DVD Review HTF REVIEW: "The Day The Earth Stood Still" (guest review by Jack Briggs) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Randy,

Very much appreciate the photos, but -- Please --
avoid putting pictures of that size on our forum.
It really eats bandwidth here.

Perhaps a link to the pictures instead?

Sorry for not being able to put up pictures in
Jack's review. Unfortunately, Fox is not sending
this out as a screener to reviewers (Reviewers didn't
even receive JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH). Thus,
I had no ability to capture screenshots for him.

Tremendous review, Jack!

 

[Steven Simon]

Jack,

Excellent review!!!

 

[Randy A Salas]

Please --
avoid putting pictures of that size on our forum.
It really eats bandwidth here

Sorry. I assumed that since they were loaded on my site that the bandwidth was being used there. Fixing...

 

[Todd Phillips]

I'm confused, too. How do pictures on Randy's site use up HTF bandwidth? My browser goes directly to his website to get the images.

Do you mean that it makes the page too slow for users with slow internet connections?

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Randy - thanks for those screen shots! Very nice looking indeed. Can't wait to see this puppy at home.

 

[Chris S]

Thanks for the review Jack! Excellent job!

This is definitely a must have title for any sci-fi fan. I can't wait to pick it up.

Chris S.

 

[RobertR]

At the end of Forbidden Planet we lament the loss of Morbius and despise the triumph of the arrogant and self-righteous Adams.

"We"? Don't speak for others. I didn't find Adams to be particularly "arrogant and self-righteous". Through most of the film, he's engaged in a rescue operation and trying to deal with the Monster from the Id. It was Morbius who arrogantly and self righteously deemed the human race unworthy of access to the knowledge of the Krell. How is it "arrogant and self righteous" for Adams to say that one man shouldn't monopolize control over such knowledge? And what do you mean by "triumph?" That implies that Adams "won" some sort of "competition". What competition? The competition of ideas about what to do with the Krell knowledge? And what "triumph"? Since the knowledge of the Krell is destroyed (a choice made by Morbius, not Adams), how is it a "triumph"?

Adams laments the passing of Morbius, tells Altaira that her father will be a "beacon" to the human race, and quite humbly says that the sad experience of the Krell shows that "we are not God" . Hardly the attitude of an "arrogant and self-righteous" person "triumphing" over a rival.

 

[Randy A Salas]

In her interview she said that she thought the whole film was hilarious, and it was all she could do to keep from laughing out loud during her scene with Gort, where she spoke the three famous words.

Well, she said that making the film was hilarious, not the film itself. She also makes it clear that it was because the words were so silly that she had a hard time filming the Gort scene. She also notes that she and Michael Rennie were always goofing off off-camera, and that's why she thought making the film was such a hoot.

 

[RobertR]

the words were so silly

I NEVER thought the words were silly, not the first time I saw the film on NBC's Saturday Night at the Movies or on any subsequent viewing. Only someone who views the story itself as silly would find the words silly. Those words prevent the destruction of the planet Earth, for crying out loud.

 

[Peter Kline]

Great review Jack. I'd like to add some trivia concerning the sequel. Sequel? Well, not really. In 1952, "Washington Story" was released starring Patricia Neal and Van Johnson. It uses most of the same sets as TDTESS. IMDB has the following info:

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0045312

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Jack, sorry to come out so harsh, but you should *at least* have told us you would actually describe the entire plot and ending of the film by reading your review.

Frankly, I wanted to see the movie, but now I don't see the point. I'm very disappointed about it, and would respectfully request you avoid this in the future.

By the way - if someone else posted about this, I'm sorry. I stopped reading after I realized I had just read about the film's ending.

 

[Darko]

To David VP.

I wish I had a Gort time machine, the one in my head seems to be running one week fast. Must be the excitement, of all the DVD's coming out on the 4th

Darko

 

[Rain]

Frankly, I wanted to see the movie, but now I don't see the point.

In Jack's defense, I find it surprising that there are people who don't know the plot already.

I've never seen it, but I pretty much knew what happened.

Doesn't discourage me one bit from getting this movie.

 

[Jeff_HR]

Frankly, I wanted to see the movie, but now I don't see the point

Do you never watch a movie more than once? From that quote I would guess not.

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Jeff, I do watch movies more than once, but I surely appreciate people not telling me the plot or the ending beforehand. It definitely detracts from my enjoyment of the film. YMMV, though.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Ah! I added one more screen capture. This is the one that will run in the paper with my Robert Wise interview next Tuesday:

Klaatu delivers a final message to Earth.

I do watch movies more than once, but I surely appreciate people not telling me the plot or the ending beforehand.

When I wrote about the first release of the original DVD for The Planet of the Apes in the newspaper, I mentioned the film's ending. I felt there was nothing wrong with it--a well-known classic movie with an ending so famous that not only had it been lampooned many times over the years (including on The Simpsons) but it also had been depicted on the cover of several video versions.

I received an email from a reader (we have about 1.5 million on an average day) the day after. I'll never forget the salutation: "Way to go, dumbass!"

:b

 

[Craig Beam]

Javier, it's your loss if you skip this disc simply because you already know the ending. It's a great review of an even greater film. Thanks Jack!

 

[Werner_R]

I've also never seen this film but it has been on my wantlist for a while, now it's time to get the dvd

 

[Tommy G]

Just placed my order with deepdiscountdvd. Thanks for the review Jack!

 

[Holadem]

My interest has been picked. However, I must say I agree with Javier, it would have been nice to be in the dark about certain things. Oh well.

--
Holadem