klaatu barada nikto.
My movie reviews are usually non-existent and consist primarily of the words "suck" "awesome" and/or "meh". However, after seeing the steaming pile of a remake movie on Sunday, I had to write a review to let out some steam.
On Thursday, AMC played the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and I watched it then to prep for seeing the new one. The original was very good, and had a point to make about the destructive nature of humans. It made the point very clear, and then Klaatu left earth with a warning. An open-ended finale to an issue for which there is no closure. Mend your ways or your planet will be destroyed. The original wasn't as much about the universe's need for a complex-life-sustaining planet, but about the violent nature we possess moving beyond the Earth into other planetary realms.
In the remake everything was lost. The special effects and CG were amazing, I don't argue that... but the story which made the movie (obviously, since the original was done in the 50s and certainly didn't have the options we have now) was entirely shredded. They kept in parts that were okay, but not essential, and cut out deal-breakers. Klaatu's final speech to the scientists at the end of the original, to quote The Dude, "really tied the room together". It gave everything context. The new movie? No final speech. No reason behind GORT (whose name is an acronym applied by the US Military in the new version) being there is given, and he doesn't make weapons disappear/disintegrate, he blows shit up. Once again, the robot that is supposed to keep peace among humans blows shit up- it's out of sync, you morons! Think, think before you make and spend millions.
Lest we forget the relationship built between Klaatu and the young boy was another important part the new version omitted. Klaatu was never dead set on destroying humans as the Keanufied rendition, he was on the fence the whole movie, the human race had to prove itself worthy of living... and it was the boy who convinced him that humans weren't all that terrible.
It also lacked any real climax, and what the fuck was with the spheres and the ark idea? So not right. I don't mind if you wanna remake something and change it a bit, but this should have been called something else because it was nothing at all like the original. Not to mention GET YOUR OWN IDEA AND STOP RUINING OTHER PEOPLE'S.
Anyway, as you can tell I'm really peeved and felt completely unfulfilled when we left the theatre- but at least we got to see the IMAX laser show!
Some interesting tidbits:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043456/trivia
I wonder if fans of the story were annoyed with the original movie version? heh.
On Thursday, AMC played the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and I watched it then to prep for seeing the new one. The original was very good, and had a point to make about the destructive nature of humans. It made the point very clear, and then Klaatu left earth with a warning. An open-ended finale to an issue for which there is no closure. Mend your ways or your planet will be destroyed. The original wasn't as much about the universe's need for a complex-life-sustaining planet, but about the violent nature we possess moving beyond the Earth into other planetary realms.
In the remake everything was lost. The special effects and CG were amazing, I don't argue that... but the story which made the movie (obviously, since the original was done in the 50s and certainly didn't have the options we have now) was entirely shredded. They kept in parts that were okay, but not essential, and cut out deal-breakers. Klaatu's final speech to the scientists at the end of the original, to quote The Dude, "really tied the room together". It gave everything context. The new movie? No final speech. No reason behind GORT (whose name is an acronym applied by the US Military in the new version) being there is given, and he doesn't make weapons disappear/disintegrate, he blows shit up. Once again, the robot that is supposed to keep peace among humans blows shit up- it's out of sync, you morons! Think, think before you make and spend millions.
Lest we forget the relationship built between Klaatu and the young boy was another important part the new version omitted. Klaatu was never dead set on destroying humans as the Keanufied rendition, he was on the fence the whole movie, the human race had to prove itself worthy of living... and it was the boy who convinced him that humans weren't all that terrible.
It also lacked any real climax, and what the fuck was with the spheres and the ark idea? So not right. I don't mind if you wanna remake something and change it a bit, but this should have been called something else because it was nothing at all like the original. Not to mention GET YOUR OWN IDEA AND STOP RUINING OTHER PEOPLE'S.
Anyway, as you can tell I'm really peeved and felt completely unfulfilled when we left the theatre- but at least we got to see the IMAX laser show!
Some interesting tidbits:
http://www.imdb.com/title/
I wonder if fans of the story were annoyed with the original movie version? heh.
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