Critics blasted the 2008 version of "The Day the Earth Stood Still," but I absolutely loved it. After all, without the remake, we probably would not have seen the cross-promotional Blu-ray release of the original 1951 film -- one of the most spectacular presentations of a classic in the high-def format.
As for the actual contents of the new "The Day the Earth Stood Still," which comes out Tuesday on DVD and Blu-ray, I have one word: Eh.
It's not that it's a horrible film. But a recent viewing of the original -- about an alien who comes to Earth to warn humans to end their harmful way of life or face doom -- reinforces how overblown the remake is. The same was true of other recent redos of vintage sci-fi fare, such as "Planet of the Apes," "War of the Worlds" and "The Time Machine."
Just look at a featurette on the new release about how the giant alien robot Gort was created.
In preproduction, the filmmakers went to great lengths to create an automaton that looked truly otherworldly. Unlike the man-in-a-suit Gort dictated by 1950s movie-making constraints, the contemporary creators had unlimited options thanks to computer-generated imagery. And they came up with wacky stuff that looked like no "robot" ever seen on film.
Then someone realized that the faceless humanoid form that they included for scale in 3-D mock-ups was more effective than any of their wild Gort variations. The look they settled on was not much different from -- you guessed it -- the man in a silver suit from the original film.
Of course, in keeping with going overboard, the new Gort is a towering giant, moves unrealistically fast for its size and is composed of millions of independent nano machines. Why? Because modern special effects allow him to be.
The original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" might seem hokey in parts today, and its Cold War plot isn't as up-to-date as the new venture's "go green" theme. But it has something that the new film doesn't: better storytelling.
