#249 The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

I'm back... reviewing another movie from well before my time.

I do not have a personality geared toward giving a movie such as this a proper review, as I take interest in politics/the history of politics to a degree best described as mostly disinterested.

The Day the Earth Stood Still is certainly a political statement movie, no doubt about that. A spacecraft from another planet lands in the middle of Washington DC, announcing non-hostile intentions but the 'alien' occupant (named Klaatu) is shot by a soldier by mistake. Klaatu's indestructible robot protector then shows some of its limitless power by melting guns and tanks with a stare. Klaatu wishes only to address a group of representatives from each nation of the world to give Earth an ultimatum.

Throughout the movie, nuclear weapons are the focus of the non-Earthly visitor - the other sentient planets of the universe have become aware of Earth's development of nuclear weapons and warn that any attempt to use these in a manner affecting other planets will result in Earth's elimination by the galactic police (robots like Klaatu's protector, Gort). A stiff penalty for something that I'm not really sure has ever been a realistic possibility... or has it?

The fact that this movie chooses to completely skip over the idea of Earth's residents disastrously using nuclear weapons to do what we do best - kill ourselves - and jumped right to Earth using these weapons in space is very puzzling. And against species we did not know existed until they landed on Earth and told us not to shoot nukes into space... Or else they would destroy our planet. :-/

Overall, this was a decent movie but don't expect any slick special effects, mind-blowing plot twists, or intense action scenes. The acting in places is somewhat shallow - modern child actors can act circles around the kid actor in this movie. If you get a chance, it is worth a watch but I definitely question its place on the IMDb Top 250 list.