2001: A Space Odyssey

[Amuseddaysleeper]

Just revisited this film recently and all I can say is wow.


They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

[clambake]

hal: "i can feel it"

[thispego]

someone want to explain it to me? as I saw it, every time an obelisk was found the human species makes it's next big evolutionary jump?

[CubanMustGo]

2001 (the movie) goes down much easier if you read 2001 (the book) first. Both are classics.

[leemajors]

someone want to explain it to me? as I saw it, every time an obelisk was found the human species makes it's next big evolutionary jump?

Ape with bone.

[thispego]

continue...

[peewee's lovechild]

I've never read the book.

The obelisk thing is a bit of an enigma.

[thispego]

do you even know how to read?

[AlamoSpursFan]

You should revisit Smokey And The Bandit. They don't make 'em like that anymore either.

[CubanMustGo]

OK. Here is the Cliff's note version. Spoilers abound so don't go any further if you still want to discover this for yourself.


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An alien civilization goes from star to star looking for systems that have the potential to develop intelligent life. It is very early in the history of the universe and they basically developed before anyone else. So, when they encounter a species with potential, they leave behind monoliths that help the species progress much faster than would otherwise occur. In the case of 2001 they find a family of protohumans that is on its way out. The monolith teaches them the use of tools; armed with that knowledge they are able to beat back the heretofore stronger competing tribes / other animals and take their place at the head of the food chain. The bone being thrown up into the air is symbolic of that learning. The monolith disappears once its lessons have been learned.

2001 arrives, and NASA has discovered an 'anomaly' on the moon, TMA-1. It turns out to be a version of the monolith which brought man's distant ancestors up out of near certain extinction, though of course they don't know that. The purpose of this one, however, is different; once the Sun's rays touch it, the monolith emits a strong electromagnetic signal which registers as a piercing sound to the astronauts situated in the vicinity. The aliens purposefully buried the monolith in such a way that only an intelligent, spacefaring civilization could unearth (un-moon?) it. The signal is meant to tell the aliens - somewhere out there, at least in theory - 'hey, another intelligent race has finally joined you.' The signal is aimed at one of Jupiter's moons, I think Europa (in the book, it was a moon of Saturn, Iapetus). 18 months later, a mission is dispatched to Jupiter.

For some reason, none of the crew onboard Discovery is told why they are going to Jupiter - they think it's a standard exploratory mission. Only the ship's intelligent computer, HAL, knows the real reason they are going there - to find out what the heck is going on with this monolith. This disparity - knowing more than the human crew and not being able to discuss it - causes HAL to go bonkers and he eventually ends up killing Frank Poole after another supposed dead comm unit turns out to be perfectly good. HAL overhears Poole and David Bowman talking about disconnecting HAL's higher functions which leads to HAL killing Poole and the crew in hibernation and trying to do the same to Bowman. Bowman manages to get back into Discovery, disconnects HAL's higher functions, and singlehandedly proceeds to Jupiter.

And then the most controversial part of the whole movie comes into play. Dave discovers yet another monolith, this one much larger than the others, which his pod 'falls' into. Bowman undergoes a startling journey, apparently through the universe, but oddly enough ends up in what appears to be a New York hotel room. He rapidly ages, dies, but is 'reborn' as a godlike figure whose first action is to return to Earth. In the book Bowman detonates a series of launched nuclear missiles, avoiding a worldwide catastrophy. He is now master of his domain - Earth and the surrounding environs - but what to do next? And at that point the end title soars and you wonder WTF just happened. Why did the aliens leave this god-creating mechanism behind? Is it because spacefaring species are inherently stable and need a guardian angel? We don't know - and there's been a lot of speculation.

Arthur C. Clarke, the author of "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the screenwriter of the movie, wrote three additional sequels later in life which attempted to answer some of the questions raised by 2001. I find them to be pretty unsatisfying as each one gets weaker and weaker. By the time of "3001: A Final Odyssey" - which is more of a novella than a novel - Clarke resorts to the ultimate deus-ex-machina of bringing Frank Poole back from the dead, and about a third of the book consists of Clarke quoting himself from the other three novels in the series.

[thispego]

lol

thanks cubanmustgo. that smooths out the edges for me a bit

[peewee's lovechild]

God damn, Cuban.

That was pretty good.

It explains quite a bit.

[nkdlunch]

just saw this too on blueray!

the story is kinda cheesy but Kubric's movie is a masterpiece

[nkdlunch]

btw I just heard about 2 future sci fi films:

Dicaprio supposed to make a "cat's craddle"

and Pitt a film based on "the sparrow"

those are some of the best sci fi books ever. movies on them would be amazing

[peewee's lovechild]

btw I just heard about 2 future sci fi films:

Dicaprio supposed to make a "cat's craddle"

and Pitt a film based on "the sparrow"

those are some of the best sci fi books ever. movies on them would be amazing

Cat's Cradle?????

No fucking way!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been waiting forever for that to be made into a movie.

I hope this is true.

[nkdlunch]

Cat's Cradle?????

No fucking way!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've been waiting forever for that to be made into a movie.

I hope this is true.

to be honest. I just searched around and it seems dicaprio wants to make it but seems it's not happenign yet.

But "the sparrow" seems to be for real. if you have not checked it out, do. It is a crazy ass story

[Amuseddaysleeper]

I am DYING to see this on blu-ray. Considering that this film has the greatest cinematography of any American film ever made, I'm sure watching it in hi-def must be amazing.

I read the book but I thought it overexplained the story. I kinda liked filling the holes to the film myself.

Nice to see this film getting some love on this board!

[slayermin]

Great film. When I first saw it, I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks. It's one of those type of films that makes you ponder life and our existence within the universe more than any bible passage or sermon you hear at church.

The film that made me think in the opposite direction of 2001 was "Event Horizon." We all know pure evil exists out there. I loved this film because it leaves the interpretation of hell up to you. Sort of like the "Blair Witch Project," your imagination can create haunting imagery beyond anything guys like Eli Roth or Clive Barker can portray on film.

[Chris Duel]

Just revisited this film recently and all I can say is wow.


They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

It's a cinematic masterpiece.

Unlike films of today, it allows you to THINK and add your own interpretation to the narrative.

In the early-90's, when I was living in L.A., they showed it for a week at the Cinemarama Dome on Sunset Boulevard in 70mm. When you see it on the big screen, it blows you away even more.

Stanley Kubrick was a Golden God.

"It's full of stars."

[AussieFanKurt]

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Still hard to believe this was made in 1968... looks new