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Digger, the movie (2026) Review
Filed under: Environment, film | Tags: digger, John Goodman, movies, Reviews, Tom Cruise
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Tom Cruise is a bit of a turn-off for me. I was there for Risky Business back in 1983 – precisely when I was coming of age. So, I am always reluctant to part with money to see him in a film. The last time was Eyes Wide Shut because of the Kubrick connection rather than Cruise.
This time, despite Cruise, I fork out £26 for the two of us to enter a cinema at the unearthly film hour of 1030 on the grounds that this movie is significant in its approach to mainstreaming climate change awareness. It is significant. And although it had only a short stay on cinema screens, I recommend catching up with it when it is streamed. Despite Cruise.
Spoiler Alert – read no further if you are going to stream it. A viewer’s interpretation of events will determine how embedded they are in climate narratives.
The plot is straightforward. Digger is an oil magnate who lives in this surreal house with his cat. There’s definitely a nod to Goldfinger in this. The cat is old, incontinent and on its last legs. It is, however, the only other living thing he seems to care about. The rest is just money. It is a comedy. Some of it is slapstick, It is very funny. It is very dark humour, though. We are meant to laugh. Watch out for the spade and the fate of the cat. There is some great comedy timing.
So when he learns that his drilling in Greenland is causing an ice sheet to float free and collide with Europe he seeks to blame everyone other than himself for the catastrophe, including the president of the USA played brilliantly by John Goodman. That scenario is fantastical, but it is not meant to be accurate. For film goers who see it through to the end, reality and fantasy are constantly in flux. Ultimately we are being told that the oil industry can and will do untold damage to the planet. It is not just about that iceberg. It is about tipping points. These are the triggers that unleash irreversible chain reactions, including plague. There is also the scenario that using nuclear weapons to break up the iceberg leads to nuclear war as the act itself is interpreted as an act of war. This realisation knocks the smile off the military commander who thought he had a reason to use his nuclear arsenal to show off the power of the USA.
There is one particular standout scene. Standout in terms of its script, visuals and performance (right). He flies to Europe to “defend” himself over his culpability for the tragedy. If one has not been paying attention, the expectation is that he will show some contrition for the lives, livelihoods and lost land. If you have been paying attention, you will know that Digger will never do that (remind you of someone?). Digger’s speech follows that of his chief scientist who can no longer hold his lip. He comes clean to the Europeans and expects serious consequences from Digger. But he gets none of it as it provides the opportunity for Digger to present his own truth.
He tells the Europeans that they are culpable. It is they that are addicted to fossil fuels. It is their people whose lifestyles depend on fossil fuels and the products of oil such as plastic and fibres. He only satiates the addiction. I have not really done it justice here. It is a magnificent piece of writing delivered with swagger (that is probably why Cruise was perfect for the role). It is visually stunning, too. Digger is the only person present in the room with colour. The hall itself is the Coliseum with Digger as a victorious gladiator.
The imagery throughout, though, is quite disconcerting. It is so retro, despite the computer screens. Digger’s bed is something to behold. It all reminds me of Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. Indeed it was all filmed in Pinewood Studios in the UK. There is no location as such. If you get to the end, there are a few twists. I missed the last one. Not to be missed.
The day the Earth stood still (1951 and 2008)
Filed under: Environment | Tags: climate change, film, Gort, Keenau Reeves, Klaatu, movie, movies, Ringo Starr, sci-fi, Science fiction, science-fiction, The Day the Earth Stood Still
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I think my first encounter with the 1951 original was not the film itself, rather the cover of Ringo Starr’s album, Goodnight Vienna (left). I also remember the BBC running a series of evening sci-fi films – the winter Monday night treat starting after the 9 O’Clock news (back in the 1970s). Too late to watch to the end, but I always tried to start them. Another film in that series, I recall, was The Incredible Shrinking Man. Profound, in hindsight.
Spoiler alert – if you intend to watch either of these films, do so before reading further this review.
Of course I have been watching quite a bit of sci-fi in addition to my reading. The theme of my film watching has been climate change (The Road, for example). In the 2008 remake, Klaatu (the spaceman) comes to Earth to warn of the consequences for humankind of further erosion of the Earth systems. In the original carried a classic cold war message against militarisation and extending it beyond the Earth. It is a time of atomic weapons and nascent space exploration. It is a chilling message delivered firmly by Klaatu as he departs. Gort, his robot, is an example of a robot that is programmed to protect Klaatu’s race from violence and war, They are powerful peace keepers that can effectively vaporise military equipment and personnel.
In the 2008 remake, Gort has a slightly different purpose. Whilst the robot is made of a material that cannot be penetrated by humanity’s most powerful diamond drills, Gort cannot be damaged. Whilst Gort is enclosed, much to the delight of the military personnel trying to eliminate the alien threat, the robot is not disarmed. Indeed it is programmed to convert itself into tiny insects that can pulverise buildings such as a sports stadium. The reason for Gort’s transformation is humanity’s rejection of his request to speak to the United Nations. This is an interesting critique of the institution. My goodness, a humanoid space traveller, that speaks a common human language, is denied access to the only representative global body of nations.
Klaatu’s human ally, just as in the original, is called Helen Benson. In the remake Helen is an astrobiologist called on to facilitate the US State’s understanding – and handling – of the approach of a fast-moving object that looks like it will crash into the Earth with devasting effects. Of course, the craft, such that it is (it is a spherical object of light), slows and lands conveniently in Central Park (the classic flying saucer of the original lands in The National Mall in Washington). The Helens both have a role in allowing Klaatu to understand humanity’s humanity. In the remake Helen pleads with Klaatu to give humanity a chance to change. In the original, Helen tries to help him to safety after her fiancé betrays him in pursuit of fame and riches.
In both films there is a Professor Barnhardt. In both cases Klaatu assists the Barnhardt in solving one of mathematics’ most troubling problems (quaintly on a chalk board). In the original, Klaatu is gets Professor Barnhardt to convene a grand meeting of international scientists to address them. In the remake, Professor Barnhardt, played bizarrely by John Cleese, makes the case for humanity arguing that the species is on a precipice, just like Klaatu’s own planet in an earlier time.
There is also a role for children. Helen Benson from the original, has a precocious son called Bobby. He entertains Klaatu in and around Washington. Klaatu visits the Lincoln memorial and defers to his greatness after reading the inscription. Ultimately, there is wisdom in humanity as well as destructive force. In the remake it is the child who betrays Klaatu, he himself accepting the dominant media narrative that Klaatu must be caught and killed. After Helen (who is his step mother and not his birth mother) is snatched by the military, he and Klaatu have to negotiate a forest in the pouring rain and find a way to get back to New York and the ship. Meantime, Helen convinces the Secretary of Defense, Regina Jackson, who is leading the military response, that she alone can convince Klaatu to stop the flight of the destructive insects. She rendezvous with Klaatu and Jacob and along with a colleague (who dies as the SUV they are driving in unwittingly hits mines that have been laid). The boy is fatally wounded by the insects but is – for want of a better word – resuscitated to rejoin humanity. Klaatu’s own regenerative abilities are quite something (in both movies).
Some concluding thoughts
I started with the remake. Keenau Reeves as Klaatu was a suitable choice (I have always thought he was a bit wooden). That aside, the ecocide message in 2008 was quite something. It predates the Paris Agreement, though the IPCC had published ever-increasingly worrying reports and the Conference of the Parties (CoPs) were well established albeit fractious. The sense that aliens felt the need to save Earth’s flora and fauna from its most destructive product of evolution, humans, is quite something. Because 18 years’ on, it does. We are introduced to the idea that Earth, in cosmic terms, is special indeed. Not unique, but certainly rare. The other planets hosting life cannot allow Earth to go sterile again. This is not really explained, but it is an interesting concept.
The military play a huge role in both films. Actually, the mobilisation scenes are impressive, and I imagine on an Imax screen, doubly so. Though in both cases it illustrates the real impotence of the military when confronted by forces greater then themselves. Especially the forces of peace. The military leaders are depicted negatively with little sense of empathy, diplomacy and understanding. Kill, kill and kill. In the original, the standing still part is a 30-minute global power cut. In the remake, Klaatu leaves Earth with a permanent power cut. An opportunity for humanity to restart (or at least reset). This is a fair ending as, clearly, the film could not end with the destruction of human society. I suppose the weakness here is that humans will reconnect the power grid and carry on where it left off. If the original has any lessons, it is that Klaatu’s message was largely ignored. Our current trajectory will see off civilisation without the intervention of other planetary organic life forms.
Album cover source: By Apple Records/EMI – https://store.ringostarr.com/products/ringo-starr-peace-love-goodnight-vienna-lp?variant=4667045740585, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62166849f
Poster (2008) By The cover art can or could be obtained from Collider.com or 20th Century Fox., Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20122070
Poster 1951: By “Copyright 1951 by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp.” – Scan via Heritage Auctions., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=86859809
