The Day the Earth Stood Still - the remake

Now, the original The Day the Earth Stood Still was a classic. It's possibly one of the best science fiction movies of the twentieth century. It was a caution tale about the Cold War, but it was one of hope. It was intelligent; it knew exactly where its limits were; it kept its message in check - it had meaning, but it also had a story to tell.

And then they decided to remake it. I was pretty damn skeptical about this straight from the beginning. Admittedly, I'm pretty against remakes in the first place (and I can post a rant about that another time), but there's remaking a movie that could be improved and then there's remaking The Day the Earth Stood Still and making the star Keanu Reeves.

My biggest problem with this movie was the way they changed the premise. Now, in the original, Klaatu came to Earth because the direction the Cold War was headed - the threat of nuclear war, especially - could eventually become a danger to other planets as the denizens of the Earth moved into space. In the new movie, he doesn't have a reason quite as rational as that. No, this movie is about global warming. The whole damn movie is just "OH GOD OH GOD YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELVES YOU DUMBFUCKS". There was no message of hope. They took out valuable plot to insert fight scenes.

Klaatu barada nikto.

What is this remake of which you speak?  There is only the 1954 movie and no others.  Ever.

Incidentally, the Agony Booth recapped this non-existent movie.

Agony Booth did a much better job than I did at articulating what's wrong with this movie. Follow that link.

I actually liked it.

I swear I post this in ninety percent of threads. I must have terrible taste.

Y'know, it's okay to like bad things. Whether or not you like things isn't exactly something you're capable of controlling. Meanwhile, you've got to be analytical about whether or not the movie is good. Being good is separate from being something you like.

Also, if you'd seen the original you would raaaage.

What's the point of remaking a classic? Seriously.

Dr. Professor Science wrote:

Y'know, it's okay to like bad things. Whether or not you like things isn't exactly something you're capable of controlling. Meanwhile, you've got to be analytical about whether or not the movie is good. Being good is separate from being something you like.

Also, if you'd seen the original you would raaaage.

What's the point of remaking a classic? Seriously.

I've seen the original and I didn't enjoy it. I like a lot of bad things.

The original can't be improved upon. I said this was going to end badly when it was announced they were doing a remake. You can't improve upon perfection.
Reading the recap on the Agony Booth was painful.

You don't fuck with the classics!

Haaaaa... speaking of "improving" on the classics, anyone see the Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake with Nicole Kidman? Oh, god, that was atrocious, and along the same vein--you can't improve upon perfection, so why try?

I refuse to see any of the remakes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It's blasphemy.

Wasn't the original in B&W? There's your problem right there. Kids these days don't like old timey pictures and need pretty colors. Sad but true.

Oh, I've seen the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Right after we got our PS3 we wanted to watch something on Blu-Ray and that was the only thing readily available. Dear God, it was awful. They just... got better! Arrgh. The original ending was the best part of the movie and they didn't even come close to including it.

I went with my yoofs. Even they weren't impressed. Only good point was when I briefly thought "Dude! Is John Cleese telling her to shag an alien for the sake of Earth?!?" He wasn't. Meh.