Day the Earth Stood Still

...Was the day I first saw this movie. Now 39, I am wowed by it every bit as much as I was at 13; ever since then, it has shared top billing in my list of favorite movies with "Forbidden Planet." It has good characterizations, decent special effects and a good soundtrack for its day, but its real strength is its high concepts. The first of these is sci-fi; the second is the film's message.

The protagonist Klaatu, an alien ambassador, is initially naive about humans, but he proves to be an astute student of human psychology. The notion of "de-electrifying" the planet, even for a mere hour, to get humanity's attention is a masterstroke. Nothing truly destructive could convey the space visitor's superior power more deeply than his ability simply to render humanity literally powerLESS. Unfortunately, nothing could be more disturbing to humanity, either; hence the sad but predictable reaction of violence when Earth's electricity is restored.

As for its message, the movie doesn't just SAY that war is bad and that people deserve better; it SHOWS it. Only instead of using the graphic violence of typical war movies, it gently but clearly demonstrates the legacy of war on an everyday human scale. The scenes at Arlington National Cemetery and the Lincoln Memorial underscore a persistent, tragic inconsistency in human nature: the use of force and the veneration of peace. Elsewhere in the movie, the "cold" war attitude of America gets properly skewered as well; wild fearmongering and rampant paranoia are presented with little rebuttal for the simple reason that none is needed, the foolishness of it being blatantly obvious in the presentation.

All in all, this is a superb movie. Except for a few lines that are clunkers scientifically speaking, it holds together as well as it did when it was first made, and its message is as valid as ever -- unfortunately.