The Day The Earth Stood Still (Blu-ray) - Reviews? (1 Viewer)

[jenius]

Hi All!

Long time reader first time post. I haven't had any problems viewing the Theremin special features. I have a Panasonic BMP-BD55. They did a wonderful job with this encode.

 

[Johnny Angell]

So that's 2 failures with the S550 and 1 success with the BD55.

 

[RobertR]

Finally sampled this after an undue delay. It looks excellent, but the reviews didn't adequately prepare me for how it SOUNDS. So much detail in the famous Bernard Hermann score! And the bass makes previous versions sound thin.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Finally got around to watching this earlier this evening and thought it looked splendid. BTW, in complete agreement regarding the noirish aspects of the film's cinematography.

Something I noticed this viewing that had never really registered before was the amount of smoking that takes place in this film. Did Phillip Morris Co. or R.J. Reynolds sponser this film?

- Walter.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I remembered some past HTF discussions in which we laughed about the smoking by the doctors outside of the hospital room as they were discussing Klaatu's condition.





Crawdaddy

 

[Walter Kittel]

Robert,

Yes, that scene (the doctors) in particular stood out. Very amusing.

- Walter.

 

[Gary16]

On my Denon 3800 the screen goes black for quite some time after those 18 seconds but then a new menu comes up offering 3 Theremin featurette choices that play OK. Is that how it's supposed to be?

 

[John Sparks]

When compared to the last issue SD, it's night and day with the BD. You can't go wrong and will be thoroughly happy you purchased the BD for your collection!

 

[Doug Wallen]

I have the Samsung BDP-1500 and have had no problems playing tese features. Very interesting information concerning the theremin.

Doug

 

[Ed St. Clair]

none sense:
I bought this disc when I did cause of the '08 trailer; that I'd been enjoying on TV. Well, its not the trailer I've been seeing all these weeks. Very disappointed as I think the 1st TV ad: "ROCK"!!!.
(it would be silly too post about this part of the post. I can not buy or buy any BD for any reason I want; just as you or anyone else can buy or not buy any BD for themselves)
The long 'intro' too the '08 was OK. Still, I wasn't planning on seeing the '08 (I still may) let alone purchasing the HDM after all the bad reviews (even tho I luv'd the TV ad, even I didn't want too spend $$$ on the movie [may use a gift card though]).
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Is DNR harder too see w/B&W?
This thing looks way too clean & flat, too me.
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Never owned this title B4. Was waiting for the perfect PQ & price. Super glad I got this now. Had been watching it enthusiastically on cable for quite some time. It's even better w/o commercials!
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The soundtrack only track may be my fave BD feature of all time (well... three yrs away)!
I don't mean I like "soundtrack only" features; I do, just I've luv'd those as a feature from way back in the early days of DVD. I mean "THIS" isolated score in lossless may be my #1 BD special feature. It's FANTASTIC!!!
I'd put it even above the alternate score on "Alien" from the original SD disc release.
Way too go BD!!!
Looking forward too many, many, more isolated tracks in lossless!!!
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Happy '09 everyone.

 

[Nelson Au]

I was really curious about the Theremin issue as I just got a Sony S550.

I tried it, the feature played and stopped at about 18 seconds, then a second later, the theremin menu comes up with the three features. One on the theremin, one where the guy plays the theremin and the final one where you can make your own music.

I think there is some delay with the feature for the player to read the disc.

I watched a portion of The Day The Earth Stood Still and I agree, it's a worthy upgrade! I have not seen a black and white film look so good! The gray scale is so well rendered, and I am fortunate enough to own a display that can render it well enough. The sequence when Klaatu shows up at the boarding house is amazing! It has the quality of an extremely well made black and white print. Also amazing to see the detail of the fabric on Klaatu's suit and the knitted tie!

 

[Richard Ringenbach]

Not to get off the original version on blu-ray,which is excellent,I think they ruined this outstanding classic movie when they did the recent remake which,in my opinion, took a class A movie and reduced it to a mediocre movie at best. I don,t understand why the changed it so much. It would have been better if they would have just slightly tweaked the special effects and colorized the original movie. the same thing was done with the "Thing From Another World" and "The War of the Worlds". II sure hope they follow the original story line of "Forbidden Planet" if they do a remake of it!

Thank you!
Richard A. Ringenbach

 

[TravisR]

Huh? Even if the remake was the worst (or best) movie ever made, it doesn't change or effect the original in any way.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I think what he meant to say was something like "they ruined the remake of this classic movie."

However, he also includes Carpenter's "The Thing" as being in the same category, a ruined effort. I have to disagree with that. Both Things are terrific movies and totally different experiences. I also liked Spielberg's WOTW.

 

[Jesse Blacklow]

And Carpenter's is closer to the original story, to boot. In fact, I wouldn't even call the Carpenter Thing a remake. They're two different adaptations of the same source.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread but I wanted to double check before pulling the trigger.

I've been working on upgrading some DVDs to Blu-rays and I've arrived at the interesting conundrum of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

See, the thing is, I can get the 1951 version on Blu-ray for about $20. I can get the 2008 version which includes the 1951 movie for $4. So, no brainer, right? Except I'm pretty sure that I've read that the 1951 version included in the 2008 set is stripped of all bonus features. But, on the other hand, I still have my 1951 which has bonus features.

So I guess the question is - does the 1951 standalone Blu-ray contain unique bonus features different from the DVD edition (I have the double sided "studio classics" DVD edition)? Because if there's nothing new on the Blu-ray, I'm thinking it makes more sense to spend $4 for the 2008 movie with the 1951 movie, and then just slide my 1951 DVD into the same case.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread but I wanted to double check before pulling the trigger.

I've been working on upgrading some DVDs to Blu-rays and I've arrived at the interesting conundrum of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

See, the thing is, I can get the 1951 version on Blu-ray for about $20. I can get the 2008 version which includes the 1951 movie for $4. So, no brainer, right? Except I'm pretty sure that I've read that the 1951 version included in the 2008 set is stripped of all bonus features. But, on the other hand, I still have my 1951 which has bonus features.

So I guess the question is - does the 1951 standalone Blu-ray contain unique bonus features different from the DVD edition (I have the double sided "studio classics" DVD edition)? Because if there's nothing new on the Blu-ray, I'm thinking it makes more sense to spend $4 for the 2008 movie with the 1951 movie, and then just slide my 1951 DVD into the same case.

The 2008 BD Release of the 1951 film has the Robert Wise commentary while the 2009 BD release doesn't have it. I have to check as I do have both Blu-ray releases, but I'm pretty sure the 2009 BD release with Reeves film, only has the 1951 movie on a separate disc without any bonus materials while the 2008 Blu-ray release has plenty of bonus material for the 1951 film.

 

[Mark-P]

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread but I wanted to double check before pulling the trigger.

I've been working on upgrading some DVDs to Blu-rays and I've arrived at the interesting conundrum of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

See, the thing is, I can get the 1951 version on Blu-ray for about $20. I can get the 2008 version which includes the 1951 movie for $4. So, no brainer, right? Except I'm pretty sure that I've read that the 1951 version included in the 2008 set is stripped of all bonus features. But, on the other hand, I still have my 1951 which has bonus features.

So I guess the question is - does the 1951 standalone Blu-ray contain unique bonus features different from the DVD edition (I have the double sided "studio classics" DVD edition)? Because if there's nothing new on the Blu-ray, I'm thinking it makes more sense to spend $4 for the 2008 movie with the 1951 movie, and then just slide my 1951 DVD into the same case.

I found a review of the 3-disc 2008 movie which says the disc containing the 1951 film is stripped of its extras. So if the extras are what you are after, you are going to have to spend the $20. If you want the 1951 film in 4K, iTunes has it, but also bare-bones.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Ok, so I guess next question - are the standalone Blu-ray extras the same as what’s on the DVD?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Ok, so I guess next question - are the standalone Blu-ray extras the same as what’s on the DVD?

There is some new bonus material on the Blu-ray that isn't on the DVD. There is another audio commentary with Nick Redman, John Morgan, Steven Smith and William Stromberg that centric about the music in the film. Also, there is some new material about Bernard Herrmann's score and some Theremin stuff. The Blu-ray doesn't have an interview with Robert Wise and some others so there are differences between what's on the 2008 Blu-ray and the 2003 DVD. @Josh Steinberg

Edit: Bonus Material on Blu-ray, I don't have the DVD any longer so you need to compare what's below to what's on the DVD.

• Interactive Theremin: Create Your Own Score and Gort Command (Interactive Game)
• Commentary by Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer
• New Audio Commentary by Nick Redman and film historians
• Isolated Score Track
• The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin
• Main Title Live Performance by Peter Pringle
• The Making of The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Decoding "Klaatu Barada Nikto"
• Science Fiction as a Metaphor
• A Brief History of Flying Saucers
• The Astounding Harry Bates
• Edmund North: The Man Who Made the Earth Stood Still
• Race to Oblivion Documentary Short
• Farewell to the Master: A Reading by Jamieson K. Price of the Original Harry Bates Short Story
• Fox Movietonews (1951)
• Trailers, Interactive Pressbook and Still Galleries