User Reviews

Aliens arrive complete with giant robots - plural - to deliver the message that humans need to get their act together and prove their worth, or else higher galactic powers will pull the plug. Mankind's response is, of course, to break out the machine guns, so said higher powers turn off electricity to show they mean business.

If this all seems strangely familiar to you, then that is probably because it is, of course, The Day The Earth Stood Still - the plot is the same as both the original and the remake. Even the title...

Given the film industry's propensity to rip off ideas (viz. the familiar phenomenon of similarly themed films coming out at nearly the same time), the makers of The Day The Earth Stopped probably felt a bit hard done by to be sued by 20th Century Fox (per IMDb's trivia page) just because this, er, inexpensive film came out shortly before Fox's expensive TDTESS remake. However, this isn't a case of copying an idea. It isn't even a case of plagiarism - it's outright larceny.

My mate C (for so my mate C. Thomas Howell likes to be known), as hack-for-hire, does as good a directing job as you can do with a budget of ninepence. He and the rest of the cast say their lines in the right order. There is a pretty lady with bare boobs. I do not recommend this film.

Incidentally, note and marvel at the way that the military personnel often have no insignia of any kind on their uniforms.

That's exactly what the huge robots look like in this wretched sci-fi movie from the studio known as Asylum which apparently cries over the bad reviews on their way to the bank. As long as there are suckers born every minute like me, they'll continue to do so because these films are hideously fun, mainly to laugh at, and this one is no exception.

So maybe I'm not quite right about a muppet, but maybe a giant rock em' sock em' robot or some other battery operated boy's toy, as well as a man and a woman, found naked in the woods, obviously creatures from another planet in human form. Sinead McCafferty, in the worst case of monotone acting, warns the military that the world is in danger of being destroyed unless they can prove that human life has value. Joining 80's favorites C. Thomas Howell and Judd Nelson, McCafferty and Bug Hall leads the cast of mainly unknown non-actors in developing this rip-off of much better science fiction classics.

With Asylum films, you realize within 20 minutes that this is just going to be a series of action filled but plotless noisy scenes where the script tries to fool the audience by sounding intelligent utilizing scientific terms while all the time, it is making itself prove to be really dumb. Who needs character development when you have all this action? This is the type of film that you sit back in the comfort of your own home since these are not theatrical releases and enjoy for the pure cheese. Unfortunately, this ends up being a pungent limburger rather than a mild Camembert.

Six hundred and sixty-six huge robots from outer space land in strategic locales all over Earth wanting humanity to prove it's worth in the grand order of things or face certain annihilation. The robots don't ever say this outright (other then a few reactive strikes, they don't really do much of anything truth be told), but two other alien visitors, a guy & girl, let the military (as well as the viewer) know what's going on.

As far as movies from The Asylum go, this is among the cream of the crop. This isn't because the film is any good whatsoever, mind you, just that the other swill that the company usually makes is so mind-numbingly God awful that the bar for them has been so vastly lowered as to make this seem better than it is. C. Thomas Howell continues his descent into sub-mediocrity with his continued part in these awful films, while Judd Nelson should've really known better. Really the only saving grace is Sinead and after her nude scenes are done (she has two very early on in the film) there's really no other reason to keep watching the movie.

However it's STILL better then that crap big blockbuster Keanu Reeves travesty

Eye Candy: Sinead McCafferty provides the T&A (there's also some man ass)

My Grade: D

Where i saw it: Instant Netflix via X-box 369

I think Asylum are finally getting getting the hang of the mockbuster genre . Not only do you need to rip off the title of a big budget cinema release but you also need to rip off the plot of the similarly titled film too . The film is called THE DAY THE EARTH STOPPED and that sounds suspiciously like THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL . Both films feature spaceships landing , giant robots and an alien who states if mankind doesn't start behaving itself then the giant robots will give mankind a fatal beating . Yes indeed at this rate David Michael Latt will find that the films he's producing will be widely advertised - after appearing in a Hollywood court charged with plagiarism . It can only be a matter of time before some bored lawyer flicks the channels on his remote only to discover the schedules for the Syfy channel and decide that there might be a good chance of a law suit

TDTES starts with a hot naked chick exiting a spaceship . When I say that most of my interest for the film disappeared when the character found some clothes it indicates the only reason I watch films is to see naked hot chicks or that the film in question is very tedious , and no naked hot chicks is not what I watch films for . In fact not only does the character Sky , played by Sinead McCafferty , ruin the film by putting her clothes on but she ruins the film by opening her mouth . Actually all the characters contribute to the disintegration of any potential by opening their mouths . That's what most of the film consists of - people sat in a room talking . It's like a senior citizens tea party with the occasional shot of a giant robot thrown in or a car chase

Of course this shouldn't necessarily be enough to condemn a film because the original THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL ( 1951 ) was very talkative but that has an average user rating of 8.0 on this site and spent a considerable number of years in the IMDb top 250 . Maybe that's because the original had memorable situations and intelligence in depth ? here we see mawkish situations and plot turns that don't even begin to make sense along with a very obvious lack of budget

The world won't stop and I have a very bad feeling Asylum and David Michael Latt won't either . I just wonder when the company and its producer might end up in court though ? Not that I'd like to see this happen but they're sailing closer and closer to the wind

As a SF freak, I'd have to admit the best I could say about this movie is that it had its (brief) moments, and showed promise, but failed miserably to deliver.

An armada of 666(!) giant robots arrive on Earth and position themselves in capital cities worldwide. Apparently they are the executors of Earth's death sentence - they are somehow slowing down the Earth's core and that will mean FINIS by sunset. Something to do with tilting its axis but otherwise never discussed, elaborated or otherwise given any credence.

Along with the robots comes a Woman and a Man, who show up wandering naked in the woods. The Woman is "The Destroyer", though why is never elaborated. The Man's role is never described but presumably he supplements the Woman somehow. They both can manifest awesome force-projection powers (enough to knock a squad of soldiers off its feet) but nevertheless are easily tranquilized and kept captive, sedated etc.

The people of Earth have been judged and found wanting as too destructive. But if they can show their "humanity" to the Woman, they might be saved. It's left to Myron (Howell), who forms a bond with the Woman, to do this, incidentally through helping a woman in childbirth. The Woman says she can't intervene in human affairs but does so to save the woman who has just given birth. In the end it's this action/these events which seems to convince Her that humanity contains some value and should be spared (whatever..)

SFX are not bad, unlike the rest of the movie. When the robot armada arrives, there's no warning. No radar centers plotting their arrival, or crowds gawking at the spectacle (the robots are some 20 stories high). It's just PLONK and they're there. Even with a small budget, a lot can be done if there's careful thought, which is sadly lacking here.

The "command center" (on which the destiny of the world hangs) particularly grated. It's a dingy room with a few even dingier benches on which sit a few PCs with CRT ("fat") monitors, with a kid's telescope on some filing cabinets in the background along with a few arc lights, for good measure. Blueprints are several times rolled out - I am no architect but I'm pretty sure they went out with slide rules in the 70's.

Character development is sketchy and unconvincing at best, or simply non-existent. Only Myron's approaches acceptability.

The 5 min end-credits roll in ultra slow motion, with a big "The Day The Earth Stopped" occupying the last 30 secs, to conceal the fact that there simply isn't much to show as to what went into the film's production.

One can only assume this movie was timed to release at the same time as, and capitalize on, "The Day The Earth Stood Still". I for one was sucked in. But frankly I would be embarrassed to watch it in the presence of non-SFers who had any sort of discernment at all.

A very generous 3/10

First, it was an Asylum flick. If you went in with high expectations, you must be new to movie watching.

The acting varied from passable to downright horrible, leaning more toward the latter. The casting wasn't good either, with the Bimbo from Space supposedly a vastly superior creature steeped in wisdom and making complex moral judgments. Others have commented on the lack of reaction to giant robots suddenly setting down near cities -- no mobs, no panic, no nothing actually. The nerve center for the response had to be the cheapest building for rent in LA, with dated computers, anachronistic blueprints, card table props -- it was more funny than anything else.

And some of the scenes were just flat out horrible, especially the baby being born. One second the woman looks about 13 months pregnant (heh), the next second here's the baby, dry (you can even see hair on its head, dry as a bone), no fuss, no muss. Then Mom dies, sort of, but she looks like she's asleep. No sweating, pearl necklace in place. They do "cpr" but never breath for her, and instead of pressure over the heart they are nearly at her neck. Hadn't anyone in the production taken a basic course in first aid? But toss in a few decent special effects, a decent if unoriginal science fiction plot and theme, and it was watchable. The only thing that was really unforgivable was that it dragged interminably in places. The unexciting car chases lasted too long, too much time was invested in 'poignant moments' that weren't, and it was hard not to reach for the fast forward. Not a good movie, but I've seen a lot worse.

This film was kind of compelling to watch, just see how crap it could be.

Acting? Do me a favour! The kids in a pre-school nativity play can act better than that.

Special effects? Ha! The effects in the 1951 movie from which this was ripped off were much better. Even the screens in the control room were CRTs instead of LCD panels - bear in mind this was made in 2008! Plot? Please! Find out why humanity is worth saving by tea time, otherwise the planet is going to be zapped.

I thought they had finally cracked how to show new born babies. Apparently not, as we're shown a clean six month old toddler that had just been born.

I probably have seen a worse science fiction movie, but I can't remember when.

If Human Beings Find This Movie Entertaining then there is No Hope For Mankind. This is the greatest load of brown-stuff I have ever seen. C. Thomas Howell??????? Nahhhhhhhhhhhh. It should read "C The AUDIENCE Howell". Somebody please tell C. Thomas Howell To make Popcorn. He can't make movies. I watched his attempts at "War of the Worlds" and thought I was having a bad dream. Turns out this one is a night-mare. How can a being from another planet crash land, walk out of her ship totally naked and yet have lipstick and make up on...Ahhhh Come on America....Is this the best that you guys can produce???.. What's happening to movies???

The Day the Earth Stopped starts as hundreds of huge robots descend from space & land on Earth in hundreds of different locations, the authorities refer to them as 'Megaliths'. Then in Los Angeles a much smaller spacecraft lands & two naked aliens (Sinead MacCafferty & Bug Hall (!?!)) start wandering around, local army dudes including Private Josh Myron (director C. Thomas Howell) set out to capture the aliens which they do. After a while the aliens begin to talk & the woman nicknamed Sky says that the Megaliths have been sent by a distant alien race to wipe out humanity before it becomes a threat or something like that & that in order to stop them she must be shown the nature of humanity & why it must be saved. The evil authorities want to torture & drug Sky which doesn't go down well so Myron breaks her out & takes it upon himself to convince her that humanity is worth saving, well I feel a lot safer already...

Directed by & starring C. Thmas Howell the IMDb would have you believe The Day the Earth Stopped was a homage to the classic sci-fi film The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) but in actuality it's one of The Aslum's terrible 'Mockbuster' rip-offs, this time it's the big budget remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) with Keanu Reeves & in fact Twentieth Century Fox got their lawyers onto The Asylum but unfortunately they couldn't stop this terrible film from being released which is a shame as it would have saved me 90 odd wasted minutes. The Day the Earth Stopped is an absolutely awful film on every level, the script is terrible with awful character's & dialogue & a story that just makes no sense. If these aliens see us as so much of a threat why not just destroy us, why give us a chance at all? It's never really explained who the model like alien woman is or what power she has & that bloke alien basically does nothing the entire film & I struggle to see hwy he's even there. At 90 odd minutes it drags & is really boring with a predictable & lacklustre plot that has no momentum or excitement. Are we to believe when aliens land & threaten the very existence of all humanity the people trying to solve the problem will amount to about half a dozen soldiers & a guy in a suit? Then there's the supposed moral message about behind all the bad things in the world there's lots of good & we should never forget our humanity which is as subtle as a baseball bat round the head & very heavy-handed in a preaching moralistic sort of way that patronizes & induces tedium in equal measure. This whole film is a mess, it's boring, poorly thought out, moralising in the worse possible way & just plain rotten to sit through.

If the story wasn't bad enough there's not even any fun to be had here, there is absolutely zero blood or gore & even when Sky gets shot while wearing a white top not one drop of blood is seen & the part when that woman gives birth in the back of Myron's car is ridiculous as it's got hair, totally clean & that bloke must have been a doctor since the umbilical cord was cut as well, the makers didn't even attempt to make the baby look like a new born child. There's the scene where someone remarks that all the cars have stopped working yet seconds later a car is clearly seen driving past in the background & then there's the usual awful CGI computer effects the least said about the better. Also while trying to save the world from complete destruction by gigantic alien robots the best we have have to work in what looks like an abandoned warehouse with about two computers & one table at their disposal. There are no action scenes, all the aliens look human & apart from a bit of nudity at the start this is PG rated stuff all the way.

With the usual low budget of probably about $250,000 this looks awful with rotten CGI effects & terrible production values, the whole thing basically relies on fooling people into thinking they are going to watch the big budget version that came out at the same time & it's just wrong. Filmed in California. The acting is awful & are we really supposed to believe that model like woman is an alien who the very existence of humanity depends? She just looks so wrong for the part it's untrue.

The Day the Earth Stopped is a terrible rip-off 'Mockbuster' from The Asylum, a company who quite simply make the worst films around & try to con people into buying or renting them by associating them with bigger better films out at the time. Have they actually made a good film? Watch the original The Day the Earth Stood Still or the remake instead as this is not worth your time.

Giant robots descend around the world and also two naked aliens, one of whom must decide whether earth should be destroyed or is worth preserving by getting to know what people are really like. The alien has only one day to do it! Not an exciting film even though it has a ticking clock kind of plot and the acting is not engaging. C. Thomas Howell gave his usual dour performance. I liked the look of robots though (strangely called 'megaliths' by most of the characters) but they didn't do much.

Based on but far inferior to the great 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' from 1951 it was still better than the dire 2008 Keanu Reeves version.