2001: A Space Odyssey [HD DVD]

 

 

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Once upon a time, when the year 2001 seemed aeons away, director Stanley Kubruck (Dr. Strangelove) contacted author Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End) to discuss making "the proverbial good science fiction movie". Both were sick of films that passed for science fiction, but were actually monster movies set in space, or were fiction films with the science replaced by fantasy.

The result was 2001: A Space Odyssey, the film, and a companion book of the same name which is actually a completely different animal. The film -- striking, innovative, visually engrossing, ambiguous, and scientifically solid -- is as good today as it was in 1968, even if many of the "predictions" of the film have failed to come to pass. (Perhaps if the shuttle didn't explode in '86, we'd be closer to having moon bases today?)

Separated into four chapters (The Dawn Of Man, TMA-1, Jupiter Mission (and an intermission with music), and finally Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite), 2001 has no dialogue at all for the entire first quarter of the film. Beginning with a blank screen and "Atmospheres" by Ligeti, this is a film paradoxically anchored by both music and silence. The screen changes to the Earth rising over the moon, and the sun rising over the Earth (an important clue and recurring symbol) accompanied by "Thus Spoke Zarathustra". We are then introduced to a tribe of pre-human apes (Australopithecus, perhaps), starving and on the verge of extinction. Other tribes are stronger and out-competing them. There is no dialogue here but the barking of the apes, yet that and the scenery speak volumes. Suddenly one morning, the game has changed: A mysterious black monolith has appeared. The apes are drawn to it, and soon find that they are now able to compete with predators thanks to a new discovery: weapons.

The TMA-1 chapter begins with what Clarke has called "the longest jump-cut in history" and we see that humanity has evolved into a spacegoing race. Orbital weapons platforms orbit the earth as a shuttle is making way to an under-construction space station. The Blue Danube plays as the spacecraft dance in calculated perfection. Our first main character, Dr. Heywood Floyd, arrives on the station and we are given some tantalizing clues as to why he's made this trip: Rumours of a plague outbreak on the moon. Yet this is just a cover story. As Floyd makes his way to the moon in another beautifully choreographed sequence, we learn that a magnetic anomoly was discovered in the crater Tycho (named after astronomer Tycho Brahe) -- Tycho Magnetic Anomoly 1, or TMA-1. This discovery is so important, that the cover story was created to keep everyone far away from Tycho.

The discover of TMA-1 leads to another jump forward in time, to a mission to Jupiter helmed by David Bowman (the perpetually young Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood of the second Star Trek pilot episode). Aboard their ship the Discovery are three sleeping astronauts and the most famous computer of all time, H.A.L. 9000 (voiced by Stratford resident Douglas Rain). Bowman and Poole do not know why they are going to Jupiter, but we are given a glipse into the possible life of two men with nothing but a computer for company, in space for years as they make the long transit to the biggest planet in our solar system. H.A.L. is a character to himself, perhaps the one with the most emotion onboard the Discovery.

Things go wrong when an antenna is predicted to fail by H.A.L., requiring one of the astronauts to go outside and repair it. H.A.L., who controls the life support and every function of Discovery, begins to show signs of what humans call mistakes. Yet no 9000-series computer has ever failed, or found to be in error. You will be haunted by the song "Daisy" by the end of this chapter.

After an intermission, Discovery finally arrives at Jupiter and its true mission is revealed. This chapter too has no dialogue, bringing us full circle. David Bowman once again must venture outside the ship and find out just what was discovered on the moon, how it relates to Jupiter, and perhaps even how it related to our millenia-dead ancestors. What follows is one of the most baffling and strange sequences in movie history, one which will require dozens of viewings to appreciate, let alone understand. The beauty of this final sequence is that there is no right or wrong interpretation. While on the surface it may appear to be a psychedelic caleidoscope of colour followed by a bizarre dialogue-less encounter with a being that seems to have no bearing on reality, it is actually Kubrick's way of showing the audience something that is beyond anyone's imagination. Like the audience, David Bowman and humanity have come full circle.

Lacking what modern audiences might call action, lacking typical space sound effects (there is no sound in space!), lacking dialogue for most of the movie, and lacking any sort of warm human characters (except maybe H.A.L. who is not human), this movie was a challenge to watch in 1968 and is still a challenge today. It is, however, a piece of art that trancends its genre and is a landmark in film making. Kubrick, always a visionary and always breaking through boundaries of what could not be done in film, outdid himself and made a science fiction film that still has not been topped 40 years later. Nobody has made anything this epic, this beautiful, this deep or this scientifically sound since. The special effects -- all practical effects and mostly in-camera, as CG did not yet exist -- still stand up today. Nobody will ever forget the rotating Dicovery set that allowed one character to be seated while another seemingly walked from the top of the cylinder, down the side, and sat down next to him.

Sure -- we don't have a moon base. We haven't sent anyone to Jupiter. However, we do talk to each other via video conference. We do have a space station. We have created computers that can beat the best humans at chess. This is not that far off. If they had named this film 2031: A Space Odyssey, we might be in the right ballpark. In the end, the year does not matter. You never see modern Earth in the movie at all.

This blu-ray release is loaded with special features and has a beautiful transfer in 2.20:1, as Kubrick shot it and intended it to be. Both Dullea and Lockwood provide an audio commentary. There are documentaries about Kubrick, about the predictions of the film, and about the effects. The only thing missing is the Arthur C. Clarke lecture from the first issue DVD.

2001: A Space Odyssey is, without any doubt or any argument, the greatest science fiction film of all time. With Kubrick and Clarke now both gone, I doubt we will ever see anything like it again. 5 stars is not enough of a rating. I give this movie 200 billion stars, one for each star in our galaxy.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Science Fiction, 141 minutes
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood

Stanley Kubrick certainly didn't restrict himself to one particular genre. In one of his most ambitious films, he took us into space. Up until that point, science fiction was often thought of as amusing and many early movies were laughably bad. Kubrick changed that perception at a stroke with the release of 2001.

The film isn't easy to watch. The opening sequence attempts to show how humans descended from apes and learned how to use tools and weapons. Special effects in 1968 were not advanced and so Kubrick simply dressed actors in ape costumes. This long sequence is told without the use of dialogue and will alienate a lot of viewers.

After one of my favorite cuts in movie history, in which a spinning bone transitions into an orbiting spaceship, we are taken into space. The story involves the discovery of monoliths. The apes find the first one and learn how to use tools. The second is buried on the moon and the third orbits Jupiter. Each monolith marks an advancement in the human race and alerts an alien race to our progress.

Kubrick got a lot of things right, portraying weightlessness and the lack of sound in space. He used classical music throughout the story and saw spaceships docking as a kind of dance. One of his most complex characters was a machine.

This isn't a film I would recommend to everyone. It's suitable for those who like to reflect on what they have just seen. It stands up to repeat viewings and analysis and sparks the imagination, but some viewers will give up very early. The first three minutes appears to be a black screen with background music (it's more than that). The evolution of the apes consists of a lot of shouting and jumping around. It took me several attempts before I fully understood Kubrick's vision and started to make sense of the story. I now regard it as one of the best science fiction movies ever made.

While not a recent movie with all that current technologies (including sound and video effects), this Blu-Ray version places 2001 squarely in the panthion of classic films. Interviews with key members of the team and insight into Kubrick's process provide a lot of information. Definitely for 2001 fans and great introduction for would-be fans. This is a great film and this technology translates it very well.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Epic, awesome, fanstatic movie. But yes, still boring.
One of my favourite movies of all time.

Picture and sound are awesome.

Kinda weak on teh extras... does thi make 20 words for the minimum?

Published 8 months ago by C. Anderson

4.0 out of 5 stars I love it but it's not for everyone
2001 is one of those movies that people either love or hate - there's no middle ground here. Watching it so long after its production only adds to the experience - most science... Read more

Published 16 months ago by David S

3.0 out of 5 stars Lacklustre Blu-ray edition... (edit)
Okay, I've seen some other discussion of this disc, and while I'm not convinced, I'll withhold some of my nastier views (posted in my original review). Read more

Published on Nov 8 2009 by fung0

5.0 out of 5 stars Visually Brilliant on Blu-ray
My original theater viewing decades ago did nothing to engage me the way this blu-ray has. It's simply stunning, and given the technical limitations of the day, I don't think... Read more

Published on Feb 1 2009 by Cheryl

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