Ranting Rebuttle : The Day The Earth Stood Still – Original vs. Remake?
Comments(9)
- By drvenkman
I just got done reading one of the most absurd articles I have ever read. Alex Billington recently wrote an article in which he compares the original ‘The Day the Earth stood Still Movie’ with the remake and I couldn’t believe what I was reading! This guy runs a website called Firstshowing.net and Billington has had some brain farts before, but this one takes the cake. I am going to go through parts of his article and point out certain things that are just blasphemies for anyone who says they are movie geeks. Before I begin I will have you know I have not seen the remake of ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ yet, but from the trailer and reviews have read, I have a really good idea of what it is going to be like.
Just so you know as a hardcore film geek this article really just pissed me off because he is leading people astray, and lying to them. The first thing I have to point out is that Billington saw the remake first, then went back and watched the original film because he had never seen it before!
And a funny thing happened – I really disliked the original, a lot. There I’ve said it, and it’ll probably instantly discredit me from writing about movies forever. Derrickson’s remake is by no means a perfect film, but I gained a lot more appreciation for it after I saw how horrid and cheesy the original was. Sure it was a great film for its time, maybe, but it’s no longer 1951. And in 2008, watching it for the very first time, I wondered how anyone could still enjoy it and yet stomp all over Derrickson’s remake?
Hell yeah, you have been discredited! How can any self proclaimed movie geek not like the original film?! Any remake of a film is easy to stomp all over because most of them are not as good as the original and shallow. Back in the day filmmakers had balls and knew how to tell a good story.
Maybe I just grew up loving the spectacle of movies more than the story; Home Alone and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the films that defined me and my generation when I was a kid. That doesn’t discredit me, that just means I have an opinion that may differ from everyone. And I tried to sit back and enjoy the original, I tried to appreciate it for what it was and compare it fairly to the remake. But they just did so many things better this time around…
Hell! I grew up watching those same movies and I still embrace the older movies for what they are and how they inspired the movies that we have today. I hate these kinds of people that write off older movies just because they are in black and white or because the effects aren’t as good as they are now.
Billigton is 100% discredited as a film writer for the simple fact that he clearly states he cares more about the spectacle of the film than the story. The story is the back bone of any film! And back in the day because the effects were limited the main thing they had to rely on was story, and the story for the original movie is as solid as a story can get you fool! Hell yeah I’m pissed!
The studios love this kind of audience. Oh yeah you know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that leave their brains at home when they go out to the movies. I know there are movies out there that are brainless films that we enjoy, but we enjoy them for what they are. The same way people need to respect older movies for what they are.
If you want to talk about cheesy, just count the number of times the kid mentions “gee whiz” or “ah swell” in the original. Sure that was how kids spoke at the time, but you don’t hear little Jaden Smith saying things like “OMG” or “like, you know” in the remake. Even the message in it is so much more poignantly conveyed. In the original, Klaatu stands on his ship at the end, makes a muddled statement about saving humanity, and flies off with the understanding that they’ll be “waiting for our answer.” There was no real threat. In the remake, there’s a brilliant scene where John Cleese explains that only on the brink of chaos, do we actually change. And the threat was very real this time…
One thing I have heard about the remake is that Jadens character just goes around screaming about his daddy being gone. What drove the original film was the relationship between Mr. Carpenter and Bobby, and about there being no real threat? What the hell? Is he serious? Did Billington even understand the film he was watching? I guess the original film was just way over his head because it had a story and everything.
Speaking in terms of acting, Keanu Reeves is a much better Klaatu than Michael Rennie. Reeves’ Klaatu has so much definition and is very out-of-place on our planet, whereas Rennie’s Klaatu is just like any other typical human. There’s nothing that makes him distinct or makes him alien in any way. With Reeves, you can tell he doesn’t really fit in his body, he’s completely emotionless, and is using that human form only as a way of connecting with the people of Earth. In the original, Rennie comes off as just another human with the same emotions and sensibilities as any other actor. And claiming that it was just good “at the time it was made” is not a reasonable excuse for bad acting.
Gee Wiz! Keanu Reeves plays the same blasted character in this film that he plays in all the other films he makes! Michael Rennie as Klaatu was great! He was commanding and bold, and he spoke with authority. In the original Klaatu didn’t come to earth to tell the humans ‘Their time was up’ he came to warn them. Apparently in the new film Klaatu has no control of what is going on around him and he leaves the fate of the world in Gort’s hands. Reeves is monotone, emotionless, and dry in most of his movies. Now I do enjoy watching Keanu because he gets these roles that fit his acting abilities and the characters he plays works for the films he is in. But, to come out and say Micheal Rennie is a bad actor is uncalled for.
What’s really getting under my skin on this is that everyone holds the original in such high regard, yet they can easily tear apart the remake. Have any of them even watched the original recently? It doesn’t really stand up to time anymore and that’s exactly what I felt when I watched it. I don’t believe judging classics by what they achieved when they were released is the best way to judge every movie…
Doesn’t stand the test of time? Really? I guess there are no more weapons or war in the world anymore. The message of the original still stands the test of time unless all of the nuclear weapons in the world have disappeared recently. Billington has totally missed the point of the original film. Instead of coming to Earth and attacking us, like the remake does, we are warned. We’re warned because we think we’re the only ones in this enormous galaxy and because our actions could effect others. The original is a movie about peace! According to Billington movies that promote peace in the world don’t stand the test of time. I guess peace is overrated.
In the original, they also allowed for a similar bit of interpretation, but it connected with the time that the movie came out because Klaatu actually mentions atomic power and violence as his concerns. And at the time, that’s what people were afraid of the most. And if I must make the comparison, the message in the remake is so much more brilliantly conceived than that of the original.
Hold on. Just stop right there mister. Are you saying that atomic power and violence is not relative to our time? Oh sure, back in the day everyone was afraid of being blown up. We don’t worry about that today at all, thank goodness. Nope. North Korea and Iran are not acquiring nuclear weapons anymore, and those suicide bombings in the mid east are just clumsy people carrying bombs that are accidently setting them off. The message of the original film is still as important today as it was back when the movie was made, even more so!
And once it hits theaters next weekend, I challenge anyone to fairly compare the original The Day the Earth Stood Still to the remake and provide some actual legitimate reasons why one is better than the other. And if you compare the remake to every other sci-fi movie ever made, then you also must compare the original to every other sci-fi movie. I’d like to be convinced that the original is true classic, because I don’t believe that it is.
It is obvious the original film just went over his head, he didn’t get it. He must also not have an understanding of what is going on in the world around us. I am convinced he did not sit down and commit his time to watching the original film, I think he put it in his DVD player and started cleaning his house poking his head in every once in awhile to see what is going on. I bet Billington will like the new Karate Kid remake more than he likes the original as well.
What is scary to me is that this proves that there is a generation of uneducated self proclaimed movie geeks out in the world. Alex Billington being the king of them. I had to write this rubuttle so that people know that the orginal ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ is still a great movie and that it has stood the test of time both in story and subject matter. If you have not seen this film then it must go on the top of your list of movies to see.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion’s even Billington but when their opinion is wrong I will be their to point it out.
You just wrote: “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion’s even Billington but when their opinion is wrong I will be their to point it out.”
You don’t respect opinions, period. You want the world to know YOUR opinion is right. He has the right to dislike the original DESS, as I, having watched it already, dislike as well. It is a too flawed movie to be considered untouchable. It is a classic, yes, but much more for what some geeks wanted it to be, not because of what it was. Your whole rebuttal is astonishingly arrogant and pretty much defines the whole “original DESS is untouchable” taleban state of mind that is so alive on the web.
And before you accuse me: I don’t work for FOX, I am not related to the remake, I am not even in US. I am just someone who watched the original and felt it isn’t a perfect or a likeable movie. And I am antecipating the remake, yes.
First of all… Breathe O.o
When people come at me screaming that a remake is better than the original, I point and laugh at them. Try that, it helps, especially when they’re talking about old school sci fi.
Science fiction and what it is today was born on the back of movies like The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Thing from another world, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Them! Journey to the Centre of the Earth and War of the World and then you fast forward to the brand spanking new millennium and you have people sprouting off how “just because it’s shiny, it has to be better.” We know the truth is the story of the original will always be much more entertaining and poignant than the special effects (and in the case of War of the Worlds… Tom Cruise) and that they’re spending millions of dollars on and forgetting to write an actual script.
Nothing in this world will ever convince me that the original versions of these movies doesn’t, and will not stand up to the remakes for one fact… The way I felt when I first watched them. I was so young and I would watch them on TV or hire them from the video store and just be amazed at the lives these people had and the things that they had to deal with.
I didn’t care about the special effects, those things were magical and they were something I could never have dreamt of, having been corrupted by my brother and mother when I was younger, nothing could compare to the Millennium Falcon or a Star Destroyer anyway… but that wasn’t the point! The impressed mind of a small girl is still happy to stick those movies on and remember the way it felt to be awed by a story and not distracted by bright lights.
You know I almost held my tounge and didn’t write this article, but I couldn’t contain the thoughts going through my head. I had to voice my opinion. I understand there is a generation of people out there that enjoy all the flashy lights and thats fine. I plan on seeing the remake, and I will most likely enjoy it. But, the original is really quite amazing, I know not everyone see’s that, but it is good to know that there are people out there that do.
Opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one and they tend to stink.
I’m still not sure WHY you think he’s wrong. This entire page is full of
Ad Hominems (Tu Quoque) -
“What self proclaimed movie geek does not like the original film?!” – Huh?
Red Herrings -
“The message of the original still stands the test of time unless all of the nuclear weapons in the world have disappeared recently.” “…those suicide bombings in the mid east are just clumsy people carrying bombs that are accidently setting them off.” – Huh? His arguments were far more sound as a generalized danger, than comparing generational fears, which is simply a weaker story over time. If it had been made in the 1800’s and it was about our inability to do away with (American) Indians, as the overriding generational fear, would it be as good a story? What about the Black Plague in the Dark Ages? No. Partly due to modern life seeming so liberal, someone was able to get away with making a movie about Humanity as a BAD THING(tm), no doubt following the popular “The World Without Us”. A film about wiping out humanity FOR the Earth is a much better story than a film about wiping humanity out for the peace of mind of random ETs. Get over it.
“It is obvious the original film just went over his head, he didn’t get it.” – Huh? He asked for someone to make a good argument to why one is better than the other and you fail. Not a surprise.
No matter what the opinion is good, bad, right or wrong there are going to be people that don’t like it. I welcome them with open arms. Thats the name of the game. Thanks for playing everyone!
I must agree with the writer of “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion” that the original DESS is a classic movie and very poignant. At the time of the original everyone was afraid of Russia (the red menace) and the development of nuclear weapons and the race for space. There were many points the original wanted to make and they are as follows:
1. Our fears would be our undoing.
2. Now that we had entered into space our actions did not just concern us but the universe.
3. Even though we had been around for thousands if not millions of years we were still not “civilized”.
4. There was an entity very much like the U.N.(which had just come into being at the making of the original) that dealt with disputes and differences. Which kind of made this a propaganda peice for the U.N.
So if you look at the time period the original was made and the geo-political mindset it was very POIGNANT!! Unfortunately so many people have been dumbed down in the schools they have no idea what was going on during that time. Not only that but all they care about are the special effects and the hell with the story line or plot.
“Billigton is 100% discredited as a film writer for the simple fact that he clearly states he cares more about the spectacle of the film than the story. The story is the back bone of any film! And back in the day because the effects were limited the main thing they had to rely on was story, and the story for the original movie is as solid as a story can get you fool! Hell yeah I’m pissed!”
Seriously, is it too much to ask for a good story AND spectacle? I like turning off my brain as much as anyone else, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell art from simple minded entertainment.
Simple people prefer simple stories, and they prefer dramatic effects to actual drama.
Bravo, Bravo, to the originator of this article. Having watched the original many times, and marveled at the genius, bravery and innovation of 1951 CLASSIC, I suffered through the pointless, CGI attempt of a remake, about 45 minutes worth. I kind of knew what to expect, I read the reviews before its release. Hollywood mostly produces crap. What more are we to expect? If you're a visual effects junkie, this flick's for U. But please Mr Derrickson, go find a storyline that is new and fesh, maybe even something original in its own right, and throw in some CGI in to better relay the story and not for the sake of special effects itself. Some things are better left alone. A half star, at best.