The Day the Earth Stood Still

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The Day the Earth Stood Still

PG-13

Released Dec 12, 2008

1h 44m

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

21%

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195 Reviews

27%

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250,000+ Ratings

Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), an extraterrestrial visitor to planet Earth, becomes the herald of upheaval on a global scale. As the world's governments and scientists race to understand what is happening and how to stop it, Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her stepson come to understand the chilling ramifications behind Klaatu's statement that he is a "friend to the Earth."

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Critics Consensus

Heavy on special effects, but without a coherent story at its base, The Day the Earth Stood Still is subpar re-imagining of the 1951 science-fiction classic.

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David Stratton

The Australian

Derrickson and his team take a much-loved sci-fi classic and, even if they can't improve on the original, at least rework it in intriguing ways.

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 8, 2009

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David Edelstein

New York Magazine/Vulture

The remake of that fine old fifties alien-invasion picture The Day the Earth Stood Still comes to a standstill about an hour before the Earth does in the wilds of New Jersey.

Dec 15, 2008

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Christopher Orr

The New Republic

One can only hope that in the future [Reeves] will devote himself to playing androids, less-self-aware species of undead, stylish pieces of contemporary furniture, and other roles that do not require the exhibition of any recognizably human traits.

Dec 12, 2008

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Emiliano Basile

EscribiendoCine

Ultimately, the story of The Day the Earth Stood Still is as naive as the one from 1951, something that should have been adapted a little more to the times. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 4/10

Feb 18, 2025

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The computer animation and picture quality is significantly cleaner and more impressive than the low-budget, man-in-a-foam-suit costuming of the 1951 classic.

Rated: 3/10

Nov 28, 2020

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Richard Propes

TheIndependentCritic.com

If you look past the fairly cool special effects you're going to see a film at war with itself.

Rated: 1.5/4.0

Sep 5, 2020

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Jason C

Movie was ok. Decent sci-fi. But wow.. the child actor was terrrrible. Hopefully, he left acting and went into some sort of trade work.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/25/25

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Audience Member

Huh 2 bad scores. Corny as f. But good/fun corn.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

07/22/25

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M. S

We just came across this last night while looking for another movie. I loved the original and really was excited that they had remade it. But even with a great cast it was so disappointing. The whole point of the movie was that Klatu got to make a big speech to earth telling us all to clean up our act and stop fighting and polluting (likely at the time more about war) or the other beings would save earth from us. I can just imagine the spin in this modern scenario. All the "bugs" just fell to the sky and the aliens just went away. Our politicians would say they defeated them and carry on as usual. The big message wasn't there and it was a huge let down. I wish there was a Klatu as we need someone to save us from ourselves.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

06/14/25

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K L

Why does Hollywood always ruin wonderful old movies with terrible remakes? This movie is terrible and the acting stinks.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/07/25

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Paul S

What ruined this movie for me was its poor dialogue and lackluster special effects. Despite its flaws, I had fun watching it, and it had a very intriguing and intense story behind it. I definitely recommend it for sci-fi fans looking for a movie to turn their brains off to.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

04/29/25

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Nancy L

I wanted to like this movie, as the original 1951 is one of my favorite movies. The message still is valid today: People of Earth, STOP fighting with one another, or we will. This movie was blah, vapid & just terrible. I would give it a five or less. It was nothing like the original.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

04/25/25

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Scott Derrickson

Director

Keanu Reeves

Klaatu

Jennifer Connelly

Dr. Helen Benson

Kathy Bates

Regina Jackson

Jaden Smith

Jacob Benson

John Cleese

Professor Barnhardt

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The Day the Earth Stood Still: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Klaatu (Keanu Reeves), an extraterrestrial visitor to planet Earth, becomes the herald of upheaval on a global scale. As the world's governments and scientists race to understand what is happening and how to stop it, Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly) and her stepson come to understand the chilling ramifications behind Klaatu's statement that he is a "friend to the Earth."

Director: Scott Derrickson
Producer: Gregory Goodman, Paul Harris Boardman, Erwin Stoff
Screenwriter: David Scarpa
Production Co: 3 Arts Entertainment
Rating: PG-13 (Violence|Some Sci-Fi Disaster Images)
Genre: Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 12, 2008, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA): $79.4M
Runtime: 1h 44m

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