A 1951 black and white science fiction movie based on the short story
Farewell to the Master.
Human Alien Klaatu lands on Earth, in Washington DC, in a classic
flying saucer during the
Cold War era. The paranoid military shoots him, prompting his
robot Gort to go on a rampage. Klaatu stops him. He informs the President that he has a message for all the world's leaders, but those leaders cannot agree on a meeting place. Klaatu then escapes to live among the people of Earth, learning of their penchant for war but also of their message of peace and understanding.
As a demonstration of power, he freezes everything mechanical in the entire world, save airplanes in flight and hospital electronics, for exactly half an hour (beginning at noon, Washington DC local time). (This is the event referred to in the title, although nobody calls it such within the story.) The military takes it as a sign of hostile intent, and responds by hunting Klaatu down and killing him. Shortly before they catch up with him, Klaatu gives one of his new-found human friends, a woman named Helen, a message to deliver to Gort in his own language: "
Klaatu barada nikto." Gort re-activates and begins destroying the city, but Helen's message diverts him into retrieving Klaatu's body. Gort temporarily revives Klaatu, who informs the people of Earth that the robots like Gort were built to enforce peace in the galaxy, and if they bring their warlike ways into space, they will be destroyed. He leaves them with the words "the choice is yours" and departs.
This film has been
remade as the 2008 film
The Day the Earth Stood Still. The film's plot was copied in the extremely similar, yet hilarious,
Plan 9 from Outer Space.
You can see the plot of the remake as recapped by a Bum in
this video
on
Bum Reviews.
This movie provides examples of:
- Aliens Steal Cable: Klaatu says that his people have been monitoring Earth's radio signals, and that this is the source of his knowledge of Earth culture and language; however, the common subtrope of aliens being unable to distinguish fiction from reality is avoided.
- Benevolent Alien Invasion: Played mostly straight in the original. Subverted in the remake.
- Crush Kill Destroy: Averted
- Cyber Cyclops
- Disintegrator Ray: Gort's eye beam
- Earth-Shattering Kaboom: Klaatu warns that if humanity continues to be so violent, his society will have to do this.
- Einstein Hair: Professor Barnhardt
- The End of the World as We Know It
- Executive Meddling: At the end, after Gort brings Klaatu back from the dead, the filmmakers were made to add dialogue specifying that the result was temporary and that "the power of life and death ... is reserved for the Almighty Spirit".
- First Contact
- Flying Saucer
- Future Music
- Hanlon's Razor: For the most part, Klaatu blames human aggression and violence on irresponsibility, not malicious intent.
- Hot Mom: Both versions.
- Human Aliens
- Humanity on Trial
- Humans Are Bastards
- Humans Are Morons
- Innocent Aliens
- Interrupted Cooldown Hug
- Jerk Ass: Tom, who rats Klaatu out to the Feds.
- Klaatu Barada Nikto: The Trope Namer.
- Killer Robot
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: The item shot out of Klaatu's hand was a gift for the President that would have advanced science significantly.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Professor Barnhardt is a clear stand-in for Albert Einstein.
- Poor Communication Kills:
- Almost. Klaatu refuses to deliver his message until he can deliver it to representatives of each nation in person, all at once. The 'kills' part comes from the threat of global destruction if everyone doesn't listen. He also never communicates this threat to the appropriate people.
- He also assumes that walking right up to the military with a strange object that pops open unexpectedly couldn't be misconstrued at all.
- Helen tells Tom not to tell the authorities about Klaatu, but doesn't say why it's such a bad idea - that Klaatu's people will destroy Earth.
- Scare Chord: The Piano got some really bad abuse during the making of this film.
- Screaming Woman: Helen
- Shoot Him, He Has a Wallet!: Happens to Klaatu in the beginning.
- Space Police
- Space Whale Aesop: Give up war or be destroyed by robots from outer space.
- Two of Your Earth Minutes: When Klaatu is telling the President's representative how long and how far he's traveled to reach Earth.
- We Come in Peace — Shoot to Kill: Of the first variety.
- Partial aversion. Almost everyone is (reasonably) suspicious of Klaatu at first, but only one nervous soldier actually shoots him. It's not until Earth Stands Still (a harmless demonstration of power, meant to get Earth to recognize the seriousness of the situation), that everyone starts trying to kill him.
- Worthless Yellow Rocks: Klaatu's diamonds.
Tropes that apply only to the remake:
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