A Quick Peek at the New 'Day the Earth Stood Still' DVD

No, not the remake -- although I am getting a little more excited about the flick than I thought I would, plus it's kinda silly to promote discussion on a film that isn't out yet. I'm talking about the original 1951 science fiction classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. (And "original" would really qualify, as this is one of the few genre greats that was based on an original screenplay and not adapted from an outside source.) Wrong-o! (See comments below.)

So it was next week's remake that first got me thinking, but what inspired me to bang out a few words was the brand-new two-disc special edition of TDTESS. (Standard or Blu-Ray!) More specifically, the awesomeness of this new edition. (Oh, and the Blu-Ray comes with a "Make Your Own Theremin Score" and a "Gort Command! Game." Nifty!) Those who own the older DVD will be pleased to note that most of the extras (including an excellent audio commentary between Robert Wise and Nicholas Meyer) have been ported over, but here's the important part: NEW supplements! An isolated score track (cooool), a new commentary with music and film historians (very cooool), and about eight NEW featurettes! Frankly if Fox can find something else to put on their next edition, I'll be pretty impressed.

Plus the disc opens with a 7.5-minute promo for the remake ... and I really think those guys might have come up with something cool. Like, a remake that takes a classic movie and fuses it with a few NEW ideas. No, the movie didn't NEED to be remade, but that doesn't mean a remake can't rock. I could be wrong, of course, but that's the vibe I'm getting right now. Plus <ahem> Jennifer Connelly is in it. Enough said.