The Day The Earth Stood Still parents guide

The Day The Earth Stood Still Parent Guide

Overall B

In this remake of the classic 1951 sci-fi movie, an alien (played this time by Keanu Reeves) lands on Earth, where he receives a rather unwelcome greeting from its human inhabitants.

Release date December 11, 2008

Violence C+
Sexual Content B+
Profanity B+
Substance Use A-

Why is The Day The Earth Stood Still rated PG-13? The MPAA rated The Day The Earth Stood Still PG-13 for some sci-fi disaster images and violence.

Run Time: 104 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

New York City’s Central Park might as well have a bull’s eye painted in the middle of its manicured acres. Attracting all sorts of movie monsters in the past, it’s no surprise when yet another extraterrestrial on an expedition to Earth chooses to land his intergalactic orb on the heavily trafficked turf, literally blowing away many of the people enjoying an evening outing. When a humanoid figure emerges (played by Keanu Reeves), he’s met with the classic “Welcome to our planet” greeting—a bullet.

Wasting no time, the paranoid military, lead by the president’s right hand woman Regina Jackson (Kathy Bates), packs him up and brings him to a top secret facility where the slug is removed. After a short recovery, he meets an international team of experts, each of whom has been abducted by the Americans for the express purpose of figuring out the intentions of the alien. Fortunately, one of them is a beautiful, biological scientist named Helen (Jennifer Connelly). Feeling empathy for the creature that identifies himself as Klaatu, she forms a bond of trust with him even after he claims his real appearance “would only scare you.”

Not hanging out long enough to experience a hospital meal, Klaatu electrocutes his lie detector examiner, uses a high-pitched radio transmission to render dozens of security guards useless, and heads for the streets of the city. Eventually meeting up with Helen again, he finally takes the time to explain his mission, which—of course—puts the lives of every human being at risk.

Aside from the initial shooting and some additional sci-fi explosions, the most violent moment comes when a character runs a car into a person standing behind it. In another scene, small insects begin to eat a man’s clothes and, presumably, the person wearing them. Profanities are nearly non-existent (only one mild expletive and a couple of terms of deity), and there is no sexual content, drinking or smoking.

Similar to the 1951 telling of this story (also titled The Day The Earth Stood Still), this remake implies a moral message Earthlings must learn if they hope to survive. Yet, even with the special effects of the 21st Century, the production from over 50 years ago feels more succinct and engaging. While the lack of content concerns may make this a film teens can experience, it’s unfortunate these space visitors aren’t as clear about our wrongs or how to right them. Hopefully, the next time the movie industry gets around to re-visioning this script (in another half-century or so), the Earth will be standing—still.

Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, Kathy Bates. Running time: 104 minutes. Theatrical release December 11, 2008. Updated

The Day The Earth Stood Still
Rating & Content Info

Why is The Day The Earth Stood Still rated PG-13? The Day The Earth Stood Still is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some sci-fi disaster images and violence.

Like the 1951 film of the same name, this movie tells the story of an alien’s visit to Earth to inform the planet’s inhabitants that they must change. The only major concern for viewing by younger audiences is some violence: A character is shot once, but recovers (splattered blood from the wound is shown). A brief shot of a surgical procedure is seen and medical drugs are administered. A man is electrocuted (his stiff and shaking body are portrayed) and another has his legs deliberately crushed by a car. Corpses with bloody wounds are shown. We see a man’s clothes being eaten by small alien insects and it’s implied he dies from the same fate. Later we see these insects crawling out from a person’s skin. There are several depictions of the use of missiles and military artillery, along with explosions and property destruction. A boy and woman have a bleeding nose. A mild profanity and two terms of deity are heard. A man is briefly seen lying naked on a hospital bed—no explicit details are shown.

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The Day The Earth Stood Still Parents' Guide

If you were an alien visiting our planet, what would you want to say? Who would you want to say it to? If you could talk to an extra-terrestrial being, what would you ask?

If, like Klaatu, you could observe our world from an unattached perspective, what recommendations for change would you have? What things would you praise?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of The Day The Earth Stood Still movie is April 7, 2009. Here are some details…

Release Date: 7 April 2009

The Day The Earth Stood Still comes home video in the following editions:

The Day The Earth Stood Still Special Edition DVD (3 Disc Set) is presented in widescreen. Audio tracks are available in 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound (English) and Dolby Surround (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Bonus materials included are:

- Digital Copy of film for portable media players

- Copy of the 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still

- Deleted Scenes

- Featurettes: Re-Imagining The Day, Unleashing Gort, Watching The Skies: In Search Of Extraterrestrial Life and The Day The Earth Was Green.

- Commentary By Writer David Scarpa

- Still Galleries, Concept Art, Storyboards and Production Photos

The Day The Earth Stood Still Special Edition Blu-ray (3 Disc Set) is presented in widescreen. Audio tracks are recorded in 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio (English) and 5.1 Dolby Digital (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Cantonese Korean and Mandarin. Bonus materials included are:

- Digital Copy of film for portable media players

- Copy of the 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still

- Deleted Scenes

- Featurettes: Re-Imagining The Day, Unleashing Gort, Watching The Skies: In Search Of Extraterrestrial Life and The Day The Earth Was Green.

- Commentary By Writer David Scarpa

- Still Galleries, Concept Art, Storyboards and Production Photos

Plus:

- Klaatu’s Unseen Artifacts: The Day The Earth Stood Still Picture-In-Picture Track

- BD-Java Game: Build Your Own GORT

The Day The Earth Stood Still Two-Disc DVD is presented in widescreen. Audio tracks are available in 5.1 Dolby Digital Sound (English) and Dolby Surround (Spanish and French), with subtitles in English, Spanish and French.

-The package includes a copy of the original 1951 version of the film.

 

Related home video titles:

How Earthlings react to visitors from outer space is the plot behind other sci-fi scripts, includingStar Trek: First Contact and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.