The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) on Netflix
PG-1320081h 44mDramaSci-FiThriller
A sphere descends on Manhattan, and astrobiologist Helen Benson is summoned. Its passenger, Klaatu, says his mission is to save the planet, and the authorities treat him as a threat.
- Netflix3.2/5
- IMDb5.5/10188,799 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes21%
Trailer
Plot summary
An object detected beyond Jupiter's orbit is on a course for Earth, and the United States government gathers scientists to plan for survival. Helen Benson, an astrobiologist, and her friend Michael Granier are among those called. The object slows and comes down over Manhattan as a large spherical craft. An alien steps out and is shot in the confusion; a giant humanoid robot appears, and the wounded visitor calls out an order that stops its defensive response. The scientists bring the being to a laboratory and remove the bullet.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- At Keanu Reeves' insistence the line "Klaatu barada nikto" was added to the script after initially being omitted, and it was recorded many times before two takes were combined: one where Reeves said it normally and a reversed version where he said it backward, creating an alien effect.
- The equations Klaatu and Professor Barnhardt write on a blackboard were genuine general relativity mathematics, sketched in pencil first by physicists Marco Peloso of the University of Minnesota and William Hiscock of Montana State University, which Keanu Reeves and John Cleese then traced over in chalk for the camera.
- Producer Erwin Stoff first imagined remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu Reeves as Klaatu back in 1994, while the two were working together on Speed, after he noticed a poster for the original 1951 film at the Fox studio office.
- Astronomer Seth Shostak served as scientific consultant on the film, reviewed the script several times for errors and gave suggestions for making the scientists appear less dry, joking that real scientists would say there was "a goddamned rock headed our way!"
- To save paper, concept art, location stills and costume tests were posted on a website created by the production for crew members to reference; costumes were kept for future Fox productions or given to homeless shelters, hybrid vehicles were used, and crew had orders to turn off car engines if they sat in them for more than three minutes.
- The film was originally scheduled for release on May 9, 2008 but was delayed until December 12, 2008 because filming commenced later than scheduled, and by the time preproduction started Scarpa had written 40 drafts of the script.
- The film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at the Saturn Awards, and its young co-star Jaden Smith won Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
