Fox Announces The Day the Earth Stood Still
Posted September 25, 2008 01:55 PM by Josh Dreuth

20th Century Fox Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring the 1951 classic film The Day the Earth Stood Still to Blu-ray as a Special Edition on December 2nd, day-and-date with the DVD release. Coming on a BD-25, video will be presented in 1.33:1 1080p AVC accompanied a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack.

Extras for this release include:

* Interactive Thermin: Create Your Own Score (BD Exclusive)
* Gort Command: Interactive Game (BD Exclusive)
* Commentary by Robert Wise and Nicolas Meyer
* Commentary by Film & Music Historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg and Nick Redman
* Isolated Score Track
* The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin
* The Day The Earth Stood Still Main Title Live Performance By Peter Pringle
* The Making of The Day the Earth Stood Still
* Decoding “Klaatu, Barada, Nikto”: Science Fiction as Metaphor Featurette
* A Brief History of Flying Saucers Featurette
* The Astounding Harry Bates Featurette
* Edmund North: The Man Who Made the Earth Stand Still Featurette
* Race To Oblivion: A Documentary Short Written And Produced By Edmund North
* Farewell To The Master: A Reading By Jamieson K. Price Of The Original Harry Bates Short Story
* Interactive Pressbook
* Fox Movietonews from 1951
* Theatrical Trailer
* Advertising Gallery
* Behind-The Scenes Gallery
* Portrait Gallery
* Production Gallery
* Spaceship Construction Blueprints
* Shooting Script

There are very few pre-1960 films I already have on DVD that I plan to rebuy on BD, but this is one of them. Yes, it's black-and-white and 1.37:1, but it's a sentimental favorite. Two others are Forbidden Planet and The War of the Worlds, but no BD release dates have been announced.

One thing that bothers me about this announcement is that it states "1.33:1" will be the aspect ratio, as opposed to the original (which would be a crime, punishable by stoning). The actual listing at Blu-ray.com refers to 1.37:1, so maybe there's nothing to worry about.