spookysr

I too agree with DuzeByte and have setup a discussion group right here at IMDb. Look for it.

Sydney portrays a fascinating creature of Kinoy's mind. The dialog he wrote for Sydney and Will in the jail-house scene was engaging as well as enigmatically intriguing. American stereotypes in 1971 would have us believe that a black man can not play an angel nor an alien. Denzel's portrayal of an angel in The Preacher's Wife was equally as engaging as this movie was simply by the stereotype-bashing of the screenwriters.

Brother John was a little too "dark" in his approach to be a obedient modern-day Ben Elohim (angel) on a mission. Too materially substantial ('human form') to be a disobedient version too. IMHO a visiting advance scout 'alien' actually only exists in the human mind of a Hollywood sci-fi screenwriter. Therefore Brother John fits that bill quite well. However, I can't understand how an alien would know when his folks were dying nor why he would have any dealings with them after realizing his Earth mission. I also don't know why his passport would be so revealing since BJ was so stealthy and so well trained in the espionage trade-craft of a 007 type shadow-warrior of the 70's - karaté chops and all.

I found this movie to be so well thought out despite the predictable love scenes. I would think that Kinoy was trying to deliver a profound message to Americans as he is to the entire world in his new 2005 film about the Papalcy (Pope and Catholic church) called "Magnificat".

Spooky

This movie is not so unrealistic. Consider this: 1) We are using an atomic rocket to get to Saturn in 2007 2) 250 million miles is somewhere near Jupiter or possibly Europa where NASA believes there is life. 3) A workable laser weapon wasn't invented until May 1960. So how did Harry Bates design one for Gort to have in 1951? 4) NASA is is designing robots as astronauts today. They are marketing one at Best Buy stores now for you to get the feel of how AI and robots in space will work. 5) If you thought Harry wrote in a Jesus Christ angle for Rennie as Klaatu you were right! They made Edmund North rewrite the resurecction scene you NEVER saw. The original scene had a very sacrireligous and blasphemous message about ressurection and everlasting life from Klaatu to Patricia Neal after comes back to life. It is in some can somewhere in a Hollywood vault. 6) There was no 'hidden' Cold War message about Russians being the hidden true enemy aliens. They mentioned the Russians in the movie openly and the Cold War. Atomic Energy is the 'Genie In the Bottle' that Klaatu and any sane person would want abolished as it is just too dangerous for mere humans (i.e. 3 Mile Island, Chernoble, etc.). Einstien, Oppenhiemer and others where against Atomic Energy in the end. The evil late Mr. Teller was not however. Now we have X-Ray bombs, dangerous atomic rockets, beam weapons, etc.

Wow!