2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Arthur C. Clarke (story, screenplay), Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

This film was a rarity from my collection: I hadn't seen it when I purchased it. However, the blu-ray was sitting in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for $5, I simply couldn't pass up that deal on a movie with such a reputation. That was a couple of years ago.

I finally picked it out of my collection to watch because Hurricane Sandy was descending on New York and my cable went out. My power and blu-ray player still working, I decided this would be the best time to settle in for the three hour film; it's not like I could go outside.

The movie is certainly an enigma, but watching it I understood everything that could be attributed to it. It was truly a a giant step for film innovation. The pristine shots of the spacecrafts from space are beautiful (like much of the film's visuals) and there would be no Star Wars or Alien space shots without Kubrick's 2001. In fact, I was amazed this film was made in 1968. The technology seemed so far advanced, and that's when I realized this was the first.

The film itself has an abstract story, but it's momentous to take in from the visuals to the music to the nearly philosophical aspect of questioning humanity. The dialogue is barely audible at times, but that's because it's not the point. While it may be hard to keep your attention because there's not much story happening, the images, production design, cinematography and directing kept mine.

I loved the iconic music over the man-ape throwing his tool into the air in the beginning and I also loved the shot-to-shot cuts in the room in Jupiter near the end.

The Best: Obviously HAL's meltdown is the most plot this movie has; my favorite moment in the film is a mechanic that Kubrick repeated and many others copied. When the astronaut is trying to get back onto the spacecraft with his friend and HAL won't let him in, he has to let the other man go and blast back into the spacecraft without his helmet. Such an intense scene would usually be paired with loud and bombastic music -- but it's all played in silence though the image vibrates with flashing lights and the actor flying across the screen. The silence made me hold my breath. It was beautiful.

 



Fact: HAL 9000 never once says, "Good morning, Dave," despite this line being one of his most recognized quotations. It is hard not to think about 2001 when watching many sci-fi movies, even this year, Prometheus' character David opens a computer and it greets him with "Hello, Dave."

Rating: ********* (9 out of 10)