| The Day the Earth Stood Still |
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| Genre: | SciFi |
| Year: | 1951 |
| Rating: | G |
| Cast: | Robert Wise, Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe |
"Klaatu, Barada, Nikto." This phrase rings bells for all fans of American science fiction, as it is so crucial to salvation in the 1951 classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. A landmark in 20th-century sci-fi, the film follows an alien named Klaatu (Michael Rennie) who travels millions of miles to earth to deliver a message of universal peace. Paranoia breeds irony, however, and the ignorant humans are so frightened by the alien that they aim to capture him, that is until Klaatu arranges for a worldwide shutdown of electricity, or a "stand still." Costarring Sam Jaffe (Ben-Hur) and Patricia Neal (Hud) as Klaatu's benevolent human conspirators, the film benefits from intelligent direction by Oscar-winner Robert Wise (The Sound of Music), who helped to establish the social mores of '50s sci-fi -- atomic consciousness, cold war anxiety, and theremin music. The Day is still a thoroughly influential film 50 years later, and prime evidence is Sam Rami's Army of Darkness, which features Bruce Campbell's hilarious send-up, "Klaatu, Barada, Nikkhuharshenhar." Greg Kalleres
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