#2
2001: A Space Odyssey
19682001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Written by: Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke (Based on his Novel)
Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, and William Sylvester
There is so much to discuss with 2001: A Space Odyssey that I have been overwhelmed for the past month and unable to post anything. Due to the difficulty I have decided to admit from the start that I won't be able to provide a decent whole exploration of the movie's themes but just a simple gloss over of why it is so great. That's what this list is meant to do after all, discuss why some films are so great. This gem by Stanley Kubrick is consistently praised as the greatest science fiction film of all time if not the greatest film of all time. It's groundbreaking in not only its special effects but its storytelling.
At its core, 2001: A Space Odyssey is about the 'progress' of mankind. The first scene titled 'Dawn of Man' shows a tribe of apes in a desert who are victimized by other tribes, animals as well as nature itself. However, things change when one ape of the victimized tribe makes a giant leap when he learns how to manipulate his hands to hold a bone and use it as a weapon. With this power, he is able to tame nature and defeat the other tribes paving the way for man's evolutionary project. These apes are shown as our ancient ancestors. A point shown brilliantly in a gigantic jump cut which spans hundreds of thousands of years. As he throws the bone up in the air and it spins the scene changes to a space ship floating in space showing how far humankind has progressed.
But are we really that special? The giant black monolith seen at the beginning of the last scene appears several times in the movie and it is suggested that it was planted on Earth and another one was planted on the moon by other intelligent life in the universe. Kubrick has said that at the time he was making this movie he wa obssessed with his belief that there was other intelligent life in the universe thus this idea is addressed here. Humans may have advanced far enough to explore the immediate space around our planet but as the monolith on the Moon and the mission to Jupiter show, we are still at the mercy of more intelligent beings. With all the stars in the universe and the chances of other life supporting solar systems Kubrick crushes the idea that humankind is something special in the universe. The 'dawn of man' sequence may give some people the feeling that we are special beings chosen by God or nature to explore and conquer but the movie explains that we are just victims of circumstance. Great achievements made sure, but there is nothing innately special about our progress.
Is all of our progress positive? This is another important question posed by the movie. The idea that our progress emanated from the discovery of weaponery immediately suggests that not all of our progress may have been sound. This question is answered by the character of the supercomputer HAL 9000 though. The latest advancement in supercomputers runs all aspects of the Jupiter mission ship. It was created to mimic the human personality as closely as possible and this is why it became such a threat. After its first malfunction in a long series of HAL 9000 computers it exercises human like vanity and greed. Rather than being responsible for tainting the computer system's perfect record it sabtages the whole mission. The scene where Dave (Keir Dullea) disconnects HAL is amazingly tense:
So it's brilliant storytelling and philosophical musings are just one aspect of this movie. The reason that it is a classic is found in its amazing special effects and style. 2001: A Space Odyssey is proof that you can make something look more realistic with models than you can when an inflated CGI special effects budget. The movie came out in 1968 and in my opinion has yet to be outdone in its ability to show was future space exploration might look like. Its so realistic, but also beautiful. The soundtrack was also extremely innovative for its time. There are large memorable scenes of the movie which consist only of the beauty of Kubrick's direction as well as the beauty of the classical music score. The panoramic widecreen allows an even large canvas for Kubrick to paint his masterpiece. Enjoy the master at work, this scene here is one of my personal favourites:
At its core, 2001: A Space Odyssey is about the 'progress' of mankind. The first scene titled 'Dawn of Man' shows a tribe of apes in a desert who are victimized by other tribes, animals as well as nature itself. However, things change when one ape of the victimized tribe makes a giant leap when he learns how to manipulate his hands to hold a bone and use it as a weapon. With this power, he is able to tame nature and defeat the other tribes paving the way for man's evolutionary project. These apes are shown as our ancient ancestors. A point shown brilliantly in a gigantic jump cut which spans hundreds of thousands of years. As he throws the bone up in the air and it spins the scene changes to a space ship floating in space showing how far humankind has progressed.
But are we really that special? The giant black monolith seen at the beginning of the last scene appears several times in the movie and it is suggested that it was planted on Earth and another one was planted on the moon by other intelligent life in the universe. Kubrick has said that at the time he was making this movie he wa obssessed with his belief that there was other intelligent life in the universe thus this idea is addressed here. Humans may have advanced far enough to explore the immediate space around our planet but as the monolith on the Moon and the mission to Jupiter show, we are still at the mercy of more intelligent beings. With all the stars in the universe and the chances of other life supporting solar systems Kubrick crushes the idea that humankind is something special in the universe. The 'dawn of man' sequence may give some people the feeling that we are special beings chosen by God or nature to explore and conquer but the movie explains that we are just victims of circumstance. Great achievements made sure, but there is nothing innately special about our progress.
Is all of our progress positive? This is another important question posed by the movie. The idea that our progress emanated from the discovery of weaponery immediately suggests that not all of our progress may have been sound. This question is answered by the character of the supercomputer HAL 9000 though. The latest advancement in supercomputers runs all aspects of the Jupiter mission ship. It was created to mimic the human personality as closely as possible and this is why it became such a threat. After its first malfunction in a long series of HAL 9000 computers it exercises human like vanity and greed. Rather than being responsible for tainting the computer system's perfect record it sabtages the whole mission. The scene where Dave (Keir Dullea) disconnects HAL is amazingly tense:
So it's brilliant storytelling and philosophical musings are just one aspect of this movie. The reason that it is a classic is found in its amazing special effects and style. 2001: A Space Odyssey is proof that you can make something look more realistic with models than you can when an inflated CGI special effects budget. The movie came out in 1968 and in my opinion has yet to be outdone in its ability to show was future space exploration might look like. Its so realistic, but also beautiful. The soundtrack was also extremely innovative for its time. There are large memorable scenes of the movie which consist only of the beauty of Kubrick's direction as well as the beauty of the classical music score. The panoramic widecreen allows an even large canvas for Kubrick to paint his masterpiece. Enjoy the master at work, this scene here is one of my personal favourites:
For being the best science fiction movie of all time and influencing all others to come, 2001: A Space Odyssey is in my opinion the 2nd greatest movie of the 1960s.
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