Review of The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) by Performance P — 26 Sep 2010

The Day The Earth Stood Still represents one of the most anti-nuclear war films of the Cold War. The film is directed by Robert Wise who directed The Magnificent Ambersons, Run Silent, Run Deep, West Side Story and Sound of Music. It features a group of classically trained actors such as Michael Rennie and Helen Benson.

The story, the director?s dedication to the characters and conservative special effects make this film meaningful and successful even today. The message, although meant for audiences in the Cold War, still has meaning today for a world dealing with terrorism and violence. Although it may not have the same impact, it still relays an important message. The director, Robert Wise, does an excellent job of not allowing his robot Gort and flying saucer to become the focus of a film that has much more to offer. Wise concentrates on his characters and the story instead of focusing on the special effects like in other Cold War science fiction films such as The Forbidden Planet. The special effects, even though far from recent films such as Avatar or Star Trek, are very solid. The special effects do not try to do too much and are still relatively believable even today.