The title alone inspires awe.
Video:
The THX-certified, restored, and remastered picture quality is excellent. The best print available was very good to begin with, and the job of cleaning it up was as successful as I imagine it could be. The 1.33:1 ratio screen image (only slightly smaller than the 1.37:1 Academy ratio shown theatrically) is clear of grain and free of spots, flecks, lines, scratches, fading, or any other forms of age deterioration. In truth, it could pass for a newly struck print, possibly even surpassing the 1951 copies that went out to theaters. Black-and-white contrasts are vivid, if sometimes a bit too pronounced; definition is exemplary; pixilation is absent; and moiré effects are minimal. Most of us have never seen the film looking so good.
Audio:
The sound in English is offered up in two formats: the film's original monaural track and a new stereo track. Now, I'm not always one to support the tinkering with a soundtrack because too often the results are worse for the effort, but in this case the new stereo reproduction is excellent. It isn't wide, pinpoint-precise stereo, you understand, but the sound is smoothly spread out across the front the speakers, it's dynamic, and it's totally free of extraneous background noise. By comparison, the mono is harsher and, of course, more constricted. Expect no rear-channel activity nor any serious left-to-right flybys or other startling sonic effects, but do enjoy the added warmth and clarity of the new remix.
Extras:
As befits a movie in Fox's "Studio Classics" line of DVDs, the product is filled out with an assortment of intriguing bonus items that fill both sides of the disc. Side one contains the film itself; the stereo and mono soundtracks; an audio commentary with director Robert Wise and fellow director Nicholas Meyer; and a six-minute MovieTone newsreel from 1951 depicting some of the world's more aggressive events of the day. Then, there's a THX Optimizer set of audiovisual tests, fifteen scene selections, and a theatrical trailer that bespeaks its age. English, French, and Spanish are provided for spoken language choices, with English and Spanish for subtitles.
Side two of the disc contains the bulk of the extras. Here you'll find an excellent, eighty-minute documentary apparently made for the laser-disc edition of the film in the mid 1990s. It's called "Making the Earth Stand Still" and includes reminiscences from many of the surviving filmmakers, including the producer and the director and stars Patricia Neal and Billy Gray. Among the more illuminating things director Robert Wise says is that "pace is interest." That is, he believes that a film's pace, its tempo, is dictated not by how fast things literally go by (that is, how quickly things are edited in succession) but by how well a scene or sequence holds an audience's attention. Thus, a scene can be a single, long, extended take and still seem fast paced if it creates enough interest. This reminds us that a decade earlier Wise worked as the film editor on "Citizen Kane," and his observation on pacing is such that younger film directors and editors might want to take heed. Next among the extras, there are six still galleries that cover such subjects as production design, models, press books, posters, lobby cards, scene and set photos, and the entire shooting script for the movie. Concluding the extras are a side-by-side restoration comparison and trailers for two other Fox sci-fi oldies, "One Million Years B.C." and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
Parting Thoughts:
There is a certain degree of naïveté about "The Day the Earth Stood Still" that might not sit well with some of today's more cynical moviegoers. It is perhaps a bit simplistic to get viewers to believe that a single individual like Klaatu could influence the contrary mind sets of whole planets full of warmongering nations or that there could be an interplanetary police force patrolling the galaxies for rogue planets. It's like saying a single President or even the U.N. could solve all of the Earth's problems. But it's the thought that counts in this sci-fi fable, and the thought is undoubtedly appealing.
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is not an action movie by any means, and its intellectual message may seem a bit preachy, but hang in. The story line plays out logically, if somewhat predictably, and the characters behave as normal human beings, for good or for bad. The cast is well chosen, the production values are high, the music is fabulous, and the human drama is realistic. All in all, the movie provides a more intense viewing experience than you might expect, with a thoughtful and optimistic premise that sets it apart from most other sci-fi films. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" deserves its classic status, and the Fox studios have afforded it first-class DVD treatment.
The THX-certified, restored, and remastered picture quality is excellent. The best print available was very good to begin with, and the job of cleaning it up was as successful as I imagine it could be. The 1.33:1 ratio screen image (only slightly smaller than the 1.37:1 Academy ratio shown theatrically) is clear of grain and free of spots, flecks, lines, scratches, fading, or any other forms of age deterioration. In truth, it could pass for a newly struck print, possibly even surpassing the 1951 copies that went out to theaters. Black-and-white contrasts are vivid, if sometimes a bit too pronounced; definition is exemplary; pixilation is absent; and moiré effects are minimal. Most of us have never seen the film looking so good.
Audio:
The sound in English is offered up in two formats: the film's original monaural track and a new stereo track. Now, I'm not always one to support the tinkering with a soundtrack because too often the results are worse for the effort, but in this case the new stereo reproduction is excellent. It isn't wide, pinpoint-precise stereo, you understand, but the sound is smoothly spread out across the front the speakers, it's dynamic, and it's totally free of extraneous background noise. By comparison, the mono is harsher and, of course, more constricted. Expect no rear-channel activity nor any serious left-to-right flybys or other startling sonic effects, but do enjoy the added warmth and clarity of the new remix.
Extras:
As befits a movie in Fox's "Studio Classics" line of DVDs, the product is filled out with an assortment of intriguing bonus items that fill both sides of the disc. Side one contains the film itself; the stereo and mono soundtracks; an audio commentary with director Robert Wise and fellow director Nicholas Meyer; and a six-minute MovieTone newsreel from 1951 depicting some of the world's more aggressive events of the day. Then, there's a THX Optimizer set of audiovisual tests, fifteen scene selections, and a theatrical trailer that bespeaks its age. English, French, and Spanish are provided for spoken language choices, with English and Spanish for subtitles.
Side two of the disc contains the bulk of the extras. Here you'll find an excellent, eighty-minute documentary apparently made for the laser-disc edition of the film in the mid 1990s. It's called "Making the Earth Stand Still" and includes reminiscences from many of the surviving filmmakers, including the producer and the director and stars Patricia Neal and Billy Gray. Among the more illuminating things director Robert Wise says is that "pace is interest." That is, he believes that a film's pace, its tempo, is dictated not by how fast things literally go by (that is, how quickly things are edited in succession) but by how well a scene or sequence holds an audience's attention. Thus, a scene can be a single, long, extended take and still seem fast paced if it creates enough interest. This reminds us that a decade earlier Wise worked as the film editor on "Citizen Kane," and his observation on pacing is such that younger film directors and editors might want to take heed. Next among the extras, there are six still galleries that cover such subjects as production design, models, press books, posters, lobby cards, scene and set photos, and the entire shooting script for the movie. Concluding the extras are a side-by-side restoration comparison and trailers for two other Fox sci-fi oldies, "One Million Years B.C." and "Journey to the Center of the Earth."
Parting Thoughts:
There is a certain degree of naïveté about "The Day the Earth Stood Still" that might not sit well with some of today's more cynical moviegoers. It is perhaps a bit simplistic to get viewers to believe that a single individual like Klaatu could influence the contrary mind sets of whole planets full of warmongering nations or that there could be an interplanetary police force patrolling the galaxies for rogue planets. It's like saying a single President or even the U.N. could solve all of the Earth's problems. But it's the thought that counts in this sci-fi fable, and the thought is undoubtedly appealing.
"The Day the Earth Stood Still" is not an action movie by any means, and its intellectual message may seem a bit preachy, but hang in. The story line plays out logically, if somewhat predictably, and the characters behave as normal human beings, for good or for bad. The cast is well chosen, the production values are high, the music is fabulous, and the human drama is realistic. All in all, the movie provides a more intense viewing experience than you might expect, with a thoughtful and optimistic premise that sets it apart from most other sci-fi films. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" deserves its classic status, and the Fox studios have afforded it first-class DVD treatment.
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[release]10770[/release]