MovieChat Forums > The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) Discussion > Gort breaking Klaatu out of jail

Gort breaking Klaatu out of jail

posted 9 years ago by censorshipsucks06
7 replies | jump to latest

Okay, I give films from back in the 40's and 50's some breaks. But this situation nearly wrecks the film, and the movie gets reduced about 2 notches on a 10 point scale for me.

The problems with the Gort jailbreak scene:

1. Only TWO guards are stationed at the UFO to guard Gort. Seriously? TWO??? Come on.

2. Gort, after killing the whopping total of two guards, somehow knows EXACTLY where Klaatu is.

3. Gort - said to be 8 feet tall, and not exactly able to run like track star, simply WALKS all the way to the prison, unseen, breaks Klaatu out, and then walks, with Klaatu in his arms, all the way back to the UFO. And NOBODY in the city sees him during his roud trip from the UFO to the jail and back? Are you KIDDING ME?? 

I get it's science fiction, and I get it's an old film. But that doesn't mean they can just toss all common sense to the wind. A plot point like that belongs in an Ed Wood film, not a film hailed as some masterpiece.

Personally, I liked the film. But it's greatly over rated and certainly isn't 'the best Sci/Fi film of all time'.

[–] MuMu2525 9 years ago

1) It's doubtful the guards were there to prevent Gort from doing anything, as they wouldn't stand a chance against him (the scene at the beginning where Gort shows off his laser eye-beam is proof enough of that). They were likely posted there to watch him and report back if he moved, and probably also to keep people out of the area where the ship is.

2) Gort comes from a technologically highly advanced society and it isn't a stretch of the imagination to accept he can trace Klaatu. Considering they were built as a cosmic police force, Gort probably had far more capabilities than what we saw onscreen.

3) Gort obviously can't run like an athlete, and even though it's night time, his going to fetch Klaatu from the jail is simply plot expediency. Do you really want to add another hour onto the film just to watch Gort trundling along the streets, trying not to be seen? This is the bit where you need to mean what you say about cutting the film some slack, because its from 1951 and the screen storytelling was of its time. If a film did that now, by all means open fire.

I don't know anyone who has ever called TDTESS "the best sci-fi film of all time", but the reason why it remains so well-respected is because it wasn't just another empty spectacle for kids about aliens, robots, spaceships and general silliness. This time, the human race are the villains and aggressors, and the film brought cold-war paranoia to science fiction which, for the time, was quite intelligently done. It's still a fun sci-fier and can be watched that way, but it isn't empty-headed.

[–] censorshipsucks06 9 years ago

I don't know anyone who has ever called TDTESS "the best sci-fi film of all time",

There's a few here on this board that say that, though I'm not going to sift through all the threads again to find it.

Do you really want to add another hour onto the film just to watch Gort trundling along the streets, trying not to be seen? This is the bit where you need to mean what you say about cutting the film some slack

And here we go. Look - you make some interesting points - and we could have had a decent discussion. But like so many out here, your reply isn't kept to the topic, but has to take a shot at the poster. I always wonder how people think others are going to respond to stuff like that. Do you really expect me to say "Gee - you're right - I should have cut the film more slack than I did - I should have meant what I said..." 

First, they wouldn't have to 'add an hour' to the film. That's just some arbitrary time you chose because it made your point sound better. For all I care, Gort could have flown the UFO over and grabbed him that way.

And I did cut the film plenty of slack. Don't think so? Go read the "Things I learned from TDTESS" thread. Those are actually quite humorous. I read that thread (some of it) after posting my topic. But yes, I gave the film slack. But the points I made, especially in regards to TWO guards assigned to guard Gort and the UFO, is where slack cutting ended for me, and it was more like they took the rope, cut it in half and discarded it.

[–] MuMu2525 9 years ago

I don't really see how anything I've said is taking a shot at you, nor does it go off topic. Yes, I've challenged your perceptions about this film, but as far as I was concerned, we were having a decent discussion.

You did say in your opening message that you give films as old as this one some breaks, but then you raised three points that do the exact opposite. The first two points aren't even goofs of any kind and are easily explained, and while your third point does require some suspension of disbelief for the sake of narrative expediency, it hardly ruins the film because it's such a minor detail. That's what I meant by "mean what you say" with regards to cutting the film some slack and accept it on it's own terms from the era it was made, not the era you watched it in.

[–] rldalton 9 years ago

2. Gort, after killing the whopping total of two guards, somehow knows EXACTLY where Klaatu is.

I think that Gort found out where Klaatu was after he carried Helen into the ship and then used the screen to communicate with home and/or zero in on him (like GPS). Maybe Klaatu had an implant that Gort or their planet could detect.

[–] kbarada 9 years ago

I think that Gort found out where Klaatu was after he carried Helen into the ship and then used the screen to communicate with home and/or zero in on him (like GPS). Maybe Klaatu had an implant that Gort or their planet could detect.

Now that is excellent analysis. After all, Klaatu came here from some distant galaxy in a super advanced space craft. Why would he and his people (and Gort) not have all kinds of advanced devices and technology that go well beyond our understanding of life here on earth?

[–] censorshipsucks06 9 years ago

Maybe Klaatu had an implant that Gort or their planet could detect.

Maybe they could have included that in the movie?

[–] kbarada 9 years ago

You are correct. That fact would have been a good thing to include in the movie as it would help explain just how advanced Klaatu's civilization was in comparison to 1950s Earth's. Of course today, it would seem elementary that the robot Gort could track and find Klaatu. Who doesn't have GPS?