The Day The Earth Stood Still Trailer Starring Keanu Reeves

Posted by on July 3rd, 2008   Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers

The idea of remaking The Day The Earth Stood Still is not one that I am entirely comfortable with. While the original is now over 50 years old and may seem long overdue for a modern upgrade, it still stands as an absolute classic and a great example of what science-fiction films can and should be. And yet, like it or not, the teaser trailer for the 2008 remake has arrived online, and I am now finding myself forced to admit that… you know what? I actually didn’t mind it.

Granted, it is only a teaser. Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu, and if ever there was a role that perfectly suited his robotic acting, this is it. The cast also includes Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, John Cleese and Jaden Smith. The only real weak point I see in this production so far is the choice of director Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose). I haven’t seen The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but his lack of experience worries me. What do you think, can this new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still actually be worthwhile, or will it just be another paint-by-numbers blockbuster? Check out the teaser trailer and sound off in the comments below. It hits theatres on December 12th.



  • Matt

    Meh. I really didn’t like the original. I think I almost fell asleep. Before I saw it, I was told that it’s this “important and breathtaking sci-fi epic,” but I just felt that the pacing was horrible. Nothing happened. It was just sooo preachy. I get that it trying to teach a lesson about “not warring on each other” as much. So did Plan 9 from Outer Space. And at least Ed Wood made an effort to have an interesting plot, without the aid of a budget.I went on Wikipedia to try and remember if that was really the movie that I was thinking of. And reading the plot summary, it’s even worse and less entertaining than I remember. Sorry to all those that like the 1951 version, but I didn’t like it in the least. This new TDTESS can only improve upon the original.

  • That was the most retarded comment I’ve seen in the last sixth months.

  • Updated with a working video.

  • The trailer makes it look like it’s going to be right up my alley. I haven’t seen the original, though it’s sitting among roughly 500 other films in my Netflix queue. I like Reeves, I like Connelly, and I like sci-fi. Where do I sign up?

  • Glenn

    That first comment just makes me so sad that stupidity remains in the world.

  • Hey, just because the guy didn’t like The Day The Earth Stood Still doesn’t make him an idiot. I admit that Ed Wood comment is sure to push a few buttons, but he’s entitled to his opinion.

    Besides, this just illustrates why maybe there is actually a need for a remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still (or at the very least, an audience for one).

  • Swarez

    I could care less about the remake, just as much as I don’t have deep rooted feelings for the original. Seen it once, don’t remember much about it besides the message and Gort.
    I wonder how the message is going to be in the remake, watered down most likely. I’m pretty sure that a certain group of people are going to call in Un-American.

  • Glenn

    Just my opinion Sean.

  • Ryan M.

    As much as I’ve heard of it I have never seen the original. I watched the trailer for the original as well and while it does look interesting it is so incredibly old that I doubt a remake would hurt it. Just comparing the trailers I was way more into the robotic and over-hated Keanu. The problem is that I saw The Exorcism of Emily Rose and that was generic in every way.

    As for some of the previous comments, I never thought the comments section here would ever turn into almost every one on the internet with someone being stupid just because of their opinion (other than filmmakers mentioned in the article). Either give reasons why you think a film junkie is wrong or let them stew in their supposed stupidity.

  • Glenn

    I think that my original comment was intended to express my sadness at the fact of most people ignoring films of the past and dismissing them just because of being “old”. I apologize for using the word stupid, I should have put my feelings in a more appropriate manner. End of matter, hopefully.

    As far as this new version goes, it looks interesting, I just hope they keep the religious parallels from the original. Does anyone else think they will steer clear from this?

  • No worries, I just don’t want anyone to feel like they’re getting abused in the comments here. At least he gave the original a chance, which is more than a lot of people probably would do.

    I think I remember hearing that the remake was going for an environmental message of some sort. Seems to be a lot of that going around this year…

  • swarez

    Oh God. And Gort is now called Al Gort.

  • Updated the embedded video again.

  • I have seen parts of the original tdess. (on youtube) It was boring and blah. It needs an updated version. Reeves is a perfect choice for Klaatu. And obviously people haven’t seen his movies since his stoner movies because you are still hung up on his “dudeness”. He has grown up-why don’t the rest of you???

  • Derek

    This message is to Glenn, no one has to like the movie, if he doesn’t like it, it doesn’t make him retarded. He just didn’t have much interest in it. I have to admit I like films such as this and I believe the remake will be a pretty awesome movie aside from not following the originals plot. Don’t be so quick to judge and new movie. That last message is to all of you. You haven’t seen it so don’t assume and or make direct comments just because you believe so. You haven’t seen it end of story.

  • Reed Farrington

    I love the original film, but I can see how preachy and boring and corny it might seem compared to the filmmaking of today. It has the perfect simplistic story that could benefit from the visual effects technology of today.

    The trailer actually gave me shivers and made me emotional. I love movies that show us how stupid we are. (BTW, I hope we destroy the Earth. It’ll force us to get off this godforsaken planet sooner.)

    Was Gort in the trailer?

  • Matt

    LOL. Whoa there, people. I didn’t know that my original comment was going to rub people the wrong way this badly. And now to address some questions and concerns raised by latter message postings.

    1. No, I am indeed not retartded, and hope I’m not too stupid.

    2. It’s not that I didn’t like the movie “because it was old.” as some people might have suggested. My favorite sci-fi movie is 2001: A Space Oddysey, which was made in 1968. Some of my other older favorite movies are 12 Angry Men, Dr. Strangelove and Paths of Glory.
    I didn’t like TDTESS because it was slow, badly paced, and too long for the message it was trying to deliver. The message itself, however, I appreciated.

    3. Thanks to the people that stuck up for me. Not because they agreed with my opinion, but because people shouldn’t be derided for unpopular opinions if they can defend them. I am glad that cooler heads prevailed and that my favorite blog and forum won’t deteritarate like the message boards of Break.com.

    4. I am looking forward to this new version. It looks interesting.

    I hope this matter is behind us now.

    By the way, how did I become the Top Commenter? How does that get determined? Is it the amount of postings or the quality that matter?
    Now, let’s get back to posting opinions about movies.

  • Tara

    I find it telling that they can’t even compile a teaser trailer without being forced to include some very bad, wooden acting by Keanu. I wish they would stop doing remakes of classics. The story doesn’t even look the same. “If you die, the Earth survives”?! What the heck is that about? Another quiet, intelligent film turned into an over-the-top cg fest. Yuck. I almost cried when I heard about this remake. The generally positive response to the trailer gave me hope. And then I saw the trailer and that hope shrivelled like a slug in the sunshine. I wouldn’t mind so much if it wasn’t meant to be a remake, because it looks to me like Klaatu, and his message, has nothing to do with the original.
    This is going to be bad, and painful. And I wish Keanu would retire already.

  • Tara

    Yes Reed, that was Gort at the very end, looking much like the original design.
    Maybe if they went back to the original short story it would be OK, but it looks like they avoided that and jumped right into “The Day After Tomorrow” territory.

  • Reed Farrington

    I must have blinked, because I missed Gort at the end. I happened to pop One Million Years B.C. into my DVD player tonight and one of the preview trailers on it was for the original The Day the Earth Stood Still!

    On one of the Cantankerous episodes, I mentioned how science fiction movies of today lacked the ambition shown in earlier decades. Some people wanted me to back up my statements, but I still haven’t formulated my reasons adequately. I’m wondering what movies this decade they’ll be remaking thirty years from now.

    I’m not much of a purist when it comes to source material. I understand the need to adapt. I don’t care if people make “bad” remakes of movies I liked. The original will always be there to appreciate.

  • The Big O

    I must be the only one who thought I was having a Johnny Mnemonic flashback. The original version may seem slow paced if you have a 21st century attention span but 57 years ago we weren’t soaked in media okay? The origin of the movie was a short story that took place 10 or so years after the landing. Gort was sealed in a block of unbreakable plastic yet they kept finding his block of plastickept moving around.
    Turns out he was trying to revive Klaatu who was killed not shot in the hand on the white house lawn.
    The story ended with a short lived Klaatu telling that Gort was in command and Klaatu was the flunky.
    Needless to say Klaatu as Captain Planet is revisionist
    crap. Oh well… what do you expect from Hollywood?!?

  • Reed Farrington

    Um, that short story summary doesn’t make for a compelling movie plot, does it? There are reasons for revisions.

    (Now Jay is going to remind me how hypocritical I am by citing our conversation yesterday about how I was saying revisions are unnecessary and are only done to accommodate people’s opinions of how they think a story should be told.)

  • The original film was appropriate for the time in which it was made and the message it contained addressed a deep seated fear that most held. BTW – that message is still relevant today. I still feel that this was one of the best sf movies ever produced simply because it was relevant for the times, was very well produced and special effects were pretty much leading-edge for the time. Is it dated now – of course. But that doesn’t detract from what it was at the time.

    To call this new production a remake is ludicrous. If you change the basic plot, you have a new story. If they had given it a new title and said that it was loosely based on or inspired by the original, that would have been fine with me. But, I will still go and see it – the trailers are intriguing – but I will be viewing it as a new production and, once the title screen goes away, I will not be comparing it to that great, original movie.

  • IMO, the basic plot has stayed the same. Mankind thinks they’re the shiznit, and aliens arrive to tell us we’re not.

  • I can’t believe you just used the word “shiznit”.

  • i thought the same thing, lol.