Once again, we visit a sci-fi cinema classic that heavily influenced the genre’s present works and its 1960s Golden Age. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), however, is even older than Forbidden Planet (1956) and those five years made a huge difference, putting TDtESS that much closer to the end of WWII and the start of the Cold War. It’s as good an explanation as any for why Forbidden Planet presented an optimistic view of space — full of technological marvels and fantastic places just waiting to be discovered — and TDtESS gave a more pessimistic depiction — full of unknown and unknowable creatures ready to wipe us out of existence if we step out of line.

Then again, Forbidden Planet expressed its optimism through razzle-dazzle and technicolor dreams while TDtESS brooded on human xenophobia and fear. As a result of this difference in storytelling, Forbidden Planet aged roughly as well as a popsicle left outside while TDtESS is more like a photo album stuck in an attic for sixty years.

The special effects in this film haven’t aged well at all. Even by 1950s standards, I somehow doubt that a woman carried by clearly visible wires would have passed muster. Still, the effects shots are relatively few in number and they’re only used when necessary to further the plot, which helps make suspension of disbelief that much easier.

The plot itself (as if you didn’t already know) concerns Klaatu, an emissary from a distant planet. He comes on a mission of peace, wishing to warn humanity that if they bring their weapons of mass destruction to the stars, the stars’ inhabitants are gonna bring their weapons of mass destruction to Earth. Unfortunately, the denizens of Washington D.C. are a touch jittery about their strange new visitor. To be fair, this is mostly due to the indestructible giant robot of laser-vision death that Klaatu brought along, but there are other reasons.

See, though Klaatu claims to be on a mission of peace, he won’t actually divulge the contents of his message unless representatives from every nation are there to hear it. Government agents tell him that diplomatic relations will make that impossible, so Klaatu instead escapes their custody so that he may walk among humans and learn about us first-hand. Upon this realization, the government releases news that the alien has escaped, neglecting to mention why he’s gone, what he wants or what he looks like. Panic ensues.

Personally, I’m generally an optimist about humanity. In this day and age, I’d like to believe that ambassadors from Libya, North Korea, and Venezuela would all agree to meet on American soil if a goddamn alien and an invincible killing machine told them to. If I’m right, then that’s one way in which this movie has grown obsolete, in addition to the considerably smaller threat of getting wiped out by global thermonuclear war. If I’m wrong, then that’s just another way that this movie has remained timeless, in addition to the depiction of xenophobia, the media’s obsession with spreading irrational fear and America’s strange knee-jerk military reaction to everything.

There’s also the matter of the Jesus allegory, which I personally thought was handled rather well. Up until one particularly stupid line after Klaatu’s revival, the whole thing was subtle enough that it felt unforced, yet prominent enough that all the little winks and nudges felt intentional. Quite tastefully done.

While we’re on the subject, I feel obligated to say that then-unknown Michael Rennie did a phenomenal job as Klaatu. He’s unfailingly polite, but always with that unearthly edge. He’s cordial and friendly, yet he seems perfectly capable of unleashing hell on Earth, much as it would trouble him to do so. He even looks the part, clearly human but with something off-putting in his features (those cheekbones, most likely). With the possible exception of Gort, Klaatu is easily the most memorable character in this film. In fact, I’d say that those two are the only memorable characters in this film.

The movie tries to take on an enormous scope, showing multiple countries and various mindsets in their reaction to this extraterrestrial arrival. On the one hand, this works well in spots. There are several scenes that depict different places reacting to the same event, and the shots set in disparate foreign cities are presented quite well. Additionally, the various human attitudes toward Klaatu are very well-represented. On the other hand, this has the drawback of turning all the human characters into cardboard cutouts. There’s the sympathetic character, the character who thinks it’s neat, the character who’s concerned with the scientific benefits, the character who’s afraid, the character who’s skeptical, the character who’s only looking out for number one, etc. There are so many characters here, all of whom have to express their opinions while sharing the screen with Klaatu, and that spreads the characterization perilously thin.

All told, The Day the Earth Stood Still has aged into a movie that’s merely okay. It’s not boring or great, but simply watchable. I think it’s the 92-minute running time that really hinders the film by modern standards, denying enough time to give the characters depth or to elaborate further on the movie’s timeless themes. As is, there’s enough here that I can say that it’s still worth the time to watch, provided your expectations are adjusted.