I was all excited about seeing the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still this weekend. The 1951 classic 
remains one of my all-time favorite sci-fi flicks, what with its galactic peacekeepers and their cryptic Cold War warnings. Fifty-plus years later and its message seems tailor-made for our ever-edgy global relations. Problem is, the message has went from “Learn to get along,” to “Better go green.” Yup, they hijacked another remake.
After a few decent reviews like THIS and THIS, consensus spiraled. One visit to the aggregators and I went from anticipation to dread. The new “Day” currently has a 23% favorability rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Groan… Call me a fair-weather film-goer, but when the press on a movie is repeatedly bad, I hedge. For me, though, the topper was learning that the filmmakers shifted the theme from dismantle warheads to recycle plastics. It’s bad enough having to stomach the media frenzy about the Global Warming Hoax, without having to learn Gort has turned Gore. Is nothing sacred? Oh well, at least football season’s not over…
I didn’t mind that the new movie addressed environmental issues, in fact, I am glad that they were able to put that spin on it. The original movie addressed the issue that humanity had created weapons that now might have consequences beyond earth, so they had to come in and change things. What I appreciated most about the original was that it was a call for people to change the way they lived their daily lives. This never happens in the new movie. The alien just decides that humanity can change even though the change was never really modeled and I certainly never felt compelled to think about my own responsibilities as a human. If it wanted the spirit of the old movie, it certainly missed it. But, I didn’t hate the movie either, I was entertained by it.
Thanks for your thoughts, eric. You’re right — I wouldn’t mind so much the movie addressing environmental issues. It’s the political highjacking of those issues that kinda chaps me. But I will see the movie once it’s out on DVD.