Blu-ray Movie Reviews

"The Day The Earth Stood Still" depicts the arrival of an alien dignitary, Klaatu, who has come to earth with his deadly robot, Gort , to deliver the message that earthlings must stop warring among themselves - or else. After being shot at by military guards, Klaatu is brought to a Washington, D.C. hospital, where he begs a sympathetic but frank Major White to gather all the world's leaders so he can tell them more specifically what he has come to warn them about. Losing patience, Klaatu slips into the human world, adapting a false identity and living at a boarding house where he meets a smart woman with a conscience and her inquisitive son. Both mother and son soon find themselves embroiled in the complex mystery of Klaatu, his message and the government's witch hunt for the alien.

Just in time for the big budget reimagining, Fox releases this classic sci-fi doomsday message to Blu-ray. It was interesting to see the comparison to the new film which takes on a more environmental theme as opposed to the anti-war message of the original. I still like the original more though it lacks the tension and production value of the new one. It is great to see Fox continuing to release its classic catalog to the format and I hope we’ll see more soon.

I really didn’t know what to expect given the age of this film but the HD transfer is really quite good. The print seems to be in good shape and doesn’t vary too much. Detail is excellent at times and the image has a very dimensional quality. The film is in black and white and black levels aren’t quite as deep as I would have hoped but the contrast does lend to the depth of the HD transfer. Some scenes are on the soft side and at times the film can look a bit out of focus but considering its age this is a great looking disc. A clear step up from any presentation I’ve seen of the film before.

The soundtrack is delivered in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 but the mix is pretty front heavy with wavering use of the surround soundstage. Like most films of this time the dynamics are quite limited and the track has a thin and tremble heavy quality. The soundstage is quite open in the front and does a better job than I would expect given its age. Dialogue sounds a bit thin but the balance within the track is good.

Fox has included quite a wealth of supplements for this release. The disc starts out with a extended sneak peek of the new film but most of the extras revolve around the original production. There is a feature commentary with a group of film historians and quite a few retrospectives on the film’s impact and production. You can also use the interactive menus to create your own score for the film. I really liked the inclusion of a Fox newscast from the movies in 1951, this added a nice touch to the package.

Fox has done a great job bringing this classic to Blu. The presentation is a winner and there are plenty of extras here for fans of the film. Recommended.