Whether the makers of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' intended it or not, there is a striking resemblance between Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and the head of the Manhattan Project, Robert Oppenheimer. Oppenheimer was known to make corrections on the blackboards of theoreticians at the Project, similar to the scene where Klaatu corrects the work of Professor Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe). Oppenheimer's other-worldly brilliance and association with destructive power that could threaten the existence of the world seem like more than a coincidence. 
Written By: Ken HulseyVertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A. Taylor, based on the 1954 novel D'entre les morts by Boileau-Narcejac.
It is the story of a retired police detective suffering from acrophobia who is hired as a private investigator to follow the wife of an acquaintance to uncover the mystery of her peculiar behavior.
The Land That Time Forgot
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Creature From The Black Lagoon
Big Trouble From Little China
Planet Of The Apes
"I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all, or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom, except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We, of the other planets, have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets in spaceships like this one and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us. This power cannot be revoked. At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is, we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war. Free to pursue more... profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet, but if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer. The decision rests with you."
Written By: Ken Hulsey
Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: 20th Century Fox
One of the most original and innovative films of the genre is the 1951 sci-fi classic "The Day The Earth Stood Still," a truly groundbreaking movie that has influenced generations of sci-fi enthusiasts, authors and filmmakers. Directed by legendary filmmaker Robert Wise, the film tells the story of a benevolent, human-looking alien called Klaatu, who lands his spaceship in Washington D.C. with the goal of meeting with the leaders of Earth to warn that the violence that man is committing against man actually threatens the survival of other civilizations in the universe. With the help of Gort, his giant robotic bodyguard, Klaatu eludes the authorities who attempt to capture him and immerses himself in human culture to gain a better understanding of a species that seems committed to conflict and destruction. He befriends a widow and her son, and through the prism of their friendship he learns much about humanity - and ultimately challenges mankind to be its best version of itself.
The idea of remaking "The Day the Earth Stood Still" first struck Stoff, who has managed Reeves for over 20 years, in the wake of their success on the 1994 blockbuster "Speed." During a meeting with at Twentieth Century Fox studios, Stoff noticed a poster for the classic film hanging on the wall. "I said, 'Forget about the project I came here to talk to you about. What we should do is develop 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' with Keanu playing Klaatu,'" he remembers. "It seemed like a great idea, but for one reason or another, it didn't happen. Then, as destiny would have it, a draft showed up on my doorstep twelve years later."
"In re-imagining this picture, we had an opportunity to capture a real kind of angst that people are living with today, a very present concern that the way we are living may have disastrous consequences for the planet," says Reeves. "I feel like this movie is responding to those anxieties. It's holding a mirror up to our relationship with nature and asking us to look at our impact on the planet, for the survival of our species and others."
As the representative of a group of alien civilizations that have suffered their own painful evolution in the wake of cataclysmic climate change, Klaatu travels to Earth with the intention of exterminating what he and his peers view as an imminent threat to a planet that is too uniquely abundant to be compromised. "The situation has reached a crisis point where the life of the planet itself is at stake because the humans are killing it," Reeves says. "Klaatu comes to Earth to assess whether or not human beings are capable of changing their behavior, or if 'the problem' needs to be eliminated."
Source: 20th Century Fox
Reeves worked closely with Stoff, Derrickson and Scarpa to develop and deepen Klaatu's transformation through the relationships he forges with a mother and son in crisis. "Keanu brought a lot to this film, not only in his performance, but from very early on," Derrickson says. "He spent weeks sitting in a room with David and me, working through every scene of the script, line by line. He was very disciplined, not just about his character, but about the movie as a whole."
Written By: Ken Hulsey
Plot:
Klaatu meets the President's secretary, Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy), and reveals he has a message he wants the whole world to hear. Unfortunately, Harley notes the divided world leaders cannot even agree on a meeting place for such a momentous occasion. When Klaatu suggests he live among ordinary people to get to know them better, Harley rebuffs him and has him locked inside his room. Klaatu escapes to a boarding house, assuming the alias "Mr. Carpenter", the name on the laundry label of a suit he has taken. Among the boarding house residents are Helen Benson (Patricia Neal), a secretary at the Department of Commerce, and her son Bobby (Billy Gray). Helen is a widow; her husband was killed in World War II. The next morning, Klaatu listens to a paranoid radio commentator as well as the boarders' speculation over the breakfast table; one (Frances Bavier) suggests that it might be the work of the Soviets.
Later, government agents escort Klaatu to see Barnhardt, who has seen the correction to his work as a calling card which could not have been faked. Klaatu warns the professor that the people of the other planets are concerned for their safety because human beings have developed atomic power. Barnhardt offers Klaatu the opportunity to speak at an upcoming meeting of scientists he is organizing at the spaceship; Klaatu accepts. Barnhardt is stunned when Klaatu declares that, if his message is rejected by Earth's leaders, "Planet Earth will be eliminated". The professor pleads for Klaatu to first provide a minor demonstration of his power as a warning. Klaatu returns to his spaceship the next evening to implement the professor's suggestion, unaware Bobby watched him enter the ship. He tells Helen and Tom what he has seen when they return from an evening out – Helen notices her son's shoes are soaking wet, while Tom finds a diamond – the currency of Klaatu's people – in Carpenter's room. Tom takes the diamond to three separate jewelers the following day, who all note they have never seen anything like it. When Bobby tells him what he saw, Klaatu meets Helen at work to clarify his intent. While riding in an elevator, it stops. A montage sequence shows that Klaatu has suppressed electric power all over the world – with the exception of critical systems such as hospitals and planes in flight. After the blackout, the authorities step up their manhunt for Klaatu, quarantining the city so no one can enter or leave.
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