said that from the beginning to the end of the film, the 90-minute film length is quite compact, and there are not many cold scenes. Therefore, as a sci-fi entertainment film, the new version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is qualified. Unfortunately, however, this film is standing on the shoulders of the classics of 1951. We do not expect to be comparable to the old version, we just hope that the essence of the old version will not be discarded, but as far as the current situation is concerned, the new version Much more is added than is thrown away.

It must be admitted that the foreshadowing at the beginning of the new edition is very well added. I remember that in the old version, when I saw an alien in the shape of an earthman coming out of the flying saucer, I thought this was a huge "loophole". This is due to the fact that the technical limitations at the time could not "create" strange aliens, the second was the influence of human chauvinism, and the third was the need for the plot. These three questions are a contradiction in the new version, because today, when human chauvinism is gradually being avoided in science fiction films, it is undoubtedly a very stupid design to make alien creatures look the same as earth people. But discarding the aliens with their human appearance would change the entire story structure of The Day the Earth Stood Still. In order to solve this contradiction, the director explained a plot of aliens "stealing" human DNA at the beginning of the film, which makes it "natural" for aliens to be born on earth in human form.

It's a pity, however, that there are not many places in the new version with such great changes.

After Keanu Reeves's Cratu finally adapts to the body of the Earthlings, he acts more like a learner than a wise man, and it can be said that the new version of Cratu is very impulsive. In the old version, the alien still understood the reason why the Americans did not let him contact the world and would find a way to tell the world by himself. In the new version, just because of a few words from the Secretary of Defense, he decided to let 60 people Hundreds of millions of people all died. And judging from the situation later in the film, it seems that the aliens who have observed the earthlings for decades did not give the earthlings a chance at the beginning. Crato was indifferent to the request of the female scientist for most of the time. In this case, why bother? Send a representative to carry out the so-called "negotiations" and directly start the destruction process. Therefore, in the process of watching the film, I feel that this Cratu seems to be like a replica of a Terminator, dumb, mechanical, impulsive and emotionless, but trying to understand human beings from time to time, and finally even sacrificing himself in order to save the earth ( This plot is exactly the same as "Terminator 2"). This change makes the "wise" alien in the old version a "cold-blooded" executioner in the new version. This makes the aliens escape from the hospital with a different purpose, the old version is to understand humans, and the new version is to destroy humans. It can be said that this change completely discarded the essence of the original version. The direct purpose of the director's actions is to make the final big scene of the film have a reasonable purpose. And when those black metal insects appeared, the new version was completely different from the old version.

The old version was shot at the beginning of the Cold War, and a sense of extreme distrust permeates the entire film (which is also an important reason why aliens can't talk to the world). And when the background of the Cold War is stripped away, it is obviously out of place to emphasize the distrust between people, and the background of the story is therefore shifted to the selfishness of human beings (interestingly, it is too selfish. This makes the self-redemption of human beings the focus of the film, which makes the film a film with a metaphor of Christ. The alien Kratu is like a messenger of God in the new version. He not only has invincible superpowers (in the old version, he had to go to the flying saucer to report when there was a power outage), but also staged the scene of Noah's Ark at the end of the film. What is even more incomprehensible is that in the old version, the part where the boy communicated with the alien was one of the essence of the film, and it was also a way for the alien to understand human beings. In the new version, it became a relationship between aliens and humans. There is very little communication, not only the boy is a "stupor" most of the time, the communication between aliens and humans has become a simple plea on the human side. This makes the new version and the old version just have a similar plot, and in essence, it is almost two completely different movies. If there is still some thinking in the old version, then the new version completely abandons the exploration of the subject matter and makes the film a blockbuster movie, and the last metaphor of Christ is just an excuse.

The charm of the old version comes from the alien itself, and the attraction of the new version is the disaster created by this alien - from the old version to the new version, this is a change from talking with the head to talking with the fist.

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Extended Reading

The Day the Earth Stood Still quotes

  • Helen Benson: Why did you come here?

    Klaatu: I came to save the world.

    Helen Benson: From what?

  • Colonel Addelman: Whiskey Task Force, engage!