The Day the Earth Stood Still - Sci Fi Fridays

Film Screening.

It’s life… but not as we know it!

When a UFO lands in Washington, DC bearing a message for Earth's leaders, all of humanity stands still. Klaatu (Michael Rennie) has come on behalf of alien life who have been watching Cold War-era nuclear proliferation on Earth.

But it is Klaatu's soft-spoken robot Gort that presents a more immediate threat to onlookers. A single mother (Patricia Neal) and her son teach the world about peace and tolerance in this moral fable, ousting the tanks and soldiers that greet the alien's arrival.

For April's Sci-Fi Friday, we're celebrating Yuri's Night – the anniversary of the first human in space – with a screening of the original, 1951 version of The Day the Earth Stood Still. The film will start at 8.15pm and will be preceded at 8pm by a brief look at humankind's journey towards the stars.

Sci-Fi Fridays take place every second Friday of the month in Otago Museum's Perpetual Guardian Planetarium. Snacks and drinks are available for purchase.

Rated G.