The Day the Earth Stood Still

Viewed: DVD

This is the 1951 classic that nearly every sci-fi fan knows of but few have actually seen. I’ve known of the movie’s title, Gort the robot, and the words “Klaatu barada nikto” for as long as I’ve known anything about science fiction. As a kid, I occasionally read sci-fi magazines, and I marveled at the images from famous sci-fi movies. I knew what Gort the robot looked like, and what movie he was from, but I knew nothing about the actual movie story. Now I do.

A flying saucer comes to Earth and lands in a Washington DC park. The military moves in and surrounds the space ship, and excitement fills the city. It doesn’t bode well for a serious movie—and this is apparently supposed to be a serious movie—when the first things I note about the situation make me laugh.

The military has surrounded the ship with armed soldiers, tanks, and artillery pieces. The fact that the military has tanks and artillery pieces in point-blank range of a target is funny enough, but “surrounded” is the notable word in this set up. Ever heard of a Polish Firing Squad?

And then we have all the civilians standing behind the police line, just a couple yards behind the guns. If the space ship backfires and startles a soldier, the death toll would be staggering.

But anyway, in all seriousness, the space ship opens and a spaceman with a fishbowl helmet and silver unisuit comes out with an unknown object in hand. A scared soldier shoots the spaceman in the shoulder. Then Gort the robot comes out.

Gort is ominously quiet as he stiffly steps, one foot after the other, down the ramp from the ship. His visor raises and he shoots a ray at all the weapons around the ship. Guns disintegrate in soldiers’ hands, artillery pieces disappear, and tanks glow long enough for the soldiers to escape, then they too disappear. Gort is badass.

The spaceman is taken to Walter Reed Hospital for medical attention, and he turns out to look completely human. His name is Klaatu, and he has a message for all mankind. A serious message.

Klaatu quietly escapes from the hospital without event, and surreptitiously gets a room at a local boarding house. He then just goes about observing humanity while trying to find a way to get all the governments of the world together to hear his important message at the same time. Most of the movie is non-sci-fi—it’s a mild thriller with a global-political message: stop with the nuclear weapon cold war.

It’s all kind of a disappointment, really. I was fully prepared to accept goofy special effects, but the “serious message” really caught me off guard. It’s almost comical, in retrospect, considering how mild the nuclear war threat was in 1951 compared to how things got by the end of the Cold War. In 1951, the threat was what, a few major cities might get destroyed? By the 1980s, the threat was global total annihilation.

Meh. I’m glad I watched it so I can finally say I know exactly what the movie was about and what it was like. But sadly, the knowledge is nothing to brag about.

And for those who don’t know and are wondering, “Klaatu barada nikto” are the words that must be spoken to Gort to prevent him from going on a rampage.

Bullgrit bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com