It’s official. Hollywood has vowed to destroy all we hold dear by remaking the classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still and putting Keanu Reeves in the lead! What’s next? Jim Carrey makes Citizen Kane? Bruce Willis in Casablanca? This might not be a major pit-worth item but what in the name of Hitchcock’s hemorrhoids are they thinking? “Hey, we have a great classic movie, consistently ranked as one of the all time best. Let’s redo it! And let’s get someone with less emotional range than Gort the robot to take over the lead. How about Keaunu?”
Please someone stop them before they remake Gone With the Wind with Kathy Griffin and Pauly Shore.
You sound surprised.
How this will in any way cause me to not adore the original? That’s like say that as long as my ex-wife is alive I can’t love someone else.
Remember, it’s only a movie.
However, I’m also a movie buff and even I was amazed as my friend, on set on the newest Star Trek feature, called me at around 11 pm (after I had gone to bed) to tell me that Leonard Nimoy was filming his last scene as Spock, that this was “a historic moment!” He called all his friends and encouraged them to “mark this down!” Uh, right, sure, historic, good night.
Horrors!
They’re going to have each and every copy of the original version incinerated?
Oh, wait …
Those are all 3 fine actors - I don’t know what your problem is. Hell, what’s so special about TDTESS, anyway - it’s practically a B-movie.
Keanu Reeves has the best agent in the history of the Universe. How he continues to get such awesome parts with so little talent is completely beyond me.
Sorry if there’s some huge fans of the guy, I just don’t get it.
I posted a thread about this weeks ago, under the title Klaatu Barada Nikto…Whoa! :
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=457359&highlight=Klaatu
This is hardly new news. And the general concensus has been that Reeves would make a good Gort. As far as Follywood abortions go, this is about par for the course. We’ve got a few movie deals coming which look to be much worse, IMHO. (Oh yeah, they’re remaking Attack of the Killer Tomatoes as well.)
Klaatu is a creature from another planet, and their culture’s equivalent of a professional military officer/diplomat, who shows emotion, insofar as he experiences it at all, in a very restrained manner.
How is this outside Reeves’ range as an actor? Especially considering Leonard Nimoy is too old for the part.
He’s not playing the robot?
Yeah, what BrainGlutton said. Michael Rennie in the original was, if not wooden, at least very understated. It was the reactions of those around him that drove the movie. Keanu has an emotional range that runs the gamut from A to B, but should be able to handle this one. I’m more apt to miss Sam Jaffe.
Y’know, I’m agreeing that this role is within Keanu’s limited range. “Dudes, unless you hu-mons get your shit together, we’re like gonna totally destroy your planet. So hey, your choice.”
Keanu’s a fine actor when he’s not trying to over emote (and sometimes he does alright even then, like as the abusive boyfriend in The Gift). As restrained as Klaatu is, he’ll be fine.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a fine movie, but also very much a product of its times. It’s about due for a remake to reflect the current world situation.
Interesting to see what they’ll focus on. Has anything been leaked about that?
That would actually work.
And in the true style of movie-making today, will Hollywood make another sci-fi movie where the whizz-bang, nonsense blast’em-all-to-Hell special effects usurp the quality plot line and witty dialogue of the original?
Powered systems shutting down all over the Earth at once is certainly a situation with a lot of disaster-movie-level FX potential. I’d be disappointed if they didn’t do more with it than the original did.
I kind of agree. Bruce Willis does noir elements very well (Sin City), and Casablanca is at least noir-like.
Hey but how about Edward Norton as Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk)? I’m pretty pumped for that. Also: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Starks (Iron Man).
No, no, you want Woody Allen and Pee-Wee Herman!
Bill and Ted Ride Again!
or
Point Break: <<assumes quasi-stoner deadpan indignation voice>> “You’re going down Bodie, that’s the way it’s gotta be!”.
Probably because he was ill. But he told us where we stand!