The 2008 version of "Day the Earth Stood Still" was a disgrace to the intent and spirit of the excellent original movie. The original was the smartest SciFi movie in decades, IIRC only 2001 a Space Odyssey topped it in 1968 (OK, Forbidden Planet was pretty nice but IMHO Day the Earth Stood Still was smarter).
The original movie prevented anyone from dying when the Earth Stood Still, planes did not fall out of the sky, hospital operating rooms stayed powered. IIRC only two humans died in that and those were two army guards who were about to shoot the robot Gort, after Klaatu was shot and killed by the army and Gort self-activated to go get his body.
In the horrible 2008 steaming mess, Gort becomes a huge monster thing that splits into thousands of parts that fly around like a whirlwind causing death and destruction of anything and anyone in its path (or at least that is what I recall).
I only saw that movie once, with a friend. We were both shocked at how horrible it was. Never saw it again, never will.
There is a point in each of these two movies that I feel resonate in our world today, in The Day the Earth Stood still 2008, Keanu was captured, in a room being questioned by the secretary of the state, and says something along of the lines of "even at the premise" of extinction, mankind still does not get it. Now I am not a movie buff, and dont recall the scene exactly, but I am close.
Second point, in the "Watchmen" one of the characters detonates a bomb made to look like it was from the character Michael. The bomb is set off in NYC and decimates the city. Prior to the bomb a war was about to begin, I think with Russia the US and perhaps a few other states. The devastation of the bomb makes the entire world unite and sees Michael as the villain. A villain that the entire world now shares, a single enemy in common. Michael is quite aware who did it, instead of providing evidence and clearing his name he chooses not to. He sees the bomb united the world and the world now shares one common enemy creating peace.
I have not watched these movies in quite some time, and I am aware I dont have the story line exactly straight, but you get the point. We the human race keep pushing the limits without much regard for our consequences. It will take something massive to grab our attention, and only hope whatever it is that the lesson will last. You would think much of the major travesties of the past in the world would have done so already, too many to state and again I think you get my point.
So, can Technology save us??? The answer is yes, if we wanted it too! In 1942 we the US were able to employ 120 thousand people and have them focus on a single task over a two-year period, invent and build an atomic bomb! Look what we can do when we put our mind to it. Now we just need to redirect that focus to saving our planet, saving lives, saving lots of things we are destroying.
Instead we ignore whats going on in front of us. I mean really
. we dont want to call it global warming that creates way too much concern and someone may feel like we have to do something about it. Lets rename it and call it climate change its far more palatable and allows us to talk about with with-out feeling uncomfortable and feeling the need to do something about it.
c:
