The Day the Earth Stood Still

Klaatu:
I am fearful when I see people substituting fear for reason.

Klaatu:
I am leaving soon, and you will forgive me if I speak bluntly. The universe grows smaller every day, and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all or no one is secure. Now, this does not mean giving up any freedom except the freedom to act irresponsibly. Your ancestors knew this when they made laws to govern themselves and hired policemen to enforce them. We of the other planets have long accepted this principle. We have an organization for the mutual protection of all planets and for the complete elimination of aggression. The test of any such higher authority is, of course, the police force that supports it. For our policemen, we created a race of robots. Their function is to patrol the planets-in space ships like this one-and preserve the peace. In matters of aggression, we have given them absolute power over us; this power can not be revoked. At the first sign of violence, they act automatically against the aggressor. The penalty for provoking their action is too terrible to risk. The result is that we live in peace, without arms or armies, secure in the knowledge that we are free from aggression and war-free to pursue more profitable enterprises. Now, we do not pretend to have achieved perfection, but we do have a system, and it works. I came here to give you these facts. It is no concern of ours how you run your own planet. But if you threaten to extend your violence, this Earth of yours will be reduced to a burned-out cinder. Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration. We shall be waiting for your answer; the decision rests with you.

Helen Benson:
Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!

Klaatu:
You have faith, Professor Barnhardt?

Barnhardt:
It isn't faith that makes good science, Mr. Klaatu, it's curiosity. Sit down, please. There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you.

Barnhardt:
One thing, Mr. Klaatu: suppose this group should reject your proposals. What is the alternative?

Klaatu:
I'm afraid there is no alternative. In such a case, the planet Earth would have to be... eliminated

Barnhardt:
Such power exists?

Klaatu:
I assure you, such power exists.

Bobby:
[indicating grave marker during a visit to Arlington] That's my father. He was killed at Anzio.

Klaatu:
Did all those people die in wars?

Bobby:
Most of 'em. Didn't you ever hear of the Arlington Cemetery?

Klaatu:
No, I'm afraid not.

Bobby:
You don't seem to know much about anything, do you, Mr. Carpenter?

Klaatu:
Well, I'll tell you, Bobby, I've been away a long time. Very far away.

Bobby:
Is it different where you've been? Don't they have places like this?

Klaatu:
Well, they have cemeteries, but not like this one. You see, they don't have any wars.

Bobby:
Gee, that's a good idea.

Mr. Harley:
Your impatience is quite understandable.

Klaatu:
I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it.

Mr. Harley:
I'm afraid my people haven't. I'm very sorry... I wish it were otherwise.

From Out Of Space... A Warning And An Ultimatum!

A robot and a man . . . hold the world spellbound with new and startling powers from another planet!

The screen has never conceived a creature like this!

Strange Power From Another Planet Menaces The Earth!

What is this invader from another planet... Can it destroy the Earth?

Klaatu:
Only at the precipice we change.

Klaatu:
Klaatu barada nikto

Regina Jackson:
What is your purpose in coming here?

Klaatu:
There is a gathering of world leaders not far from here. I will explain my purpose to them.

Regina Jackson:
I am afraid that is not possible. Perhaps you should explain yourself to me instead.

Klaatu:
Do you speak for the entire human race?

Regina Jackson:
I speak for the President of the United States. Now please, tell me why have you come to our planet.

Klaatu:
Your planet?

Regina Jackson:
Yes. This is our planet.

Klaatu:
No, it is NOT.

Helen Benson:
I need to know what is happening.

Klaatu:
This planet is dying. The human race is killing it.

Helen Benson:
So you have come here to help us.

Klaatu:
No, I didn't.

Helen Benson:
You said you came to save us.

Klaatu:
I said I came to save the Earth.

Helen Benson:
You came to save the Earth from us.

Klaatu:
We can't risk the survival of this planet for the sake of one species.

Helen Benson:
What are you saying?

Klaatu:
If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives. There are only a handful of planets in the cosmos that are capable of supporting complex life.

Helen Benson:
You can't do this.

Klaatu:
This one can't be allowed to perish.

Helen Benson:
We can change. We can still turn things around.

Klaatu:
: We have watched. We have waited and hoped that you would change.

Helen Benson:
Please.

Klaatu:
It has reached the tipping point. We have to act.

Helen Benson:
Please.

Klaatu:
We will undo the damage you have done and give the Earth a chance to begin again.

Helen Benson:
Don't do this. Please, we can change. We can change.

Klaatu:
The decision is made. The process has begun.

Regina Jackson:
History has lessons to teach us about first encounters between civilizations. As a rule the less advanced civilization is either exterminated or enslaved. I'm thinking of Pizarro and the Incans, Columbus and the Native Americans, and the list goes on. Unfortunately in this case, the less advanced civilization is us.

Michael Granier:
This is the representative of an extra-terrestrial civilization. This is the most important discovery in the history of Mankind!

Regina Jackson:
It may well be the last discovery in the history of Mankind.

Professor Barnhardt:
There must be alternatives. You must have some technology that could solve our problem.

Klaatu:
Your problem is not technology. The problem is you. You lack the will to change.

Professor Barnhardt:
Then help us change.

Klaatu:
I can not change your nature. You treat the world as you treat each other.

Professor Barnhardt:
But every civilization reaches a crisis point eventually.

Klaatu:
Most of them don't make it.

Professor Barnhardt:
Yours did. How?

Klaatu:
Our Sun was dying. We had to evolve in order to survive.

Professor Barnhardt:
So it was only when your world was threatened with destruction that you became what you are now.

Klaatu:
Yes.

Professor Barnhardt:
Well that is where we are. You say we are on the brink of destruction and you are right. But it is only on the brink that people find the will to change. Only at the precipice do we evolve. This is our moment. Don't take it from us, we are close to an answer.

George:
” Why doesn’t the government do something that’s what I want to know”

Mr Carl:
“What can they do they’re only people just like us”.

George:
“People my foot. They’re democrats”

Barnhardt:
It isn't faith that makes good science, Mr. Klaatu, it's curiosity. Sit down, please. There are several thousand questions I'd like to ask you. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 film) Edmund H. North