Day the Earth Stood Still (DVD, 2009, 2-Disc Set; Checkpoint; Sensormatic; Widescreen; Pan and Sca)

Having studied this film in comparison to the first, the film director, Derrickson strove at making a wonderful film presentation, but somehow missed the mark in several important areas. Even though the film seems to be a work of art for most, after close scrutiny, I find this film to be littered with mistakes, carelessness, and inconsistencies. This, alone within itself, would cause you to wonder what really went wrong with this production, yet may not necessarily make the film unbearable to re-watch, it may well have the opposite effect on viewers as well.

My problems with this film started soon after we are introduced to Jacob (Jaden Smith), Dr. Bensen's son. Hopefully not, yet his character may well go down in history as playing the most annoying child in film.

ERRORS IN GEOGRAPHY:
When Klaatu is walking in the train station, the "VIA Rail" signs make it clear he is in Canada.
FACTUAL ERRORS:
1)When the surgeon removes the placenta material from Klaatu, he hands a scalpel to a nurse who is not wearing surgical gloves.
2) No British news service would use the British flag as its banner. The flag is not widely flown within the country. It's never shown on television; stations feel that viewers already know which country they're in.
3) The MQ-9 Reaper is powered by a turboprop engine, not the jet engine shown in the film.
4)The colonel commands the controllers of the MQ-9 Reaper to fire their Sidewinder air-to-air missiles at the robot. The Reaper carries only GBU-12 Paveway II or AGM-114 Hellfire II air-to-ground missiles.
5)Helen Benson is put in a CH-46 helicopter along with other scientists and US Army soldiers. When it takes off, "UNITED STATES ARMY" is painted on the side. The US Army does not operate the CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter.
FILM CREW/EQUIP VISIBLE:
When Klaatu escapes from the bunker, the camera is reflected the the elevator doors before they open. REVEALING MISTAKES:(At 1:08:03) When the TV speaker announces the latest news that there were riots in "London, Chicago,& many cities in China", on the screen you can see some vandals breaking stores, police on horses, and the 3rd video is not from listed cities, but from Belgrade(Serbia). They used a historical event which occurred on 5th October 2000, when 500000 demonstrators set the Parliament building on fire. On that day, Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown from power.
CONTINUITY ERRORS:
1)At the start of the movie, when Helen Benson walks into the room of her son, in the background on a shelf you can see an action figure resembling a karate fighter due to its white outfit. However, when Helen leaves the room again, the figure is gone. It is replaced by an entirely different action figure.
2) When Klaatu is standing in the interrogation room after putting on the suit, the interrogator's right hand is still on the machine. In the next shot, his hand is on his leg.
PLOT HOLES:
1) Klaatu's ship is identified as "OBJECT 07/493" and "discovered just beyond Jupiter's orbit." Such an ID # would mean that the object was discovered in 2007. We know it's 2008 because of Jacob's father's death and Helen saying he died a year ago.
2)In the opening scene, an alien probe obtains a DNA sample from Klaatu, leaving a large scar on his hand, but even today's human technology can obtain a DNA sample less invasive way.

Regardless of the errors, the film deserves to be recognized for astounding special effects and strong sense of purpose to send the world a message.

I'll give this a 3/5