The Making of 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' (2008)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Very good documentary about the making of the Robert Wise classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL. Both Wise and Julian Blaustein can be heard via archival audio and we also get film historians Steven Jay Ruben, Wise's daughter, Wise biographer Robert Keenan, Patricia Neal, Billy Gray and many others all share their thoughts on the film that many consider the greatest science-fiction movie ever made.
I would agree with about every bit of praise that can be given to this film and it's interesting to hear some of the behind the scenes stories. The most interesting one is how the screenplay was given a greenlight and how Wise ended up getting involved. It's interesting to note that originally Spencer Tracy was dying to play the part of Klaatu and came very close to getting to. We also hear about the now legendary score from Bernard Herrmann and how each of the actors were eventually cast. Fans of the film are certainly going to enjoy hearing these interviews, although some might be disappointed that the running time is only 23-minutes.
