2001 - A Space Odyssey (1968)

Fantastic

Always been a fan of the 2001 series and finally having the capability to watch 2001 on blu ray has made all the better. After I picking up the movie I popped it in to check to make sure it worked and everything was perfect, not only did it look crisp and clean but I couldn't even turn it off until I forced myself to say ok you have class get to it. A good buy and worth the time. November 16, 2008

A Visual Delight!!!

The sets, lights and almost everything about the movie seemed to have been meticulously (and intelligently) planned and executed to create a modern-day masterpiece! Akin to watching a series of paintings by Dutch and Italian masters. November 16, 2008

A Great Film

After years of watching and admiring this film, it dawned upon me that this is a tale of romance between man and the universe.

We're conceived as "early man" in the beginning, are touched with a revelation that puts us on the path towards (some kind) of maturity.

The pivotal event defining that maturity is when humans discover a beacon, the monolith, on the moon. Now begins the final step towards man's evolutionary destiny.

The process of Bowman changing from man to star child is depicted as a metaphorical act of sexual intercourse. (Ever wonder why the Discover 1 is shaped so long with a round head?) Once Discovery 1 has ejected its pod and penetrated the slit-shaped monolith, conception and procreation begins, and finally ends with a planet-sized fetus, the star child.

I wonder if Kubrick (not Clarke, because his script was absent of the visual metaphors that Kubrick used) had knowledge of the medieval quest for the creation of the Philosopher's Stone. November 12, 2008

Kubrick's masterpiece

For many years 2001 was the standard by which all science fiction films were compared. Much of that changed after the release of George Lucas' STARS WARS & Steven Spielberg's CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND in 1977. Over two hours and twenty minutes, the film has less than 30 minutes of actual dialogue. Beginng with the an alignment of the Sun, Moon and the Earth you are thrust into the Dawn of Man sequence. Life for our distant ancestors is slowly presented and their salvation from extinction by a never seen alien species whose only visible sign is the black monolith. When the bone is thrown into the air and the satellites appear orbiting the earth, it isn't said but those are actually supposed orbiting nuclear platforms. Originally to have an Alex North score, Kubrick opted instead for classical music. Best remembered for Douglas Rain as the voice of "HAL", it also stars Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester. The year 2001 may have come and gone but much of Kubrick's vision is still potent. October 29, 2008

This is the best science fiction movie ever made, moreover it is close to science fact.

The movie 2001 a Space Odyssey which came out in 1968 by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel by the same name by Arthur C. Clarke is in my opinion still the best science fiction movie ever made even today in 2008 after 40 years of its production. Because unlike many other science fiction movies it is realistic; it does not make the scientific mistakes made by many other science fictions such as sound of explosions being heard in space. Obviously sound needs a medium to travel so in space explosions can not generate sound. This movie has taken this scientific fact into account.

The story stretches human imagination and begins from the dawn of humans on Earth in the African Savanna 4 million years ago and jumps to the year 1999 and continues to 2001.It raises many philosophical questions about human life's meaning in the universe, the dawn of humans, artificial intelligence, human vs. artificial intelligence, extraterrestrial intelligence, zero gravity, time, space, acceleration, dimensions etc. In fact, the viewer who is familiar with theories of physics such as Newtonian physics, Einstein's theory of General Relativity, Quantum Physics, String Theory etc. gets into even deeper thinking and pleasure while viewing the entrance into and journey in the monolith orbiting Io ( which is a satellite of Jupiter ) of the astronaut David Bowman who said with awe : " My god, it's full of stars ! " and was transported to some other strange world where the physics laws as we know them did not apply. If you read " The Fabric of the Cosmos " by the physicist Brian Green and " A Brief History of Time " by the famous contemporary physicist Stephen Hawking you will see them mention that there is no discovery in physics so far that necessitates the flow of time in only one direction i.e. from the present towards the future as we take for granted.There is nothing in the laws of physics discovered so far to prove that time can not also flow backwards i.e.from the future towards the past. We can see this reversal in the direction of flow of time back and forth being demonstrated in the last scenes of the movie 2001 A Space Odyssey; in a strange room in a mysterious world that he has been transported to when he entered with his space pod the monolith orbiting Io, David Bowman jumped from being a young man to become an older man then an older man still. He briefly existed simultaneously at both ages and saw the older David Bowman. At the very end he went back to being a baby inside a womb. These are examples of the break in the direction of flow of time towards the future. This alternation in the direction of the flow of time is not just science fiction. As I mentioned above its possibility of occuring is discussed in some books written by some physicists. Unsophisticated viewers with little or no knowledge of physics and astronomy will also enjoy the movie provided that they are interested in space and / or the meaning of existence of humankind.

Although today in 2008 we have already passed the year 2001 i.e. the year when the story of the movie is occurring, the issues put forward in the movie are still very relevant. Obviously, humankind has not yet reached the level of space technology predicted for the year 2001 in the novel and in the movie. But unless humankind is terminated in the near future by a nuclear war, severe climate changes due to global warming and pollution, impact to Earth by an asteroid or a comet, polar shift in the Earth's magnetic field, avian ( bird ) flu or another lethal virus epidemic, the arrival to Earth of the Anti Christ 666 or by some other natural disaster, humankind will eventually reach the level of technology shown in the movie, perhaps within the next 100 years.

The computers and electronic gadgets, the visual and mobile phones, wireless internet communication technology and other equipment that we see in the movie on board the space station orbiting Earth and aboard spaceship Discovery en route to Jupiter already exist in the real world today to the extent of technological level of development and sophistication seen in the movie except for HAL - 9000 computer which can think and experience emotions. But the movie demonstrates that things can go wrong with even the most advanced computers that are able to think, feel, talk to humans and understand their speec, despite a past record of no errors: in spite of its technological sophistication level the HAL - 9000 computer malfunctioned and killed several astronauts on board U.S.S. Discovery and was therefore disconnected by the surviving astronaut David Bowman.

Human hybernation seen in the movie has not yet become a reality either but in general developments in electronics, computers and communication technology of today have been predicted with remarkable accuracy when the film came out 40 years ago in 1968. Of course we have not yet colonised the moon, and the real space stations orbiting Earth, and manned spacecraft today are yet nowhere near as technologically developed and awesome as the ones seen in the movie, but I think it is only a matter of 50 to 100 more years before we get there.

The sight and sound effects all throughout the movie are very good and enjoyable to watch. The end of the movie leaves a lot of room for the creative imagination of the viewing audience to interpret what is happening. The music including the valses by Johan Strauss is very appropriate for this kind of movie. This film not only entertains but leaves the interested viewer thinking about the fundamental questions regarding mankind `s place and meaning in the universe. It is also a spectacular sound and light show. I think 2001 a Space Odyssey has become a classic science fiction movie which is very close to science fact, therefore for many more years it is unlikely to be surpassed in excellence by any other science fiction movie.

I also recommend that the viewer watch the continuation of this Odyssey named : " 2010 : The year we make contact " also based on the novel by Atrhur C. Clarke by the same name and also a very good science fiction movie. 2010 continues the Odyssey where 2001 left off. In fact the two movies can be seen as a single movie if watched in the proper sequence i.e. watch 2001 first and then watch 2010 a few days later. 2010 came out about 15 years after the movie 2001 was made.
October 17, 2008

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