Keanu Reeves Interview

Go behind the scenes of The Day The Earth Stood Still on Blu-ray Disc with star, Keanu Reeves.

In The Day The Earth Stood Still, a remake of the classic 1951 science fiction film, Keanu Reeves stars as Klaatu, a humanoid alien who arrives on Earth accompanied by an indestructible, heavily armed robot, Gort, and a warning to world leaders that their continued aggression towards planet Earth will lead to annihilation by a species watching from afar. Loaded with jaw-dropping special effects and a haunting performance from The Matrix star, Reeves, this blockbusting sci-fi epic has arrived on a stunning High Definition Blu-ray Disc complete with a flying saucer full of great extras.

The original film conveyed a classic tale of man's arrogance, updated with Cold War themes of nuclear warfare and incorporating current issues of environmental destruction, and has been a massive influence on modern cinema. This faithful remake stays true to its cinematic roots delivering a sobering message with excitement, suspense and drama and state of the art filmmaking. Keanu Reeves delves behind the scenes, themes and process of turning this seminal piece of cinema into a modern day tale of science fiction terror.

End of days

"I loved the original. I saw it first when I was 14 or 15 on a black and white television. I might have seen it one other time growing up and then I watched it again when I was approached to do the remake", reminisces Reeves on discovering the film as a teenager. "I remember as a young boy enjoying the spectacle, the drama, the flying saucer, the scary music, the power when everything stopped in the world. Watching it again I observed the sly, clever social commentary about the media and world." While the role of Klaatu in the original 1951 Robert Wise film was played by British actor, Michael Rennie, and portrayed in a more human than human way, Reeves says he approached his performance from a somewhat different perspective.

"Klaatu was idealized in the first film. He had Christian, spiritual overtones and a naturalism to him. I am a little less naturalistic. Also in the first film Michael Rennie was not quite an everyman but very human. In my version, he is not like that," muses Reeves on his own personal iteration of the extraterrestrial visitor. "He is inside a human body, but not human, he does not have the normal kind of human empathetic qualities. But my Klaatu discovers his humanity during the film, that's what his journey is all about. He is also a little more sinister and tough."

For Reeves, portraying Klatuu's journey of discovery was a somewhat difficult feat to pull off over long 15 - hour day shoots. "In the early part of the film he is more alien than human. That involved having no natural human gestures or behavioural signs but appearing more flat and expressionless. He has a concentrated way of seeing the world. I found that physical aspect very challenging. I had to just try to be still and that can be an effort, trying not to move. I wasn't like one of those street performers who stop still like a statue, but it felt as though there was a lot of compression," he explains. "After a 15 -hour filming day you want to jump around, take a bath, anything, I had to relax afterwards because while I was acting it felt clenched all the time. But luckily throughout the film I got to slowly let that go."

Klaatu's journey

Never one to shy away from a compelling role, Reeves also believes that he is drawn to complicated characters in movies, such as Klaatu and Neo in The Matrix, because of their character's existential conundrums, the journey they take throughout the course of the film and that underneath it all lies a secondary tale of adventure, romance and, in The Day The Earth Stood Still, friendship. As Klaatu befriends Jennifer Connelly's son, Jaden Smith, he soon begins to understand the workings of human emotion through this young, fractured little boy.

Reeves explains that he believes that even today, the story in The Day The Earth Stood Still has just as much impact as it did back in 1951, albeit with a few alterations to accommodate present day issues such as Global Warming and humanity's self destructive nature. "It deals with our apocalyptic tendencies. The original looked at atomic weapons, the nuclear bomb and the separation of countries. It was a way to reflect on The Cold War, on the possibility of mutual annihilation. Our film is also about human nature and the fact that it's only when our backs are against the wall that we do anything to change."

A bold and stark sci-fi tale, this masterful remake is a must see for fans of both the original and thought provoking cinema, made all the more startling in High Definition on your PlayStation 3.

The Day The Earth Stood Still is available now on Blu-ray Disc.