Gort

From the ship emerges Klaatu, a humanoid alien who is calm, dignified, and utterly foreign in his restraint.

And accompanying him is Gort.

Yes, a massive, silent, featureless robot that possesses power that entirely dwarfs human weaponry.

Gort can disintegrate a tank with a glance.

When you watch old 1950s sci-fi, you expect the alien to be this monstrous, bug-eyed invader wanting to blow up the White House and steal our resources.

But Klaatu doesn't come to conquer.

Klaatu Barata Nikto.

Yes.

And that was kind of the, the, the, um, the, the dichotomy of early Star Trek is sometimes it's as if they're trying to, like, you know, spread the joy of Starfleet, and then, uh, the same way, there's the prime directive, so you can't interfere too much.

But he has the muscle of Gort to back him up.

Yeah, [laughs] he does.

He does.

Although this one is benevolent.

Um, Klaatu is here, Klaatu and Gort are here to help us, but they're also here to warn us about, um, you know, trying to like create world peace and, you know, get along with each other or else as we find out in the movie, uh, Klaatu's people probably got a similar, um, warning because the Gort, the, the robot in it is actually like they're kind of the ones that are more or less in charge.

They're the ones that are kind of keeping the peace that if the people don't like get along with each other, then whatever Gort's race of robots is will end up like just destroying whatever planet it is.

Um, but we get a similar thing where, um, you know, Klaatu comes out.

He's trying to be friendly, but the, he pops out this thing what, what Cameron calls the bowling trophy from the stars.

[laughs] You know, whatever this thing was.

But of course we immediately think it's a weapon and he, and they just start shooting.

And then of cour- And then Gort has to come out and hose the place with his laser beam.

And, uh, the...

And, and, uh, the, the spaceman, um, has a giant robot with him named Gort.

And Gort is, uh, huge, and you can't kill him with tanks or bullets or any of that stuff.

And, and he has Gort, the, the robot, has the power to destroy the world, to destroy the planet Earth.

And, and he was, uh, sent here, uh, Klatu was sent here, uh, Michael Rennie, to warn, uh, planet Earth that, uh, s- uh, sp- powers, powers out in space had discovered that we had, uh, we had developed, uh, rudimentary nuclear capabilities.

And, uh, Klatu came to Earth to, to tell us that, uh, as long as we're not a threat to anybody else, we're fine.

And so this is where I think we're entering into an era or something similar to what was depicted in the movie, The A, the D- the Earth Stood Still.

That came out in 1951, and in that movie there was a AI or a super intelligence called Gort.

And what that was, was it was a enforcer of peace, of peace in our galaxy.

And so what it would do is that it would go to worlds where advanced technologies were being developed and if any of those worlds started to display aggressive tendencies towards other worlds, this super intelligence, this Gort would come in and it would have the technology or the ability to be able to destroy those aggressive actors.

And so I suspect that is what is coming, that there is a super intelligence being developed which is gonna play something along the lines of this Gort entity where humanity will be observed, monitored by this super intelligence, and not just humanity, but also other intelligences.

But this is all gonna be done in an open source, transparent way, so it is reflective of the intent of the majority of humanity.

Because I think this is where the positive extraterrestrials have come in.

Okay, number four, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Big picture here of Gort, the giant robot, and he's leaning over Klaatu, the alien visitor, inside the spaceship.

Patricia and Neil in the background looking on.

Very good, very striking image.

A strange flying saucer lands in Washington.

Its passenger is Klaatu, a being with human form and almost divine powers.

He is accompanied by Gort, an indestructible robot, one of many which patrol the universe keeping the peace.

Klaatu issues an ultimatum.

The movie attempts to update the original's Cold War themes to address contemporary environmental concerns, but it struggles to find its footing amidst a mix of impressive visuals and a muddled narrative.

The plot kicks off with an alien spacecraft landing in New York City, carrying Klaatu and his formidable robot companion, Gort.

Klaatu's mission is to deliver a dire warning to humanity about the consequences of their destructive behaviour towards the planet.

However, the US military perceives him as a threat, leading to a series of events that see Dr. Benson aiding Klaatu in his escape and trying to convince him of humanity's potential for change.

While the film boasts some visually stunning moments, particularly with the depiction of Gort as a towering metallic force, it often feels weighed down by its own ambition.

The special effects, though occasionally uneven, do elevate the film above its predecessor in terms of spectacle.

However, the narrative struggles to balance its environmental message with the need for engaging storytelling.

Yeah

... uh, Klaatu came down with Gort and they warned the world, "If you don't change, things are gonna go, uh, badly." So that was the kind of feeling I had, that we needed something like that.

[laughs] So it's, it's like a short science fiction, uh, based music video that you wouldn't tell at first.

So the music is all, uh, original, produced by me, played by me.