With respect, Scott, destroying the Earth is precisely what the aliens have in mind IF the humans ignore their "request" to stop being stupid. I watched it recently, and then listened to the very revealing commentary.

That's a more thorough and accurate description of the premise, Steve, thanks. Did you enjoy it when you watched it recently? How did it hold up?

Hi Scott - want me to be more analytical, eh? :-) Yes, I enjoyed it very much. **SPOILERS FOLLOW** There's a lot going on in this movie, on the outside it's about Klaatu trying to get to talk to the people in charge and the impossibility of getting through the Cold War paranoia of soldiers and politicians. It's also about how his mere presence affects individuals. The effect he has on the child and his mother who's planning to get married to the wrong man just so her boy has a father. (Another comment on war - the original father was a soldier killed in a war - doesn't say which.) What it isn't is a love story. In a more traditional Hollywood movie you might expect the spaceman and the woman to fall in love and live happily ever after. It doesn't happen. And even after he demonstrates that he could destroy the world easily, the future is still uncertain: will the politicians listen? (Actually it's worth pointing out that the robot, Gort, is in charge. Klaatu can modify his programming to some extent but not completely override it.) It's an anti-war film wrapped up in a shiny SF skintight suit. And its message is just as applicable today. Just for the contrast, the remake was reasonably okay, it lacked the strength and pacing of the original - but most importantly it was clearly felt they needed to change the end. Unfortunately it was very clear they had no real idea of what that end should be, so they ended up with the destruction of the world.

Thanks, Steve. I happened to catch the last half of the movie while flipping channels perhaps a year ago, and I really enjoyed it. It's actually a pretty profound movie from a philosophical standpoint and remarkable, in a way, it found traction in 1951. But perhaps that says more about how frenzied people might have been about the Great Arms Race. By the way, I do a GREAT impression of Gort walking through those folding chairs, knocking them over. Used to do it in my stand-up comedy act. Guess you had to be there to get the humor...