2001: A Space Odyssey: 1968

Release date: April 6, 1968 (USA)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sequel: 2010: The Year We Make Contact
Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke
Cinematography: Geoffrey Unsworth, John Alcott

        Hello, I’m Tristan. The guy who has written practically every other review on this website is Albert. I’m going to be trying to churn out at least a review a month. Of course, keep in mind that every one of my reviews is basically a more refined way of expressing and organizing my sloppy opinions on films. If you were wondering, yes there will be spoilers, as I will be reviewing the movie as a whole. Being a large Stanley Kubrick fan, I thought for my first review, I’d do one of his films. Most of this review will be @#!*% -kissing, because I personally love Kubrick. Oh, and yes, there will be profanity.

SO, according to IMDB, 2001: A Space Odyssey is, “an adventure sci-fi where humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, object buried beneath the lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.” While I applaud someone for trying to write a prompt explanation of this movie, no one could describe this movie and do it justice. Visually, it’s an amazing piece of cinematography, and its pacing is plotted out immaculately. It moves so slowly, but it manages to keep my interest. That’s a miracle for me because I have an intensely low attention-span, and I use my laptop during the 20 seconds it takes for my computer to start. Personally I love this movie because it’s very beautifully structured aesthetically, it’s pacing is great, the sound engineering is fantastic, and the plot is just awesome.

Visually, it’s amazing. A lot of the story is told visually with very light dialogue. As with all of Kubrick’s films there are a lot of shots that use the one-point perspective which has everything draw your eyes directly to the centre. The composition of each shot is done beautifully. What I really love is how long a camera holds a shot. It’s smooth and streamlined and helps the movie keep its flow. Most modern movies tend to do several jump-cuts between every line spoken by every character, which can be slightly disorienting. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with jump-cuts, but the way this movie is shot feels much more natural.

One of the most powerful things in this movie is the ability to tell a story almost purely though its visuals. What stitches it together, of course, is the dialogue. This movie utilizes dialogue as a very powerful tool. Without the fluff of unnecessary dialogue, this movie presents a very large contrast between its talking scenes and its silent scenes, allowing the dialogue to have a heavier impact on the viewer. 

In the sets, you can see the influences from its time, yet somehow it still works. It has its charm in its own right. A futuristic looking set from the late 60’s that DOESN’T look cheesy. IT’S REALLY COOL WHEN PEOPLE WALK AROUND THE SETS AND THE GRAVITY SHIFTS. INCEPTION DID THAT, AND I KNOW YOU ALL LOVE IT.

Its pacing is beautiful. It takes its time with telling its story, allowing you to immerse yourself and to let everything around you sink in. Its execution isn’t gratuitous or pretentious, and it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be super artistic, avant-garde @#!*% . 

Now I’m going to talk about the sound engineering. Like many of the things in this movie, it is STUNNING. When people speak, it is silent, giving an added feeling of reality and also giving more importance to what the person is saying. The soundtrack’s really frikkin’ delicious too. Classical music and ominous choirs. It’s just so great. You’d be lying if you said that the choir wasn’t at least, slightly unnerving. Eugh. I get all tense listening to that. When the music is playing, it’s practically nothing but music, and when the people are talking, it’s practically nothing but talking. The combination of the well-thought-out visuals and carefully pieced sound engineering makes this movie a perfectionist’s perfect concoction of PERFECTNESS. Don’t think I’m saying this movie is perfect; nothing’s perfect. What I’m saying is that everything in this movie is just so planned-out and perfected, it’s really something to admire, and it shows. All of that work adds to the allure of the film. 

Now the plot. All of these beautiful elements that comprise this move  I actually don’t wanna get into this on account of my laziness, but I’ll do what I can without getting sick of writing it. A lot of the story is left to interpretation too, which is cool. I like that the plot is not only about the black monolith, but also the people sent out on the Jupiter mission, where both of those plots tie in at the end. In the beginning HAL actually starts out kinda adorable, but in the end it’s like OH @#!*% . His calmness turns and becomes sinister, and the DEATH SCENE. THAT @#!*% ’S SCARY. Watching HAL be killed by taking out the modules piece by piece is just so unsettling to a point where it kind of feels uncomfortable to watch. They’ve put so much humanity into him, to the point where I’m actually calling it him. I didn’t hesitate to think that it’s just a computer, and I didn’t actually realize that until I started writing, “they’ve put so much humanity into him.” Then he starts singing. HE STARTS SINGING. It’s sad and scary and AGHHH. HAL JUST WANTED TO COMPLETE HIS MISSION, AND YOU TOOK THAT AWAY FROM HIIIIMMMMMMM. Alien reminisces these ideas through its androids. The plot is also split up into three acts which is reinforced by the fact that the movie has an intermission. I don’t actually feel like explaining these acts. So I’ll have Albert explain it to you:

-  Okay, so “2001: A Space Odyssey” is comprised into four acts, each symbolizing the evolutionary chain of man. The first act is the dawn of man, where we see how our earliest forms of mankind have learned to make tools, and by extension, weapons (an archetypal creation of man that will continue to define us). And we enter a passage through time and space with Kubrick’s choice of transitioning mankind’s weapon into a space vessel. In act two we have our second encounter with the monolith re-discovered by man millions of years later. The crew hears of rumors about the monolith on the planet causing epidemics. We fast forward 18 months later into act 3 where “Discovery One” sets off for Jupiter. Our spacecraft is being piloted and protected by the H.A.L 9000 computer. When word breaks loose of H.A.L’s crew jeopardizing the mission due to certain dangers, it attempts to dispose of each crew member. In the final act our main character, Bowman, has an existential journey through space and time triggered by the monolith orbiting around Jupiter at the time that Discovery One had landed. He speeds past his life looking at himself decades at a time. Finally at his death bed he transforms finally into The Star Child, which holds its place in the next evolutionary chain of mankind. 

                    

~Albert

-THAT’S IT. THAT’S ALL YA GET-

Thus concludes my review. Overall, it's one of my favorite movies, and while nothing can be perfect, it's almost as close to perfect as you can get. For it's time and genre, it's stunning, and it's a master piece. Though it's not my favorite, for an overall rating, I give it:

8.6/10

Next Review: Donnie Darko