The Day the Earth Stood Still 1951
7.8 / 10
The Day the Earth Stood Still
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.
An alien and a robot land on Earth after World War II and tell mankind to be peaceful or face destruction.
Videos & Photos
All 2 Videos & 39 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Klaatu, alias Mr. Carpenter
... Helen Benson
... Bobby Benson
... Prof. Jacob Barnhardt
... Tom Stevens
... Gort
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews23 Jun 2021 by John Chard
I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. The Day the Earth Stood Still is directed by Robert Wise and adapted to screenplay by Edmund H. North from the story Farewell to the Master written by Harry Bates. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray and Frances Bavier. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Leo Tover. Classic sci-fi is right here as director Robert Wise gives a beautifully steady hand to Harry Bate's short story. Peace for the world or else is the message and I don't see anything wrong with that because it stands up to relevant scrutiny today and unfortunately many days ahead in the future. Debates about the allegorical worth of the film still persist today, but the core message is not up for argument. Wise shows his influences from the time when he worked with Orson Welles and Val Lewton, where here, aided by Tover's beautiful photography, he blends the feel of semi-documentary starkness with film noir visuality. Whether it's scenes of Klaatu (Rennie) trawling the wet night streets, or the interiors of the spaceship and boarding house, the visual imagery by way of low-key lighting compositions is often striking for mood accentuation. All the cast are spot on in their respective performances, with Neal refreshingly given a female role that doesn't resort to her being token sex appeal or a shrieking harpy. Herrmann's understated score is dynamite, and pretty much imitated wholesale from this point onwards, and the film is laced with poignant and frightening scenes that keep the viewer firmly glued to the tale unfolding. The demonstration of the visitors power gives the film its title and it's a glorious slice of celluloid, and in Gort the robot (Lock Martin) we have one of the biggest icons in sci-fi cinema. Once viewed one can never forget The Day The Earth Stood Still, its message, its structured precision and its technical smarts ensure you will remember this film always. One of the most important science fiction movies of all time, a game changer in the critical year for the sci-fi genre. All told it's magic cinema still standing the test of time. 10/10
Directors:
Producers:
Genres:
Release Date:
Sep 28, 1951 (United States)
Run Time:
1hr 32`
MMPA Rating:
G
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
The Day the Earth Stood Still
I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it. The Day the Earth Stood Still is directed by Robert Wise and adapted to screenplay by Edmund H. North from the story Farewell to the Master written by Harry Bates. It stars Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Sam Jaffe, Billy Gray and Frances Bavier. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Leo Tover. Classic sci-fi is right here as director Robert Wise gives a beautifully steady hand to Harry Bate's short story. Peace for the world or else is the message and I don't see anything wrong with that because it stands up to relevant scrutiny today and unfortunately many days ahead in the future. Debates about the allegorical worth of the film still persist today, but the core message is not up for argument. Wise shows his influences from the time when he worked with Orson Welles and Val Lewton, where here, aided by Tover's beautiful photography, he blends the feel of semi-documentary starkness with film noir visuality. Whether it's scenes of Klaatu (Rennie) trawling the wet night streets, or the interiors of the spaceship and boarding house, the visual imagery by way of low-key lighting compositions is often striking for mood accentuation. All the cast are spot on in their respective performances, with Neal refreshingly given a female role that doesn't resort to her being token sex appeal or a shrieking harpy. Herrmann's understated score is dynamite, and pretty much imitated wholesale from this point onwards, and the film is laced with poignant and frightening scenes that keep the viewer firmly glued to the tale unfolding. The demonstration of the visitors power gives the film its title and it's a glorious slice of celluloid, and in Gort the robot (Lock Martin) we have one of the biggest icons in sci-fi cinema. Once viewed one can never forget The Day The Earth Stood Still, its message, its structured precision and its technical smarts ensure you will remember this film always. One of the most important science fiction movies of all time, a game changer in the critical year for the sci-fi genre. All told it's magic cinema still standing the test of time. 10/10
Cast & Crew of
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Directors & Credit Writers
... Director
Cast
... Klaatu, alias Mr. Carpenter
... Helen Benson
... Bobby Benson
... Prof. Jacob Barnhardt
... Tom Stevens
... Gort
... General Cutler
... Mrs. Crockett, landlady
... Mr. Harley, Secretary to the President
... Mrs. Barley, boarder
... George Barley, boarder
... Mr. Krull, boarder
... Hilda, Barnhart's secretary
ED
Elmer Davis... Elmer Davis
... H. V. Kaltenborn
DP
Drew Pearson... Drew Pearson
... Gabriel Heatter (voice)
... Lieutenant in Charge of Landing Site
JD
James Doyle... Army Dr. White
LD
Larry Dobkin... Balding Army Doctor
Produced By
... Producer
Videos & Photos of
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Videos ( 2)
Photos ( 39 )
Related Movies To
The Day the Earth Stood Still
The Twisters (2024)
0 /10
A deadly patchwork of destructive cyclones is on an apocalyptic path of convergence at a populated Midwest city center. There, the twisters will merge into one mega tornado that threatens to obliterate the cities for hundreds of miles around.
Run Time: 1hr 27` . MMPA: . Release: 28 Jun 2024
Director: Michael Su
Producer: Ryan Ebert , James Mahoney , Brendan Petrizzo
Stars: Kayla Fields , Mark Justice , Paul Logan , Curtis Strong , Tiffany , Sofia Riba
Lilo & Stitch (2025)
0 /10
The wildly funny and touching story of a lonely Hawaiian girl and the fugitive alien who helps to mend her broken family.
Run Time: 1hr 48` . MMPA: PG . Release: 17 May 2025
Director: Brian Avery Galligan , Aldric La'Auli Porter , Stephanie Tull
Producer: Ryan Halprin , Terri Douglas , Louie Provost
Stars: Chris Sanders , Maia Kealoha , Zach Galifianakis , Billy Magnussen , Sydney Agudong , Courtney B. Vance
Distant (2024)
0 /10
After crash-landing on an alien planet, an asteroid miner must contend with the challenges of his new surroundings, while making his way across the harsh terrain to the only other survivor – a woman who is trapped in her escape pod.
Run Time: 1hr 27` . MMPA: . Release: 12 Jul 2024
Director: Will Speck , Cliff Lanning , Josh Gordon
Producer: Will Speck , Cliff Lanning , Anna Halberg
Stars: Anthony Ramos , Naomi Scott , Kristofer Hivju , Zachary Quinto , Izzy Jones , Leon Nurse-Joseph
28 Years Later (2025)
0 /10
Twenty-eight years since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, now, still in a ruthlessly enforced quarantine, some have found ways to exist amidst the infected. One such group lives on a small island connected to the mainland by a single, heavily-defended causeway. When one member departs on a mission into the dark heart of the mainland, he discovers secrets, wonders, and horrors that have mutated not only the infected but other survivors as well.
Run Time: 1hr 55` . MMPA: R . Release: 18 Jun 2025
Director: Richard Styles , Sarah Mulberge , Lucy Hatherley
Producer: Andrew Macdonald , Bryony Chaplin , Rebecca Farhall
Stars: Cillian Murphy , Jodie Comer , Aaron Taylor-Johnson , Charlie Hunnam , Jack O'Connell , Ralph Fiennes
Diablo (2025)
0 /10
Ex-con Kris Chaney seizes the daughter of a Colombian gangster to fulfill a noble promise to the young girl's mother. When her father enlists both the criminal underworld and a psychotic killer to exact his revenge, Kris relies on everything he's ever learned to stay alive and keep his word.
Run Time: 1hr 31` . MMPA: R . Release: 13 Jun 2025
Director: Ernesto Díaz Espinoza
Producer: Clay Epstein , Stan Wertlieb , Jason Gurvitz
Stars: Scott Adkins , Marko Zaror , María del Rosario , Diana Hoyos , Lucho Velasco , Alanna de la Rosa
Life After Fighting (2024)
0 /10
Retired martial arts world champion Alex Faulkner has settled into a simple life, when the disappearance of two of his students leads to an unthinkable discovery close to home. Just when all hope of finding the children is lost, he locates the imprisoned girls and unsurfaces an international child trafficking operation, which draws him back into the fight of his life against those behind it.
Run Time: 2hr 6` . MMPA: . Release: 07 Jun 2024
Director: Bren Foster
Producer: Navid Bahadori , Chelsea Jean Foster , Bren Foster
Stars: Bren Foster , Cassie Howarth , Luke Ford , Annabelle Stephenson , Anthony Nassif , Arielle Jean Foster
STRAW (2025)
0 /10
What will be her last straw? A devastatingly bad day pushes a hardworking single mother to the breaking point — and into a shocking act of desperation.
Run Time: 1hr 45` . MMPA: R . Release: 05 Jun 2025
Director: Derrick Doose , Marcus Wiley , Felix Jordan
Producer: Tony Strickland , Andy Norman , Nadia Brown
Stars: Taraji P. Henson , Sherri Shepherd , Teyana Taylor , Sinbad , Rockmond Dunbar , Ashley Versher
The Amateur (2025)
0 /10
After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
Run Time: 2hr 3` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 09 Apr 2025
Director: Svetlana Punte , James Hawes
Producer: Hutch Parker , Jonathan Hook , Dan Wilson
Stars: Rami Malek , Rachel Brosnahan , Caitríona Balfe , Laurence Fishburne , Jon Bernthal , Holt McCallany
Crypto Legacy (2020)
2.5 /10
Troy Morgan doesn't like his family's farm. The place creeps him out. After spotting some strange lights one evening, Troy and his little sister Carrie go to investigate the creepy barn.
Run Time: 1hr 11` . MMPA: . Release: 01 Oct 2020
Director: Charles Townsend
Producer: Charles Townsend
Stars: Sheri Gill Dixon , Brian Kunz , Brandon Young , Nathaniel Barton , Linzi Gray , Thalia Reynolds
The Accountant² (2025)
0 /10
When an old acquaintance is murdered, Wolff is compelled to solve the case. Realizing more extreme measures are necessary, Wolff recruits his estranged and highly lethal brother, Brax, to help. In partnership with Marybeth Medina, they uncover a deadly conspiracy, becoming targets of a ruthless network of killers who will stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried.
Run Time: 2hr 13` . MMPA: R . Release: 23 Apr 2025
Director: Mariela Comitini , Fernando Chien , Gavin O'Connor
Producer: Matt Damon , Alison Winter , Allen Kupetsky
Stars: Ben Affleck , Jon Bernthal , J.K. Simmons , Cynthia Addai-Robinson , Daniella Pineda , Alison Robertson
Conjuring the Cult (2024)
0 /10
After discovering his blood-soaked daughter dead in the bathtub, David Bryson attends a self-help group to help save him from his ghostly nightmares. But when a group of mysterious cult-like women offer to help him resurrect his daughter. David's choices will not just decide his fate... but the fate of his dead daughter's SOUL.
Run Time: 1hr 33` . MMPA: . Release: 01 Oct 2024
Director: Calvin Morie McCarthy
Producer:
Stars: Neil Green , Elissa Dowling , Chynna Rae Shurts , BJ Mezek , Jason Brooks , Brad Littlefield
Utopia (2024)
0 /10
A soldier searching for his missing wife breaks into a high-tech facility, believing she's been caught in a human trafficking ring. But beyond its walls, he finds a surreal, futuristic fantasy park where reality and illusion blur. As he navigates this seductive and dangerous world, a shocking truth pulls him deeper into a deadly game where nothing is as it seems.
Run Time: 1hr 33` . MMPA: R . Release: 09 Dec 2024
Director: James Bamford
Producer: Vladimir Karanikolov , Kyle Otto , Scott Karol
Stars: Moe Dunford , Charlotte Vega , Michael D. Xavier , Daniel Bernhardt , Jason Flemyng , Wanda Banda