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The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
 
Anyone who goes to see this movie expecting it to be anything like the original
version made in 1951, directed by Robert Wise, and Starring Michael Rennie,
Patricia Neal and Hugh Marlow, will be sorely disappointed.  It is true that
there are a number of scenes borrowed and updated (to be kind) from the
original, but to try to compare them would be futile.
 
My opinion begins with the cast.  Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly are
excellent choices to play Klaatu and Helen Benson, respectfully.  The rest of
the casting I didn't think much of.  In the original, Helen's son Bobby Benson
is played beautifully by Billy Gray.  In the remake, there is no Bobby Benson. 
Instead the role went to Will Smith's son Jaden and is renamed Jacob - Helen's
stepson.
 
By now, the readers will have some idea of where I'm going with this review.
 
Neither of the two films bear a resemblance to the short story Farewell To the
Master, written by Harry M. Bates.  However, the screenplay for the 1951 film
written by Edmund H. North is a skyscraper compared to this one story apartment
of a remake.
 
Anyone who has not seen the original and are used to blow-`em-up type films
will probably appreciate this remake.  The film is long on effects and short on
meaningful dialog.  The acting by Keanu Reeves may seem wooden to the viewer,
but he is, after all, acting and doing what the director intended for him to do
and he did it well.  He is playing an alien, after all.
 
Jennifer Connelly, on the other hand, made the best of the role she played. I
really liked the way she looked in Career Opportunities, but she has apparently
lost a little weight since then.  She is, nevertheless, a good actress.
 
To sum it up, this film had a few bits and pieces from the original to keep the
old-timers interested, but the expectation the makers of this film had in the
hope that we who were fortunate enough to see the original, must have had the
reverse affect.
 
 
Regards,
 
Roger

--- DB 3.99 + W10 (1607)