SCI-FI is a genre very close to my heart. There’s something about the fascination of futuristic technology, other worlds and aliens that just rings my bell.

Back when I was a kid, I’d sit with slack-jawed wonderment at the goings on of heroes saving the planet from invaders.

However, you may find it surprising that it wasn’t Star Wars, nor was it Alien, that got me hooked. Nope, I have late nights sitting up with my father to thank for me becoming a fan.

Friday nights would be the night we’d stay up late, hot chocolate in hand. TV would be switched to Channel 4 ahead of the late-night B-movie being shown.

One particular black and white classic just seemed to strike a chord with me. It was from 1951, and it involved an alien called Klaatu and his giant metal bodyguard called Gort.

The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951, dir Robert Wise, US)

When a flying saucer is spotted heading towards Cold War-era Earth, the US army and politicians prepare for the imminent arrival of aliens.

It’s post-World War II and America is in the midst of the Cold War. Relations with Russia are tense and another war seems imminent.

Upon landing in President’s Park, Washington DC, a door opens on the craft and a very human-looking alien exits with a large robot following soon after.

Klaatu (Michael Rennie) is there to deliver a message-cum-warning to all the world leaders. However, when he proceeds to open a device that results in him being shot and injured by a nervous soldier. Said soldier is then disintegrated by Gort, clearly there to protect Klaatu.

It turns out the alien visitor’s message is that the world must find a way to be peaceful or it faces total destruction.

Having been automatically seen as a threat to Earth because he’s different, Klaatu is locked up and guarded, however he manages to escape and with the help of Helen (Patricia Neal), her son Bobby (Billy Gray) and scientist, Professor Jacob Barnhardt (Sam Jaffe) sets out deliver his message.

It turns out that Earth’s fascination with exploring space – coupled with a penchant for violence and destruction – has resulted in other inhabitants of the universe becoming concerned that war could be extended into space.

To counter any possible threat from our planet, the rest of the universe has brought together a race of ‘robot enforcers’ (such as Gort) to fight back.

It has to be said that The Day The Earth Stood Still was my first real experience of a science fiction film that just seemed to click with me.

Ignore the B-movie aesthetic, the robot that was just a man in a crappy suit and take a deeper look into the meaning of a film that is still better than its 2008 remake (the one where Keanu Reeves acts like the robot, but is actually Klaatu).

It’s clear that The Day The Earth Stood Still was a film of its time – an era where people were clearly concerned about war. The message that further conflict could result in widespread death and destruction could not me more pertinent. Even today, it would be an apt metaphor for the goings on around the globe.

Being so young at the time, I never really appreciated the message it was relaying. But by god did I love seeing soldiers and tanks being disintegrated by a laser being fired from the eye of Gort.

I loved Rennie’s performance as the stranger who creates a feeling of paranoia and suspicion among humans – just because he’s different. There’s even a strange affection for Gort – a robot in which the ‘metal’ suit creases when the knees bend. Overlooking that kind of foible was easy given how much I enjoyed the rest of the film.

It helped portray to me, as a youngster, that ideology that everyone is the same regardless of where they’re from. Don’t get me wrong, this was something my parents had taught me, but it was one of the first times I had witnessed it on screen.

I appreciated the idea of life from outer space warning us that we were heading for meltdown if war continued. It was a great message to put out there.

The fact the final scene left things open-ended with Klaatu telling world leaders: “The decision rests with you…” was also my first experience of a film that didn’t dot the i’s and cross the t’s by spelling everything out.

I may love Star Wars, The Thing or Blade Runner more but it was The Day The Earth Stood Still – and late nights watching TV with my dad – that I have to thank for my introduction to science fiction.