b-p-dixon
Lifetime Total
1+
IMDb Member
13 years
Reviews
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
A Better Solution to an Old Problem
So far every review I've read has been negative about this movie. To each-his-own.
This movie recreates the same problem (humanity being a threat to the world, itself, and the universe) but gives a better and more mature solution to the problem than the original film.
In the 1951 film, the best solution that the writers could come up with was forcing humanity to "behave" under the threat of violence from a force greater than us. The 2008 version of this film gives a much more sophisticated answer: that being the beauty of the human condition and the need for a people to face the "precipice" in order to embrace necessary change.
Although this solution may have been better served by not being so overt, it still shows the growth in our thinking. The simple fact that the first version's solution was merely a new threat of violence, while the remake's solutions was to see that the beauty of our human condition makes our existence meaningful, made the remake worthwhile.
The role that Jaden Smith played was tremendously annoying. But I think that was the goal. He was the archetype for what mankind is: an annoying, untrusting, and overly-simplistic child-race. Although his sudden change into "maturity" was anything but smooth, he again represented the degree to how abruptly mankind would need to "grow-up" if we ever face similar situations.
I think this movie was an amazing look into the ongoing development and maturing of mankind. It shows that even our creative side (Hollywood) has grown up since the original film. It shows that humanity doesn't need a greater threat of violence to make us mature; we merely need to look at the beauty of our human dilemma, and to draw from that strength to grow.
Idealistic? Probably. But hey - that's why it's a movie.
This movie recreates the same problem (humanity being a threat to the world, itself, and the universe) but gives a better and more mature solution to the problem than the original film.
In the 1951 film, the best solution that the writers could come up with was forcing humanity to "behave" under the threat of violence from a force greater than us. The 2008 version of this film gives a much more sophisticated answer: that being the beauty of the human condition and the need for a people to face the "precipice" in order to embrace necessary change.
Although this solution may have been better served by not being so overt, it still shows the growth in our thinking. The simple fact that the first version's solution was merely a new threat of violence, while the remake's solutions was to see that the beauty of our human condition makes our existence meaningful, made the remake worthwhile.
The role that Jaden Smith played was tremendously annoying. But I think that was the goal. He was the archetype for what mankind is: an annoying, untrusting, and overly-simplistic child-race. Although his sudden change into "maturity" was anything but smooth, he again represented the degree to how abruptly mankind would need to "grow-up" if we ever face similar situations.
I think this movie was an amazing look into the ongoing development and maturing of mankind. It shows that even our creative side (Hollywood) has grown up since the original film. It shows that humanity doesn't need a greater threat of violence to make us mature; we merely need to look at the beauty of our human dilemma, and to draw from that strength to grow.
Idealistic? Probably. But hey - that's why it's a movie.