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NEW 2001: A Space Odyssey - 2001: A Space Odyssey (Blu-ray)

5 star:		(180)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

How many scenes were cut out for this version? I haven't seen anyone else complain about it, so I'll assume this is the full cut (it was the first time I've seen it). It was entertaining at time, I particularly like watching the monkeys evolve at the beggining, and think that should have been drug out to it's full extent from the book, rather than shortened so much (I've only read part of the book, but I thought it was pretty good), and I thought the showdown with Hal was exilarating, but I didn't get the ending. I plan to rewatch it soon, and maybe then it'll make more sense.

I didn't see this film when it first opened in 1968. In those years I didn't get to movies much. And VCRs hadn't been invented yet. But the film was groundbreaking, and of course I heard about it. And through the years I've seen excerpts, but never the real thing. Now it's the year 2003, and the year 2001 has already passed. But as I soon discovered while viewing the film is that it's not about future scientific discovery; it's about a state of mind, a philosophical statement about man's place in the universe.

It starts with apes finding a monolith, then picking up some bones and using them as tools to kill. The scene then shifts far into the future and we see a space capsule with some supposed high-tech features. There's a special mission, which is never clear. And a computer named Hal, which starts to act like a human being. Eventually, the lone surviving astronaut reaches Jupiter, goes though an aging process and gets reborn as a baby. All of this takes 139 minutes to tell. There's very little dialogue, just a lot of classical music. The special effects are so good that they won the film's only academy award that year. And the director, Stanley Kubrick, will be remembered as a genius. The film is his personal view of the world...

Personally, I found the film just plain boring. There's a limit on how long I can sit and watch special effects. Most of the time I spent wondering exactly what it all meant. And when I discovered early on that it didn't mean anything, I just didn't care. I really wanted to like this film. After all it is classic. And I definitely hoped the DVD would have some special features explaining its making. Sadly, though, there is not one bit of commentary. The film has to be judged completely on its own.

I'm a film buff and so I'm glad I saw it just for the experience. But I didn't like it at all. And can't recommend it.

Kubrick's 2001 is not for everyone. But anyone with a little bit of insight and imagination will not be able to help being captivated by this wonderful and powerful film. 2001 is not only a realistic space epic, it is a commentary on the past, present, and future of mankind. It shows how small humanity is in the grand scheme of the universe and how we hold our destiny in our own hands. This film prompted a lifelong interest in science, space exploration, and technology. It's effect was similar to that of another great sci-fi epic, Star Wars, but it is by far a much deeper and overall, really, a technically better film. It remains the only movie to accurately depict human spaceflight, though Arthur C. Clarke got the timeframe for space colonization off the mark by a few years. But keep in mind that at the time, no one was predicting, as Clarke did, the tremendous potential and impact that computers and artificial intelligence would have on future society. Take a look around today and , though we don't have HAL yet, see how much of he did get right, and how our technology and computers have permeated our entire planet. This represents the hope, and the danger, facing all mankind.

So much of this film has been absorbed by pop culture it is amazing..."What are you doing Dave?"...The Star Child...HAL...The Blue Danube...it truly stands as a monument to cinema and it is a film that I cannot recommend highly enough.

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 DVD 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.

in 68,this movie was the best sci fi film ever.in it there is this force referred to as the monolith.it shows up at different points in time.finaly,a space crew goes to check it out.it is too intellectual for children.stanley kubrik directs so you know-since hes the greatest directer ever and all-that this movie is a classic!it is better than the sequel.thinkers will like it.in 68 there wasnt a computer paranoia like today.in this film,kubrik explores what would happen if the computer decided to just take the hell over.an idea not toyed with for years to come.he was a visionary.the music in it is very good too.for you wrestling fans,ric flairs theme song begins it.an abselute must for sci fi fans.

This was a brilliant movie. It never ceased to make interesting theories concerning life other than ours, whether or not we should be in space, and how exploration of the ether will affect our lives.

The film opens up with pre-historic man. They are shaggy, ape-like creatures who fight in loud blasts of sound, calls, etc. But at one point, they discover an immense slab of rock that is so finely crafted, they conclude it was made by "something." And with that, they discover they can use left-over bones as weapons, furthering their standing on the planet.

That is the not only the opening for the film itself, but also for its mood and thesis. It makes the case that knowledge of greater beings will propel us into greatness ourselves, using advanced artifacts as motivation and example. But the movie will eventually take a darker turn you'll have to explore for yourselves. If I went into any of the symbolism, I would be writing an essay, not a review, and could potentially ruin your experience.

As a film, it is not traditional by any means. I've heard of people walking out at the premier muttering furiously about how there was no story, or that they had no idea what Kubrick was trying to say and that his obsession with imagery and perfection led to the demise of what could have been a masterpiece. But to those who stayed and to those who see it now, it is apparent Kubrick meant to be challenging and intelligent: this is not for the light-hearted or the impatient. For instance, many of the sequences are realistically slow, such as an early docking sequence. But the images are so engrossing, I doubt you'll turn away.

And to top off Kubrick's obvious genius, there is an unforgettable soundtrack of famous classical music that complements the imagery so well, Kubrick left it in over an underscore that was being prepared. It often conveys the mood very well, expressing wonderment, curiosity and fright with incredible power. If you can't take the movie, if you can't take its themes and its slow-moving plot, if you can't take the sparse dialog (this is essentially a silent movie), at least sit back, close your eyes and watch the film through the tones and moods the music evokes: it matches Kubrick's imagination with every moment from the opening shot of an orb to the end shot of a star-child floating among the nebular and the giant.

This 1968 science fiction will always be a classic. It is a story starting 4 million years ago, lasting to infinity. No movie on earth has had that length of time.

But does time matter?

With extraterrestrial help, apes learned how to use tools. Having made his great leap (it was so vividly and beautifully illustrated in the movie ' the leap from the animal bone to spaceship! Visually stunning!), man has relied on technology. We made computers intelligent enough to think for us; and emotional enough to fee for us; so that there isn't much left for us to do but to eat warm-up food while watching TV; get tanned in artificial sun while hearing our parents video message wishing us 'happy birthday'; being bored and boring; lying down in a coffin like container virtually 'dead' in order to get around' It seems at the end of evolution, tools(computers) don't need us anymore to fulfill a mission.

Yet, in space, we still need to breathe ' there was a three minute space walk in the movie when we don't see much going on but hear heavy breathing from David's space suit. This almost upset me as the breathing becomes heavier and heavier (maybe not really. It's just that I became less and less patient without much happening there and being left, as an audience, to feel that in the ultimate space, man is so fragile.)

Stanley Kubrick shows us the master of earth is only a child in the space. We see spaceship attendants walk slowly and mechanically like a child learning how to walk; we eat baby liquid food; we need retraining to use zero gravity toilet'

And we almost lose control of our tool ' Hal 9000 the super computer. In the fight between man and his computer, ironically man used only one small tool, a screwdriver, again an amimal bone shape, to finish Hal 9000.

Some days later after I saw the movie, I was still reflecting on it. To some degree, Hal 9000 is like human ego. In going through earth life, we make up this identity, for the purpose of helping and protecting us navigating through life. However, as it goes, the more power we give to it, the more controlling it becomes, to the point it thinks it can override us ' so 'Jupiter Mission' is not human's mission. It becomes Hal's mission, and humans are in his way. It needs to be always right ' 'I never make mistakes.' Hal 9000 claims. It constantly feels threatened, to the point it kills. It collapses and is ready to re-negotiate when facing its inevatible death'

We have to grow. We can't let ego take over our lives forever. However, without his tool the super computer, in the space, what becomes man? Unknown is what he has to face. And that almost certianly means death.

But that force, that supernatual force which deliberatedly planted a monolith on earth near a tribe of sleeping apes and the moon 4 million years ago draws man to, not just Jupiter, but beyond the infinity. Is it not God?

Man has his last supper. And a glass is broken.

Is this the end?

But the wine is still there ' container; content ' body; spirit.

Man, are we ready for our next evolutionary leap?

In the end of the moving, a starchild is born.

2001: A Space Odyssey Very few films deal with humanity in an abstract
verb very well, often despite trying to give a universal message about
humans they end up giving a message about individuals. This is
perfectly fine, and many of the truly great films deal with people this
way, it is natural because we relate more deeply with individuals.
However, Stanley Kubrick's crowning achievement is one of the
best-regarded films at showing humans not in an individual sense, but
rather as a species.

The film basically comes down to the core philosophy of evolution,
about our need as a species to keep going, despite where we get
ourselves. A short cut scene at the beginning of the film shows us as
apes, wherein a black monolith (possible God allegory) reveals itself
to us as we first begin to comprehend tools as hunting mechanisms. We
proceed to separate ourselves from the apes that don't comprehend tools
through harassing them and ultimately separate ourselves as unique. We
then jump many years later to a theoretical 2001, wherein people have
become lazy; they lack emotion and have mechanical usages for almost
any regular job. What's implied is that we have evolved to a point of
slothfulness due to a lack of this theoretical God. Most of the
conventional story isn't the point; it is put in largely to begin the
plot where the truly insightful message on human beings is revealed. An
alien signal is picked up and a crew with a computer (Hal 9000) is sent
to investigate. What is shown is that Hal 9000 is more human then the
human beings, a creature stuck in a world void of life in a
metaphysical sense. Ultimately he destroys all but one crewmember in an
attempt to keep things safe, through his own poorly figured sense of
the situation. When the last member finally succeeds in unplugging him,
he regains what it means to be human and what follows is one of the
most impressive sequences ever revealed in any film.

What struck me at first with 2001 was its cold lifeless nature; though
this comes off as the films nature it truly is only the coldness of
space that gives it the sense. 2001 is a life affirming film because it
shows that humans will keep going, we are still evolving and we will
never really die. I don't connect with it like some individuals,
because as a believer my theology is different, but the film is a
moving sense of life and color, and it is affirming in many ways to
know that were not done. We as a species have a long way to go, but we
will ultimately make it.

2001 often lacks the philosophical qualities that make people connect
with the cinema. It isn't easy relating to an abstract verb as oppose
to an individual, but this quality alone separates 2001 as a truly
significant piece of the cinema. Regardless as to how deeply anybody
relates to the plot, the use of sound and color is unrivalled in any
film, and lovers of the cinema will inherently appreciate this aspect
alone. Truly nothing has ever surpassed it in terms of raw energy and
beauty and any admirer of film will be impressed with this aspect
regardless of philosophical merit to one's personal life.

Kubrick has left us with a masterpiece I think we will all grow to
further appreciate in time, just as we will further evolve, our tastes
will as well, and I see further recognition ahead of 2001. A true
masterpiece and the film that defined a genius, I give 2001: A Space
Odyssey a deserving 10/10.

Look at the far future with optimism.

This review contains possibly a spoiler. I explain what happens at the end of the film. I do this because the end is confusing if you don't know something about the ideas of Arthur C.Clarke, an English scientist and SF writer who wrote the script for this movie along with Stanley Kubrick.

The basic idea of the film is that the 'Homo Sapiens' evolved from the apes (Darwin) and the 'Homo Cosmos' will in time evolve from the 'Homo Sapiens'(A.C.Clarke). The 'Homo Cosmos' will be a human creature that is able to live in outer space like we are able to live on Earth. Space will be his natural environment.

Arthur C.Clarke writes about this idea ( and many other scientific speculations ) in his book 'Profiles of the Future', first published in 1962 - he calls it 'An inquiry into the limits of the possible' - and revised in 1999 for millennial edition published by Indigo.

Before I carry on I have to say that the characters in this film are very cold and distant (all of them with perhaps the exception of the six year old daughter of one of the scientists.)They are polite but they could be mindless robots. I don't know if this was on purpose or that the scriptwriters didn't care about human psychology.

The movie has four parts.

First is the long winded part where you can witness the daily life of large apes. I presume that stunt men crawled almost literally in the skin of those apes. The special make-up must have cost a fortune. I give the film 4 stars because this first part is extremely slow-paced and is of very little importance for the rest of the film.

You start wondering if you are watching the wrong movie but at the end of that first part, you understand that the basic idea was that the apes are climbing up the ladder of evolution by using large bones as a tool or a weapon.

In the second part some scientists travel to the moon (there are already several colonies on the moon), to visit a mysterious artifact dug up in the vicinity of one of the colonies. We are told that the artifact points toward Jupiter where possibly another artifact can be found, floating like a satellite around the giant planet.

The third part is the mission to Jupiter. Something happens and the only survivor of the mission takes one of the space-capsules. He uses the gravity of Jupiter to gain speed and he makes a discovery voyage beyond Jupiter. The enormous speed he has is one of the most impressive scenes of the film.

In the fourth and last part of the movie, we witness the decay of the Homo Sapiens and we look at the foetus of the Homo Cosmos, floating in outer space.

A professional reviewer called The Space Odyssey a movie with a pessimistic vision. He apparently didn't read 'Profiles of the Future' because if there is one SF movie that is optimistic and welcomes the future with open arms (so to speak) it's The Space Odyssey.

After all, a whole new kind of humans with different and powerful possibilities is about to be born.

I didn't really enjoy most of this movie very much, excluding the part with HAL which was all that really made the movie worthwhile for me. I couldn't really understand anything that happened after that though, and this seems like a small thing to complain about but some of the sound effects in this movie are just damn annoying. It also moves very slow.

All in all, 2001: A Space Oddysey is a movie that will bewilder and confuse the average movie-watcher. But then, I don't really think it's intended for the average movie-watcher. I think that if you can understand it, this movie must really be a good one, but I can't give it more than 3 stars if I didn't.