The Day The Earth Stood Still (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

77

Film Synopsis:

A spaceship lands in Washington, D.C., capturing the attention of the world. But the alien emissary (Michael Rennie) it brings refuses to reveal his mission to any single government, leaving the military, the politicians, and millions of ordinary people to wait in fear. Soon their distrust turns to calls for violence. But one young woman and her son (Patricia Neal, Billy Gray) befriend him... and soon realize that they may be all that stands between the human race and total destruction.

My Take:

This is an interesting film that must have seemed quite poignant during its initial release. I appreciated how it displayed the mind set of the country during the time. Communism and the idea of flying saucers were indeed subjects that were widely discussed in the early 1950's. This film is based upon the short story by Harry Bates Farewell to the master. It is pretty straightforward in its telling and revolves around an alien who comes to earth in an attempt to warn man that his violent and potentially destructive nature will not be tolerated now that he is becoming atomically aware. His attempts at a gathering of world leaders were futile so he decided to try and meet with a group of international scientists in the hopes that they would have some influence. His presence was met with paranoia, skepticism and violent reaction. He befriends a little boy and his widowed mother while posing as an earthman and staying at a local rooming house. In order to back up his statements and prove his power he agrees to a non lethal demonstration in order to get the attention of the world. The results only create further problems for him and he must turn to his only allies for help.

Parental Guide:

This film contains some mild violence.

Audio: 70

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Video: 84

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The day the earth stood still comes to Blu-ray Disc featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 28 mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.2 mbps.

This classic black and white film comes framed in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 and looks great. The level of detail present was impressive as images were crisp, well delineated and consistently sharp. I could easily see things like the weave of the fabric in Klaatu's suit jacket and tie or the texture of the rubbery looking suit worn by Lock Martin as Gort the robot. Wide angle and long range camera shots weren't as definitively resolved but still had ample dimensional quality. The video had excellent contrast and brightness balance. Blacks weren't inky but they had good dynamic range and consistency which played very well against the various shades of gray. Gradational steps within whites and grays onscreen was discernible which provided a good sense of image depth. Grain is intact and presented in fine, even layers that aren't intrusive. Occasionally I noticed some minor speckles that are associated with print damage but these were hardly worth mentioning and considering the source's age it looks remarkable. I chose to use the 5.1 channel DTS-HD MA track during my evaluation. The original recording wasn't designed for surround sound and its mono based perspective is favorably conveyed in this surround mix. The center channel is heavily utilized as it reproduces all of the film's sound. Music and some directional effects are spread to the left/right speakers and enhance the sense of spatial depth which effectively broadens the frontal perspective. The same information is mixed to the rear channels at a slightly lower level which provides mild yet detectable ambient envelopment. Dialogue is clear and concise amidst the various other sounds emanating from the center channel. Clarity and detail were quite good which gave distinction to the less prominent elements contained in the recording. Bernard Herrmann's accomplished music score sounded excellent and is highlighted by the eerie sound of the Theremin. Dynamic quality is better than I expected, and although not on par with today's newer soundtrack recordings, sounded very good for a 50 plus year old recording. Purists will probably prefer the mono audio track however I think that this multi-channel mix does a great job with this soundtrack as it maintains proper balance and never sounds unnatural or over processed.

Bonus Features:

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• Commentary by Director Robert Wise & Nicholas Meyer
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• Commentary by film & music historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg, and Nick Redman
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• Isolated score track in DTS-HD 5.1 MA
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• (HD) The world of Theremin:

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2. The mysterious, melodious Theremin
   
3. Main title live performance by Peter Pringle
   
4. Interactive Theremin - create your own score

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• (HD) Gort command! - Interactive game
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• (HD) The making of The day the earth stood still - featurette
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• (HD) Decoding Klaatu Barada Nikto - science fiction as a metaphor - documentary
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• (HD) A brief history of flying saucers - documentary
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• (HD) The astounding Harry Bates - featurette
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• (HD) Edmund North: The man who made the earth stand still - documentary
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• Race to oblivion: A documentary short by Edmund North
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• Farewell to the master: A reading by Jamieson K. Price of the original short story by Harry Bates
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• Fox Movietonews (1951)
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• Teaser trailer
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• Theatrical trailer
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• (HD) The day the earth stood still (2008) trailer
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• Galleries

Final Thoughts:

The day the earth stood still isn't a complex film on its surface but it speaks quite a bit to the thought processes and paranoia of its time. Its reach into the world of science fiction films can still be felt today which makes it a classic that can't help but feel relevant to the genre films that it preceded. Fox has done a wonderful job with its presentation on high definition Blu-ray Disc as it has never looked or sounded better on home video. It includes all of the bonus content from the two disc special edition DVD release as well as several Blu-ray Disc exclusive interactive features. This is a great package that fans are sure to appreciate. Recommended.