WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
OK, yes I said it before but then if I broke the promise once who’s to say I wasn’t going to break it again. However, I guess a short story doesn’t really count right? As you can guess, these films are based on the short story Farewell to the Master (hence the title) by Harry Bates. Well, with that in mind, let’s see which adaptation is better….
Drama over Simplicity
There were a few things I wanted to talk about, but in a weird kind of way they all fit in to this section. For example, the use of radio and TV to tell the arrival of Klaatu’s space adds to the simplicity of the original film – compared to the ‘all guns blazing’ approach they seem to take in the remake with FBI banging on Helen Benson’s door, instilling panic from the outset.
There is also, in my opinion, an increase in violence in the remake. For example, yes in both films there is an element of a ‘shoot first ask questions later’ attitude from the military after Klaatu lands but at least in the original film they let him speak a little. Additionally, the iron soldier’s response to this shooting is more violent. OK, it doesn’t kill anyone like I was expecting but the piercing sound it emits is worse than just vaporizing the weapons.
Klaaatu
Based on the opening, I feel in the remake they seemed to believe it wouldn’t be possible for there to be another ‘humanoid’ race out in the universe. I word it this way because we only refer to other races as humanoid assuming we are the first to look the way we do. Instead, they seem to believe Klaatu could only look human because his race have taken human DNA in the past to make him look like us. I actually feel like this is a little bit naïve on behalf the remake.
To expand on the previous section, they also seem to make Klaatu violent as well. At no point does he hurt anyone in the original film but in the remake he both electrocutes the polygraph examiner and uses the same high frequency on the other agents as used by the automaton at the beginning. I also feel that they seem to have made Reeves’ Klaatu emotionless in comparison to Rennie’s but then this is referenced slightly when Klaatu meets with Dr Wu who says “You see I love them, this is very strange thing”. It seems that he did not expect to love the human race but he grew to.
A Change in Message
I feel like the messages in each of these films is supposed to be in line with what was going on in the world at the time. For example, the underlining meaning of the original film is that violence begets violence, the human race is putting themselves in danger with the development of atomic weapons. The remake however, which I have to admit I was a little disappointed in, the message is completely environmental and we all know that climate change and the environment was a big talking point in the noughties (and still is).
Unintentional Comedy
I do feel a little terrible for finding this funny because, truthfully, it’s because of the way the original film was made over anything else but the fact that you can clearly see that the people running away from the landing of Klaatu’s ship and the police cars arriving is all sped up – it slightly adds a little bit humour at the beginning of the film. In the remake however, it all looks and feels more realistic – including the way things are blown away when the sphere touches down.
Benson + Barnhardt
Originally, I was going to use this segment to express my annoyance that they had decided to merge Helen Benson and Dr Barnhardt into one character in the remake. Which I guess in a way they have done that because they make Benson a doctor first of all and her character is much more prominent than in the original film. Now, that isn’t saying that Barnhardt isn’t in the film at all because he is, hence not being completely annoyed. He just isn’t involved as significantly as in the original film.
In Conclusion
I feel that the rise in drama and violence in the remake slightly detracts from the message that was originally being conveyed. I understand that the message is different in each film but I just wonder why it needed to be changed. I actually feel the message in the remake weakens the film and the story being told. For that reason, and I feel like it’s been a little while since I said this but the original is better.
