This Can't Be True! Reeves in The Day The Earth Stood Still Remake! (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

No worries Steve!

 

[Steve Christou]

Cheer up Tony, I don't think they'd dare use Herrmann's famous theme in the redo, why there'd be rioting in the streets.

Tyler Bates is doing the music, he did 300 and more recently Doomsday.

 

[Edwin-S]

Oh..I don't know.....maybe....ME?!

Seriously, if someone refuses to watch a film because it is in Black and White, then I feel sorry for them. In my book, they are on the same level as someone who refuses to watch a foreign film because it only has subtitles.

I had never seen the film before, but I kept reading so much about it on this forum that I decided to pick it up and watch it. I figured I'd try expanding my horizons. Ok, I know, after reading that, that some people will be thinking to themselves, "man, his horizon must have been pretty narrow" .... , but at least I did make the attempt. More people should try it sometime. They might be surprised by what they discover.

I think that TDTESS is an excellent film that is actually helped by the fact that it was shot in B&W. I think the film would have been a much lesser film had it been shot in color. It has been awhile since I watched it, but the director's use of B&W is rather striking. The clip posted a bit earlier demonstrates how B&W can be used to good effect.

I, for one, do not think this film needs to be remade, especially if it turns out looking anything like that teaser clip is indicating.

 

[Jim Dalton]

The wife and I saw the trailer online and were dismayed by it. Talk about deviating from the original format. No thanks.

 

[Nelson Au]

I finally had a chance to finish reading Farewell to the Master. That was a really good read. If anyone is interested, they should check it out.

Farewell to the Master by Harry Bates

 

[Johnny Angell]

I am surprised how many think the trailer is bad and that it indicates that the new version is going far afield from the original. I can remember a movie remake of recent times that was a scene for scene copy of the original and it was criticized for that. Of course it didn't help that the remake wasn't very good either.

The trailer shows so little that I can't tell how far afield, plot wise, this version is is going to be. It could be very close. You've got Klatu being interviewed, as in the original. There's a female character that is apparently going to be highly involved. No indication of a child. We know there's going to be a head scientist, though we haven't seen him in the trailer. Gort may be very similar to the original. There's going to be destruction in this version, there wasn't in the original.

I think this movie would be criticized if it was a copy of the original and it's being criticized in anticipation that it's not a copy. I think it's worth a remake if only to get rid of the wrinkles and zipper in Gort

 

[Nelson Au]

Saw the newest trailer yesterday, complete with a new shot of Gort, on TV.

Any previews or advanced screenings? Curious what the reviews, if any, are. From what I've seen of the trailer, not so sure I like where the plot is going. Certainly the idea of green and saving the Earth is a worthy topic, but it has nothing to do with the original film or "Farewell to The Master" shortstory.

I realize there is no reason why the remake has to follow the original. And I suppose this new film goes one step further then the original by actually moving forward and obliterating the Earth, only it appears to be the people, not the planet.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Gort seems gratuitous to this version; since the central conflict in this version seems to reside with Klaatu's decision on the human race, why is the robot even necessary?

As long as they don't overdo it with the environmental message, I could still see this being decent. The original is a classic and will always be the definitive version. But I've always liked stories where an alien from a society so advanced as to seem magical has put Earth on trial without Earth even knowing it. This looks along that vein, so I think I'll have a good time with it.

P.S. Tony and Steve, from what I've heard, Bates basically reorchistrated and reedited Herrmann's score for this remake. A few of his lesser known score owe a fairly large debt to Herrmann's work, so it wouldn't shock me if it were true.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I do wish the film makers had the courage of the original producers and chose an unknown actor (as Michael Rennie was when he appeared in the original). Klatuu needs to be an alien and Reeves is an all too familiar face.

 

[Michael Elliott]

The original is one of my all-time favorites but I plan on checking this one just to see what they do to it. Like most remakes today, this one here doesn't seem like a remake but instead they just use the title, a few classic scenes (Gort) and then make something new. This clearly looks more like ID4 Part 2 rather than a remake.

 

[Sam Favate]

The original is one of my all-time favorites too; it's a seminal piece of work. But the reviews for the new movie would have to be outstanding to get me to go see it.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Based on the extended look that can be seen on the BD disk of the original, there appear to be some plot points that are similar to the original: 1) There is a featured female role; 2) Klatuu is taken into custody; 3) He escapes custody; 4) there is a featured child character; and 5) there is Gort.

I'm also going to take a chance and guess that the destruction scenes shown are the demonstration of power, that in the original, involved no destruction. I guess you've gotta have destruction these days.

Edit: I thought I should spoilerize some of my comments.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]