Whoa!
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970896.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Well, he does have an 'otherworldly' detached strangeness about him...

Jim

"Whoaaaaa, barrada Nicto, Dude"

Interesting - Variety.com doesn't work with Netscape :freak:.

WELLLL, I find it hard to take Reeves seriously in anything, so, so much for THIS movie. :(

When a friend told me about this I thought it was a joke.

:rolleyes:

Yah, this is right up there with Jim Carrey as Steve Austin.

Yeah, that whirring noise is Robert Wise spinning in his grave.

A Bland Klaatu
A sucky Gort
An Idiotic Space ship


It will be shot and done like a sci-fi movie, instead of a Drama, and they don't have ANY credible news folks to give it any gravitas.

I can't hardly think of anybody who is more the anti-Michael Rennie than Keanu Reeves.

Liev Shribman(sp?) probably would have made a good Klaatu. Ten years ago I woulda said Kevin Spacey.

I'm willing to sit back and see. You never know and his performance may end up surprising y'all.

Not a Reeves fan although he does work fairly well as an emotionless cypher. Just as big a problem is that neither the director nor the writer have much of a track record to speak of.

This is a neutral, what a coinkydink post.
According to imdb, Keanu Reeves is around 42 and Michael Rennie was around 42 when the Wise film was made.

Gary Oldham would be better as Klaatu. I bet the robot has all sorts of lights n gizzmo's on it, and the ship has landing gear. They will make some idiotic editorial, even more so than the original, and his name won't be "Carpenter"

This is such a great movie and it could stand an update. The message is as strong today as it was back then. I'm sure it will be excellent.

So..... will Gort leap into the air, firing the red-beam-of-death as the entire scene freezes while the camera does a 360 degree pan around him?

Or...

"Dude! We totally gave Gort a wedgie!"

Liev Shribman(sp?) probably would have made a good Klaatu. Ten years ago I woulda said Kevin Spacey.I assume you mean Liev Schreiber? Any number of competent actors could play that role, but Keanu Reeves? Well, he might surprise us all -- remember what they said about Michael Keaton playing Batman!This is such a great movie and it could stand an update. The message is as strong today as it was back then. I'm sure it will be excellent.The original was a clear but not heavy-handed allegory of the Christ story. Problem is, the remake will probably either soft-pedal the message or hammer it home with a pile driver.

Ohio Southpaw asked:

So..... will Gort leap into the air, firing the red-beam-of-death as the entire scene freezes while the camera does a 360 degree pan around him?

Isn't that referred to as "bullet time" ?

The alien technology was 'clean' and uncluttered. I'm afraid they will mess up everything!

Stuff they will ruin:
The radio/tv interviews at the saucer
the 1st encounter against Gort
The professor and Klaatus' talk
The Insurance salesmans impact
The woman in pearls and high heels
The boarding house scenes
The music
the mood of the movie
the message

The alien technology was 'clean' and uncluttered. I'm afraid they will mess up everything!

Stuff they will ruin:
The radio/tv interviews at the saucer
the 1st encounter against Gort
The professor and Klaatus' talk
The Insurance salesmans impact
The woman in pearls and high heels
The boarding house scenes
The music
the mood of the movie
the message

Yup, that about covers it! :lol:

Seems modern directors and story/screnwriters DON'T READ anymore. They think its OK to tell a story "Better" whatever that is... Worked real well with "War of the Worlds" huh? "Bedazzled" yep, another weeener. Bewitched too!

I don't even think anyone in Hollywood GETS the original "Day the Earth Stood Still" much less has the skills and insight to re-do it 'Better'. The original wa released during the early days of the "Cold War" and the paranoia of those days. What would be the reason to surround the saucer with an array of tanks etc now? Islamic Terrorists? With todays technology, we could detect the saucer coming long before it goes into earth orbit. 4000 MPH???? I think more like 25,000MPH.

So the saucer lands and we put tanks and small arms all around it. What about the lasers? what about EMP? What about all the other high tech weapons? So a trigger happy soldier shoots Klaatu, and Gort cooks all the local weapons. Why would they take Klaatu to Walter Reed, when he might be a Bio-Hazard? Ya think those military doctors will be smoking THIS TIME??? LOL

OK so he escapes past the video cameras, and guards and secure doors......Steals clothes that fit, and get a room at this boarding house without a depost, but just a few diamonds.

He gets a tour thru the city with a kid and they visit his dads grave, KILLED IN IRAQ. He goes and visits this famous scientist like Stephen Hawking and leaves a message by correcting a physics formula. He later goes back and has a chat.

Gort knocks out ALL POWER on the planet 'cept the airplanes, hospitals etc.
Earth panics, so they find and kill Klaatu. Gort bring him back and Klaatu tears us a new one. He leaves.

Seems modern directors and story/screnwriters DON'T READ anymore. They think its OK to tell a story "Better" whatever that is... Worked real well with "War of the Worlds" huh?
Yes, it did.

It's clear that the makers of the new WAR OF THE WORLDS had read the book. It was much more faithful to the book than the '50s version. Not to mention the fact that it had better writing, directing, and acting.

Better acting?? Naa, the lastest junk version hardly kept your eye on the characters. MORE FAITHFUL?? Both were waaay off.

I too enjoyed the WOTW remake, and regard it as one of Spielberg's best. And that's taking nothing away from George Pal's version, which in 1954 presented audiences with an epic end-of-the-world extravaganza the likes of which they'd never seen (it is impossible today to fully appreciate the impact that film made at the time).

With regard to sci-fi remakes, Phillip Kaufman did a swell job of updating the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and David Cronenberg’s take on The Fly is, IMO, a vast improvement over the 1958 incarnation.

My own skepticism re: the proposed The Day the Earth Stood Still remake stems largely from the “talent” attached to the project. Maybe I’m wrong, but I find it hard to believe any good will come from so mediocre a creative collaboration.

Better acting?? Naa, the lastest junk version hardly kept your eye on the characters.
Do you want to elaborate on this? I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.

And yes, the acting in the new version is much better than the original with wooden Gene Barry and "deer caught in the headlights" Ann Robinson.

And other than moving the story up a century or so, how is the new one not faithful to the original? The novel is a first-person account of a man struggling to survive as technologically superior invaders overrun the Earth. So is the movie.

As I've said before, the main problems with the movie come from being too faithful to the source. The book presents some major problems when it comes to making a dramatic adaption, namely a passive hero and a deus ex machina ending.

As for a DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, I think a major problem with the remake is the "message." The original film essentially argues that if we want peace, we'll have to give up some of our sovereignty to a larger organization that is willing to enforce the peace through violence if neccessary. If this wouldn't be a lightning rod to those who think Hollywood is run by a bunch of anti-American liberals, I don't know what would.

"With regard to sci-fi remakes, Phillip Kaufman did a swell job of updating the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and David Cronenberg’s take on The Fly is, IMO, a vast improvement over the 1958 incarnation. "

Absolutely Right!

Seems modern directors and story/screnwriters DON'T READ anymore. They think its OK to tell a story "Better" whatever that is... Worked real well with "War of the Worlds" huh? "Bedazzled" yep, another weeener. Bewitched too!http://imgserv.ya.com/galerias2.ya.com/img/f/f270bce3a1323edei3.jpg[/IMG-LEFT]


Actually the [I]Bedazzled approach might work
with a Day the Earth Stood Still remake --
make Klaatu a woman this time, and
have her played by Elizabeth Hurley!

I'd still blow my raspberries and try a different reality.

Seems modern directors and story/screnwriters DON'T READ anymore. They think its OK to tell a story "Better" whatever that is...

Well they might surprise you and use the ending from the original short story, instead of the "better" one used in the old film version!

Jim

I haven't read the original story "Farewell to the Master" by Harry Bates (?), on which The Day the Earth Stood Still is based. My understanding is that. . .

It turns out the robot Gort is really in charge and Klaatu is merely a servant. Or something like that.

Yeah, that's the gist of it. Of course, the dynamic you refer to is present in the feature film as well.

thenostalgialeague.com surmises that the original short story is in the public domain ....
if anyone is curious ... whoop there it is!
http://thenostalgialeague.com/olmag/bates.html

That was very interesting reading and a first for me! I had no idea! Thanks for sharing Farewll to the Master! I have high hopes for the remake.

Yes, it did.

It's clear that the makers of the new WAR OF THE WORLDS had read the book. It was much more faithful to the book than the '50s version. Not to mention the fact that it had better writing, directing, and acting.


The new version of WOTW was more faithful to the book in many ways. However, I could have done without the background story of the dysfunctional family. That was not in the book.

The Day the Earth Stood Still worked well in the 1950's. But, I don't think it will have as big an impact in the setting of our modern world. If it works, the only reason will be for nostalgic reasons. Oh, I almost forgot one other reason, up to date modern special effects technology may "ooh and ah" some people.

Perhaps if......
A saucer lands right outside the UN, or Pentagon, or on the White House lawn
the editorial eye of the viewer is done as drama, (NOT Like a cheezy SCI-FI) as Wise did originally
the music is really good
the alien tech really looks alien, w/out the knobs, flashing, chasing lights and Starwars look
they don't get too off tangent, or are into themselves or the tech too much, more on the drama aspect
keep the pace up, w/out slow boring BS.

In four words, the thing that will kill this flick bigger than anything else yet named:

KLAATU'S HUMAN LOVE INTEREST.

Eeeeuuuwww!!

I could see Reeves as a decent Klaatu, but why? Another frackin' remake, along with Halloween, Escape From New York, etc, And we all know how recent remakes have been so much better than the originals, like Time Machine, Rollerball, Planet of the Apes, make the originals look like the crap they are. Right?

Rollerball?
Rollerball?!!

When did they remake that? :eek:
I'm glad I missed it.

I think you were in a coma. ;)

Yah, this is right up there with Jim Carrey as Steve Austin.
In the name of all that is holy, this is a joke right!!??

In the name of all that is holy, this is a joke right!!??


Sadly, no. Someone wanted to do an honest translation of Martin Caidin's Cyborg, Carrey heard about it and decided that it would be the perfect vehicle for his brand of Ace Ventura "humor". :rolleyes: So of course, he got his people to steal the project for him. That was a litttle while ago, though, and there hasn't been any movement on it, so if we're real lucky it's dead. Either way, we still got robbed of what might have been a decent adaptation of Cyborg.

CaptFrank, you should be very glad you missed the Rollerball remake!

Rollerball?
Rollerball?!!

When did they remake that? :eek:
I'm glad I missed it.It was in and out of theaters like you-know-what throught a goose. You're lucky.

They should call it:

"Gort and Klaatu's Excellent Adventure."

Glenn :)

Couldn't they get a better actor than Keanu Reeves to play this important part? I thought he did a boring job in the Matrix film series. All he did was look cool in the slow motion sequences where he's being shot at while doing somersaults.

We just watched 'The Gift' Wednesday night. Check it out, I now think Reeves is a great actor, seriously. In that film he plays an abusive wife beating husband, a redneck, violent POS. Some of the best acting I've seen in a long time.

http://www.mania.com/56546.html
Hubba!
Jennifer Connelly, she who makes natural and thick eyebrows alluring, has joined the cast.
Less hubba Kathy Bates also joins the cast.
I guess Gort needn't be so hubba?
[I don't wanna link to the original Hollywood Reporter blurb because either they have been compromised by a hacker or they have allied themselves with a questionable cyberad purveyor.]

what about Gort's love interest .
Boading house lady : "He ran off with my Frigidaire !"
hb