The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film)

Infamous remake of the classic 1951 Science Fiction film of the same name, starring Keanu Reeves as the alien, Klaatu, sent to Earth as a messenger. Generally regarded as having an incoherent plot vaguely inspired by the original, supported by an overwhelming mass of special effects.


 * Aliens Are Bastards: The aliens are committing genocide against a sentient race to protect a planet which is in no appreciable danger. Even if we wipe ourselves out life will go on, and CO2 and methane scrubbing bacteria will come in and clean up after us. This is instead of just giving us better technology. They had to get to our level of technology, to get to theirs.
 * Aliens Speaking Mandarin Chinese
 * Aliens Steal Cable: used, but not thoroughly: even though the aliens had been studying the Earth for a while, Klaatu had apparently never heard Bach before.
 * Avengers Assemble: Gathering the team.
 * Blue and Orange Morality: Presumably Klaatu's actions aren't as hypocritical to him as they are to us.
 * Broken Aesop: We're destroying the other species on our planet, and aliens think that's bad. Fine. So why does Helen's love for Jacob change Klaatu's mind? A mother's love for a child of her own species, while charming, doesn't really show anything except a desire to perpetuate her species. It'd be more valid if she showed love for an animal, perhaps something completely dissimilar to humans. Instead, The Power of Love conquers all.
 * Another problem is how, in the original, despite the distrust he faces, Klaatu still believes in human goodness, whereas in the remake, Klaatu is as distrustful of humans as they are of him.
 * The Cameo: Gurrak.
 * Fun with Acronyms: The US government decides Klaatu's robot buddy is Genetically Organized Robotic Technology—apparently, just having Klaatu say "Gort" at some point wasn't remakey enough.
 * Gory Discretion Shot: We never see anyone getting totally disintegrated by the . The worst we see is a technician get a nosebleed and then fall over dead.
 * Gratuitous Foreign Language: Mandarin Chinese. Keanu Reeves tries really hard, but still doesn't get it quite right.
 * Grey Goo: How GORT was going to wipe out humanity.
 * Inferred Holocaust: Maybe. The period of time without electricity isn't specified. See its entry on the trope page.
 * Knight Templar: Klaatu.
 * Lowered Monster Difficulty: For certain values of "monster".
 * No Conservation of Energy: The space ship must have had some nice phlebotinum to decelerate that fast without creating enough waste heat to completely level the UN.
 * Product Placement: So blatant that it's distracting.
 * The Remake
 * Spheroid Dropship: In the place of the classic movie's Flying Saucer.
 * The Swarm: The metal insects that comprise GORT.