The Day the Earth Stood Still: Klaatu's Ultimatum

Every Single Sci-Fi Film Ever*

As usual there are spoilers ahead!
If you want to read the full show notes you can click the episode on this page and scroll down.
The Day the earth Stood Still was released in 1951 just like The Thing from Another World. And just like that film The Day the Earth Stood Still is based on a story from Astounding Science Fiction magazine.
The flying saucer craze of 1947 has obviously made its impression on Hollywood and The Day the Earth Stood Still delivered a seamless sleek futuristic saucer along with an imposing shiny robot and a polite humanoid alien who comes in peace to deliver an ultimatum to a world wrangling with the atomic age.
The Experts:
Glyn Morgan is Curatorial Lead at the Science Museum in London and is a science fiction scholar.
Peter Gottschalk is a Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University with a special interest in the South Asian region, empire and science. He also teaches a class called “Awesome Cinema”.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to the show and guests
02:22 Astounding magazine, The Manhattan project and the Peace Offensive
5:55 From pulps to peace: Sci-fi amid the red scare
11:28 The Flying Saucer
14:00 A benevolent invader and the United Nations
19:39 Gort the robot - Klaatu, Barada Nikto!
25:55 The sane scientist
29:06 Christian themes
34:36 Media frenzy
38:24 The 2008 remake
42:44 Bernard Hermann’s seminal score
44:06 Legacy and recommendations

NEXT EPISODE!
Next episode we will be taking a closer look at The War of the Worlds (1953). You can check Just Watch to find out where it can be found in your region. It is available to buy or rent at many outlets including Apple TV.
If you wanted to listen to the famous 1938 radio play from Orson Welles you can hear it here on YouTube.
And if you want to hear Richard Burton’s hypnotic reverberating voice in Jeff Wayne’s Musical version of War of the Worlds you can hear that here on YouTube.

Chapters

1. Introduction to the show and guests (00:00:00)

2. Astounding magazine, The Manhattan project and the Peace Offensive (00:02:22)

3. From pulps to peace: Sci-fi amid the red scare (00:05:55)

4. The Flying Saucer (00:11:28)

5. A benevolent invader and the United Nations (00:14:00)

6. Gort - Klaatu, Barada Nikto! (00:19:39)

7. The sane scientist (00:25:55)

8. Christian themes (00:29:06)

9. Media frenzy (00:34:36)

10. The 2008 remake (00:38:24)

11. Bernard Hermann’s seminal score (00:42:44)

12. Legacy and recommendations (00:44:06)