Another Science Fiction, big money waste of time!

I've seen a film that was so bad in every way possible, I was compelled to write about it. I fear the future of big money science fiction films. Fear that there may never be another classic great feature to look forward to. Only more of the same lackluster, let me down again, lost causes. The blatant forgoing of good story telling while pressing total focus on the digital effects and pseudo scientific/military/paranormal babble that mystically pops up out of nowhere. The things that make a story worth telling, or in this case retelling, will never be found in those special effects. In my humble opinion its no secret and never has been that the value of a great story will always be found in the character and plot. By ignoring the basics and putting all their attention into dazzling the audience with earth ending disasters, moviemakers have bought themselves another giant celluloid bomb. Having said all of that, I must also say that I love what digital effects can do. I freaked the first time I saw the t-rex in Jurassic Park marveled at Lieutenant Dan and have been awed by them ever since. Digital effects and their endless applications are not to blame. Like any part of film making, they are merely a tool to enhance the story telling. I'd like to reference the saying, "Just because you can, doesn't mean that you should".
I left the theater reeling in angst just trying to hold onto one piece of that film I could speak fondly of. Nothing... Not a scene... Totally contrived in every single way. Whatever happened to character development? Just because an actor looks the part, does not mean it works. Every person from the totally hot, yet slightly reclusive babe scientist genius mom struggling to bare the pain of recovery in the loss of her husband all the while attempting to raise her angry, perfectly cute african american stepchild, to the redneck, hair trigger army leader that launches the always futile assaults against the alien ship. I understand that one beauty of old science fiction films has something to do with their more then predictable moments... but this film was so unbelievably politically correct down to every hair toss, tear loss and overacted hug... it all adds up to one big generic poop.

The one thing positive thing I will say about this version of, "The Day the Earth Stood Still" is that it has inspired me run back to the first with open arms. To love the old films more and enjoy them for what they were. I will go back and watch "Starman", "Close Encounters", "Aliens" and "Blade Runner". Those spots in the film when the special effects were fuzzy or flat... perhaps when the space ships look like toy models or the aliens have zippers.... they will be loved and respected even more. I hope that one day some director will rise from the chaos of all these heavily saturated product placements, insanely over lit night shots and perfectly choreographed big budget battle scenes to bring us a film that really knocks me down and takes me for a ride I will never forget.


The potential to do so much with such a great classic had me fired up. The movie had me running for the door. At one point during a scene in a graveyard, you could hear some people in the audience barking comments and laughing...