Avoiding Disaster: The Day the Earth Stood Still

Type :

School essay

Pages :

5 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

11/19/2007

Category :

Arts & media

Sub category :

Film studies

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 10.95 Add to cart

Summary :

A textual analysis
The flurry of 'aliens as invaders' films
Disaster movies and its sub genres
The new form of disaster movie
1. Previous films of the genre
2. The sci fi disaster movies of the Cold War era
3. The 'evil other' formula
4. The aliens in the films
The movie The Day the Earth Stood Still
1. The radical stance of the movie
2. Furthering of film as an art form
The science fiction disaster films
1. Independence Day
2. The genre of science-fiction disaster films
Conclusion
Works cited

Abstract

disaster movies are often associated solely with cheap thrills; nothing more than vehicles for big explosions and even bigger budgets. The modern perception of this film genre (as well as its subgenres) seems to be nothing more than that of a means for movie studios to spend a lot of money, and make a lot in return. While it may be true that many disaster movies are, arguably, pieces of visually stunning, mindless entertainment constructed to garner large audiences, not all disaster movies are confined to this formula. Within the science-fiction films of the 1950's and 1960's-some of the most popular disaster films ever made-lay intricate, subtle (some subtler than others), and socially important themes that were extremely applicable to the times in which they were made. The vast majority of these films center around aliens invading earth with the singular intent of destroying and/or usurping it. Science-fiction films such as The Thing From Another World (1951) and The War of the Worlds (1953) are examples of alien invasion/takeover movies that were at the top of the box office in their time. The plots of these "alien-domination" films, along with dozens of other science-fiction disaster movies made during this time period, are fundamentally similar; aliens are determined to take over the world. However, this seemingly simple formula was entrenched in an allegorical realism that, at the time, was based on very real concerns. The aliens within these films were symbolic of the "others" which Americans feared most in the 1950's and 1960's; the communists. The takeover of earth by space creatures served as a fantastic analogy to the "imminent" threat the communists (specifically the Soviets) posed to Americans. These science-fiction disaster movies were able to tap into a common American threat, and proved to be extremely successful in exploiting this threat in order to sell movie tickets.