The story is fairly basic and gets rolling right when the opening credits end, which is a blessing compared to movies that meander to introduce themselves before getting their plots going. A flying saucer UFO has landed in Washington D.C. and the United States scrambles to figure out what to do about it as the military secures the landing site. That is until the alien inside it emerges, a human looking alien named Klaatu. And when they take Klaatu in for questioning, a fearsome robot emerges from the ship and demonstrates its power by melting all weapons of the surrounding soldiers.

Klaatu escapes and wanders around Washington until he befriends a single mother named Helen and her boy named Bobby. From there Klaatu must figure out how to broadcast his warning message to the world for the safety of both mankind and the universe surrounding them.

The film is simple and easy to follow, at the expense of thematic depth. But that is not to say it’s paper thin. The Day the Earth Stood Still is very much a Cold War film. It’s a preacher on the pulpit condemning the tensions between the United States and Soviet Union and the chaos their long feud created. In 2017 a message like that is practically taken for granted but for the time period is very poignant.

While thematically the film has at least some depth, the same cannot be said for the characters. There is only one real character arc, and that’s Helen’s. Klaatu remains the same stoical wise man from space through the whole movie, the government authority figures are the same through most of the film until the very end with the final speech, and the movie just drops Bobby halfway through the film and his character goes nowhere.

On the bright side, the acting in this film is not nearly as jarring as schlocky early sci-fi films can get. Michael Rennie is charming and charismatic as Klaatu, Patricia Neal is a believable woman of the 50’s, and Billy Gray is more than a little cheesy as the stereotypical 50’s boy though he did not really detract from the scenes he was in.

And because this is low hanging fruit, the visual effects are worth mentioning last. The flying saucer UFO looks like a pie tin with a dent in the bottom. The robot is obviously a man in a helmet and spray painted silver suit. By today’s standards these visuals are not only bad, they’re nearly laughable. But in 1951, these visuals were state of the art. In fact, it’s the first film to feature a flying saucer and fantasized robot. In context of the time period the effects are nothing short of commendable. And today they aren’t even awkward or annoying, but rather charming and almost quirky.

So yes, The Day the Earth Stood Still is more than a little dated. While the message is good and delivered well, it’s a message you’ve heard before in more ways than you could shake a stick at. But for science fiction fans and film buffs, there is more than a little value to be had by giving it at least one viewing. For everyone else, it’s probably best viewed as clips on YouTube to have a chuckle at the outdated visual effects.

For more classic science fiction, check out War of the Worlds and Forbidden Planet

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Read the book. (Here’s a link for those who will actually listen to me).

Unlike a lot of book-based films, this one sticks to its roots. Andy Weir slips readers into the diary of Mark Watney, a astronomer/botanist living on Mars. At first that sounds pretty cool, right? A man on Mars! That’s a big damn step for mankind. However, this mission is not nearly as awesome as it appears on paper. First of all, Mark is alone. His crew abandoned him during a massive windstorm, leaving him without a way home. (Don’t blame them though, they had to.)

Now for Mark Watney, the mission NASA intended to be a few weeks, has been extended. By a lot. If you think dorm food is bad, imagine the shit astronauts have to eat. Mark Watney faces living the rest of his life on that crap. And there is not a McDonald’s on Mars that Mark can splurge on. To make matters worse, the storm that forced his crew away also blew out the radio. He can’t contact Earth to plead for a rescue mission. Come on man, even ET got to phone home.

In summary, Mars sucks ass.

It takes a kick-ass writer to make the only living being on a desolate planet an interesting read. Think about it. What conflict could possibly arise when a man lives all alone? All alone means no war, no love, and no drama. It is just Watney and his thoughts. As blissful as the prospect sounds, it does not make prime novelistic matter. For a barren plot like this one, the author has to make the main character’s inner dialogue really absorbing. With Mark Watney, Andy Weir does a bang up job. Even though Watney has serious  justification for depressive episodes and emotional breakdowns, he approaches his situation with sarcasm. I actually laughed out loud.

Watney’s log entries document his misadventures on the planet Mars with an incredibly relatable persona. As a reader, you won’t be able to help rooting for him to get home. Even more impressively, Andy used Watney’s dry humor to make science compelling. While living on Mars, Watney encounters many problems normal mortals could not hope to tackle. Yet Watney attacks issues with a highly-advanced scientific mind. I usually skim science articles and zone my science professors out, but I wanted to read Watney’s scientific analysis. Getting an English major intrigued by science takes some skill. Personally, I think Weir should consider teaching.

A couple of my favorite lines include, “Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshipped,” and, “As with most of life’s problems, this one can be solved by a box of pure radiation.”

As far as the movie goes, it has been suggested that The Martian could be the most realistic space movie ever produced. A man hired by a national laboratory when he was fifteen years old, Weir created The Martian based on actual science. Frankly, almost everything in The Martian could happen. Sci-Fi films generally rely on distorting reality to make a story interesting. However, in another testament of the awesomeness of Weir, he realizes that he doesn’t have to go that far. The reality that this could happen to a human at some point in the near future is compelling enough. The movie merely transposes the story into a different medium, which only makes the experience even more real.

Though readers will find that a couple of sections got cut from the final film, the movie follows the story almost to a T. I suppose it must be easy when Andy Weir basically provided a ready-to-be-filmed script in his novel. I wonder if Weir might have even written the book with Matt Damon in mind, considering the ease with which Damon fits the part.  Even I have to admit though, watching the action play out on screen added a dimension that words could not. Special effects reveal the depth of Watney’s challenges. Mars is a dangerous, desolate place. However, Damon and Weir breathe life onto the surface of Mars.

Regardless of whether you think you like Sci-Fi or not, read this book and watch the movie. You won’t be disappointed.

Quotes from The Martian, written by Andy Weir.

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