The New Day The Earth Stood Still

[Jason]

I am talking about the furry hand...

Exactly. It's Ro-Man. From Robot Monster.

[suem]

In six short days, the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still will appear in theaters. Starring Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connelly, John Cleese, Kathy Bates and John Hamm, this remake of the 1951 sci-fi thriller will focus on manâ??s role in global warming, and the repercussions of natureâ??s fury.

Now I donâ??t mind being preached to in movies. (I suppose the 1951 movie focused on the concerns of its day.) But what I find disconcerting is the consistent theme weâ??re hit with that man can somehow make a difference in weather variations that have been going on for millennia.

In the original movie, Klattu was a Christ figure. He came among men adopting the name on a suit of clothes he had pilfered, which coincidentally, was â??Carpenter.â? He uses his presence on Earth to warn men of the dangers of hate and war; he was killed and then brought back to life by Gort, the giant robot.

The trinity of the powerful spaceship, which is the source of the power that brings Klattu and Gort to this planet, strips Earth of its electrical power for an hour (except hospitals and planes in flight), the giant robot and, of course, Klattu, himself, are unmistakable, and even Klatuu admits to the existence of an all-powerful creator.

In 2008â??s movie, Iron Man, there is enough war and errant technology to show that itâ??s still an enormous potential of manâ??s undoing, and one man does have complete control over. But this version of The Day the Earth Stood Still puts most of the onus of global warming on the shoulders of men, when science has clearly not made the jump there. Current thinking suggests that weâ??ll either enter a warmer future of eroding ice caps or a renewed ice age, no one is certain which. Still, with people dying in wars the world over, Klattuâ??s 2008 mission is â??to assess whether humanity can prevent the environmental damage they have inflicted on their own planet.â?

Oh, puleeese!

We know from the revelations of God that nature and war result, both, from manâ??s refusal to live the commandments. And even if it could be shown that man somehow could control the weather, why is it that the onus is constantly put on the United States, when emerging powers like China show not the slightest interest in the problem. Instead, like the Russians, they seem to be preparing for war and threaten the worldâ??s oil supplies if they can't get energy any other way.

Sadly, Hollywood doesnâ??t want man to improve himself morally and spiritually, but pursues more politically correct agendas when history has shown that climate is more cyclical than manmade.

And all the robots from here to the moon wonâ??t change it.

I am jumping in very late in your thread.

I just got confused when you said that man does not affect global warming (I do and do not agree with this)... and yet you also say that nature AND war are a result of man's refusal to live the commandments. Soooooo... does man affect global warming or not... in your opinion? From your prior statements it seems that you are as confused as me.

And just curious... from your perspective... is "weather" separate from "nature"? AND is global warming a natural (nature) event?

If all of the world immediately began following the "commandments" of the Mormon god... would warming and cooling of the planet (Earth) suddenly stop? Does someone within the LDS church have their hand on the wheel and is currently steering the Universe in a specified direction? Should the entire planet be aware of this powerful hand that is steering the Universe? I THINK SO!

If this is the case... we (the entire planet) should be aware of what is going on... Someone should send people out to tell the people of the earth that someone in Salt Lake City has the steering wheel of the Universe and is TRYING to guide it IF ONLY THE FOLKS OF EARTH WOULD PAY ATTENTION.

Sooo... has anyone thought of sending people out to tell the world what is going on?

[The Nehor]

Have you ever seen Failsafe? It's basically the same plot done deadly serious.

Tolkien's message is a distinctly Catholic one, and the first Star Wars was an homage to Flash Gordon.

Why would you want to make that movie serious?

Your latter is true but I don't think Tolkien sat down to teach a Catholic message. He was Catholic and in the process of the story it came out that way. I think the first Star Wars was more an homage to the serials movie theaters used to run. Both are modern myths in the best sense of the word.

[semlogo]

Not him silly.

D'oh!

That's what I get for scanning.

[Jason]

Why would you want to make that movie serious?

The story it was based on - Red Alert was serious. In fact, Failsafe and Dr. Strangelove were made at about the same time, and Kubrick sued the producers of Failsafe so that his movie would get out first. It worked.It's a pretty good film, actually, and stars some big names - Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. The ending has been homaged and parodied quite often.

Your latter is true but I don't think Tolkien sat down to teach a Catholic message. He was Catholic and in the process of the story it came out that way.

That's how he described it, yes. He said that he didn't intentionally set out to put his religion in the book when he first wrote it but that it crept in anyway.

I think the first Star Wars was more an homage to the serials movie theaters used to run.

Yes - like Flash Gordon. In fact, Lucas originally wanted to remake Flash Gordon but couldn't get the rights.

Both are modern myths in the best sense of the word.

There's nothing modern about the actual myths behind Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. It's only the re-telling of them that is modern.

I heard in a review this morning that the words "Klaatu Barrada Nikto" are never actually spoken in the new move.

EPIC FAIL!

[thesometimesaint]

semlogo:

Thought you might find this interesting.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/111956...-wing_paranoia/

[Deborah]

I just saw the movie and didn't think it was quite as preachy as some reviewers have said. I thought the message in fact was more about man's inhumanity to man than his destruction of the environment. The message was pretty much men are on the road to destroying themselves anyway and the aliens didn't want them to take the earth with them.

What was really ridiculous is that here is this enormous sphere landing in Central Park and this one alien gets out and reaches out his hand to greet an earthling and someone starts shooting. No wonder the aliens in the movie didn't trust man. I would hope we really wouldn't be that stupid if something like that really happened. I mean you have this enormous ship with science that is far ahead of ours and the first thing we do is bring in the tanks? At least in Independence Day they tried to communicate before shooting.

[semlogo]

semlogo:

Thought you might find this interesting.

http://www.alternet.org/environment/111956...-wing_paranoia/

Nice, thanks for that!

[The Nehor]

I just saw the movie and didn't think it was quite as preachy as some reviewers have said. I thought the message in fact was more about man's inhumanity to man than his destruction of the environment. The message was pretty much men are on the road to destroying themselves anyway and the aliens didn't want them to take the earth with them.

What was really ridiculous is that here is this enormous sphere landing in Central Park and this one alien gets out and reaches out his hand to greet an earthling and someone starts shooting. No wonder the aliens in the movie didn't trust man. I would hope we really wouldn't be that stupid if something like that really happened. I mean you have this enormous ship with science that is far ahead of ours and the first thing we do is bring in the tanks? At least in Independence Day they tried to communicate before shooting.

Reminds me of the messed up Choose your Own Adventure book where you're an alien visiting the Earth. You can choose to land in China or the United States. If you land in China you are greeted warmly and welcomed to the Earth. If you land in the U.S. you are shot as soon as you open the doors.

Now I think the author was an idiot trying to be culturally sensitive.

[Vex]

I wish Global warming was real, then maybe I wouldn't be so blasted cold in my room!