2001: A Space Odyssey

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2001: A Space Odyssey - 29/11/2005 12:00:57 PM

Empire Admin

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Post #: 1

- 9/4/2006 10:12:11 PM

i007_Bond_007i

Posts: 8026
Joined: 5/10/2005

Confusing yet enthralling. It loses 1 star however, for the over-long shots and inclusion of some terrible discordant music (although most of the music is brilliant). I've still no idea why after the lip-reading scene it says "Intermission". Intermission from what? Overall, a good film with an interesting storyline. The portrayal of human existence is quite cleverly done, although the artistic element is taken a little too far sometimes. This film could have been so much shorter. A dull film, but not boring.

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Post #: 2

Greatest sci-fi movie ever made - 6/7/2006 11:57:28 PM

CitizenKane

Posts: 3
Joined: 5/7/2006

I truly believe that 2001 is the Greatest sci-fi movie ever made! The excellent soundtrack, the futuristic vision of Kubrick and the brilliant, aldo confusing storyline. Some people say that this movie is dul, but I reply by saying that they should pay more attention to the movie. It would take hours to know its true meaning, but that´s is what movies are all about. I particulary enjoide the soundtrack, with the Blue Danube walse and the Requiem envolvin the monolyth. HAL is also astonashing, and the scene of it´s "death" is one of the most famous of all time. Butt to love this movie, you have to understand it our else it will be dul.

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Post #: 3

- 31/7/2006 1:13:48 PM

huny_monster

Posts: 75
Joined: 14/5/2006
From: Falkirk, Scotland

The only reason I'm giving this 3 stars is because of the Jupiter mission section. Any other part of this film is just a bloody waste of time.

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Post #: 4

- 12/8/2006 11:07:33 PM

retrochoir

Posts: 1
Joined: 12/8/2006

If you lose track of time watching a movie then It can be described only as perfect. I can watch 2001 again and again and I'm still mesmerized from start to finish.

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Post #: 5

- 25/10/2007 12:38:43 PM

bobbyperu

Posts: 497
Joined: 21/10/2007

i used to think this was the best sci fi ever but its not Blade Runner is. Like so many Kubrick films they go on 4 far to long and in the end achieve far to little.

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Post #: 6

- 25/10/2007 12:38:43 PM

bobbyperu

Posts: 497
Joined: 21/10/2007

i used to think this was the best sci fi ever but its not Blade Runner is. Like so many Kubrick films they go on 4 far to long and in the end achieve far to little.

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Post #: 7

- 6/4/2008 8:26:10 PM

nc_jj

Posts: 662
Joined: 20/2/2008
From: Manchester.

BRILLIANT, BUT NO BLADE RUNNER

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Post #: 8

- 6/4/2008 8:26:12 PM

nc_jj

Posts: 662
Joined: 20/2/2008
From: Manchester.

BRILLIANT, BUT NO BLADE RUNNER

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Post #: 9

Vision and Optimism about the Future. - 26/9/2008 7:25:46 AM

Amol

Posts: 22
Joined: 25/9/2008

As a post-graduate in the subject of Artificial Intelligence and software engineer by profession, I love to dissect Sci-fi movies and

can vouch that The Most Practical, Non-Exaggerated, Realistic Visionary Sci-Fi Movie Ever Made is Spielberg's 'Artificial Intelligence(2001)' because it is based on REAL study material with a tinge of fantasy added to it and not some overblown, over-hyped fantasy like 'Star Wars' (the whole series) made for lay people. But I like this movie (made a long back in 1968) for the sheer brilliance, honesty and OPTIMISM of Kubrick' vision. It would be unfair to compare 'Odyssey' to the sofisticated, modern 'Artificial Intelligence'. Hats off to Kubrick, the visionary who had also some share in creation of 'AI'.

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Post #: 10

Vision and Optimism about the Future. - 26/9/2008 7:26:02 AM

Amol

Posts: 22
Joined: 25/9/2008

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Post #: 11

best. film. ever. - 12/1/2009 12:18:41 AM

meltbananastu

Posts: 9
Joined: 4/12/2007

actually, that titles shit. it isnt a film. its a fucking religious experience. i remember seeing first when i was about 14. thought it was shit. nothing happened in the first 2 hours. went to the kitchen to get a cup of tea i believe. came back and Fuck me. all hell had broken loose. didnt get it, thought fuck it, didnt care.

5 years later.

watched it again. my word. cant explain how good it is, so wont try too. here's a rundown.

special effects - amazing
acting - who cares, but amazing
sets - amazing
story - biggest mindfuck going + hal 900 = perfect script
makes you feel - like life is worth living
makes humanity's current situation look - tragic

the film is fucking incredible, give it a chance and you wont be dissapointed. sorry to be so un-filmreviewy-like but i cant really with this one. its just apart from every film ever made. its that good.

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Post #: 12

RE: best. film. ever. - 26/5/2009 12:15:49 AM

scary_ice

Posts: 170
Joined: 11/1/2007
From: Meath, Ireland

I waited for this to be screened in a cinema so I could experience it first-time on a big screen and I have to say I was glad I did. The IFI in Dublin were having a Kubrick season and were screening this in 70mm and I decided this was my opportunity to experience a classic in its true environment.
I knew most of the story obviously as it is one of those films that is always discussed and has pretty much entered the language of cinema and popular culture at large. I knew it was slow-moving, I knew about the Dawn of Man opening and that it had a strange ending involving an alien fetus or something. I knew it split people's opinions and wasn't really sure if I would enjoy it all that much.

I have to say I loved it. I thought the Dawn of Man section was fantastic and that famous matching cut from bone to spaceship made me break out in a grin as it really was that beautiful. I thought the next section was maybe a little overlong but the main section with HAL and the Jupiter mission was gripping. Yes, the ending was a little baffling and a little frightening to me but the film as a whole was an amazing experience. I felt overwhelmed afterwards, like I had experienced something truly special. The music, the visual beauty, the sheer grace of it is just amazing.

The special effects still look fantastic and a lot of the time I found myself thinking "how did they do that?" in particular the anti-gravity scenes. It holds up with the majority of modern CGI easily. I did at times find the music a bit over the top and particularly the 10 minute psychedelic freakout near the end was a bit much (I was checking my watch to see if it was actually going on that long or if I was losing sense of time) and I can see why it would be dismissed by a lot of people as pretentious wank but I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone looking for some proper science-fiction as opposed to the "sci-fi" that most people are familiar with nowadays.

I wasn't even really a fan of Kubrick's as I had only seen A Clockwork Orange and The Shining and to be honest wasn't greatly impressed with either so I wasn't sure if I would enjoy this very much at all. It has now convinced me to go back and check out more Kubrick.

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Post #: 13

RE: best. film. ever. - 26/5/2009 7:08:13 AM

harryfielder

Posts: 13
Joined: 23/10/2005
From: Herts UK

2001 A Space Odyssey�Director Stanley Kubrik�MGM Elstree�
I�m on the film for one day doubling for one of the main actors.
All I had to do was walk across the Moon surface in a spacesuit.
It took me twelve hours (multi takes) but It was still a year away before the
American�s did it for real in 69�

Aitch...UK..

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Post #: 14

RE: best. film. ever. - 26/5/2009 8:28:47 AM

homersimpson_esq

Posts: 19969
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: Springfield

quote:

ORIGINAL: meltbananastu

actually, that titles shit. it isnt a film. its a fucking religious experience. i remember seeing first when i was about 14. thought it was shit. nothing happened in the first 2 hours. went to the kitchen to get a cup of tea i believe. came back and Fuck me. all hell had broken loose. didnt get it, thought fuck it, didnt care.

5 years later.

watched it again. my word. cant explain how good it is, so wont try too. here's a rundown.

special effects - amazing
acting - who cares, but amazing
sets - amazing
story - biggest mindfuck going + hal 900 = perfect script
makes you feel - like life is worth living
makes humanity's current situation look - tragic

the film is fucking incredible, give it a chance and you wont be dissapointed. sorry to be so un-filmreviewy-like but i cant really with this one. its just apart from every film ever made. its that good.

Funny how often this happens - the 'not getting' followed by 'omg wtf lulz' etc, like some sort of awakening.

quote:

ORIGINAL: nc_jj

BRILLIANT, BUT NO BLADE RUNNER

I disagree, but only just.

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Post #: 15

The greatest science fiction film known to man. - 18/6/2009 1:20:51 AM

MartyW

Posts: 204
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

This film changed my life!!!! Not literally of course but it definately ranks up there as possibly the greatest and most influential and thought provoking science fiction movie ever to come to the surface!

Like what Empire had said about, it has caused such a debate ever since it got released... you either love it or hate it. But for the people who find it boring and slow and meaningless, obviously will never truly understand what a true masterpiece of this particular genre it really is. And i think this is a film that will always be lightyears ahead of its time.

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Post #: 16

- 3/7/2009 2:19:27 AM

Roger Ng

Posts: 2
Joined: 1/7/2009

This astounding movie created the in-space sci-fi as we know it, and as of yet has not been surpassed.

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Post #: 17

RE: - 10/7/2009 3:05:52 PM

MartyW

Posts: 204
Joined: 3/1/2006
From: Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom

Yeah unlike star wars, in this film there really is no sound in space.

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Post #: 18

RE: RE: - 10/7/2009 5:07:59 PM

evil bill

Posts: 6560
Joined: 19/7/2006
From: mordor/ uk

As a movie it is just pure cinema at it's best,with special effects that have stood the test of time,they are still mind blowing images and believable,no CGI could ever match this not yet??It was way ahead of it's time on a techinal level,and as a insight into the future,look at the gravity system,frozn bodies to be reanimated later,the space station,flat screen tv's etc etc.And a story that still has everyone still talking,trying to figure out what Kubrick and A.C.Clarke where up to,and Clarke himself said that himself and Kubrick wanted it to be that way.Every time i watch this masterpiece i come up with a different meaning to the enigma that is 2001.It is not an easy watch as it movie's at a slow pace,but this is a thought provoking movie not an auctioneer sci/fi like Star Wars.Personally i think this is the Greatest Sci/Fi movie of all time,and Stanley Kubrick's finest masterpiece,maybe even the greatest movie of the 20TH century5/5

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Post #: 19

RE: RE: - 10/7/2009 7:49:33 PM

hatebox

Posts: 942
Joined: 14/2/2008

I think if you had to pick just one movie that demonstrated the things that film alone, as an artisitc medium, could convey.. it would have to be this one.

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Post #: 20

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 12/7/2009 9:56:13 PM

tokyosexwhale

Posts: 102
Joined: 6/2/2007

2001 really polarizes people.

I first watched it almost 20 years ago and I just didn't get it. It was boring, overlong pretentious. The characters were cold and I just didn't care or understand what was going on. I couldn't give a shit if it got some things right like no sound in space, give me lasers and Ben Burtt's sound effects I found it all just so tedious.

But...as time has marched on I've seen it maybe 5 or 6 times and it simply IS a masterpiece. I think it's a film you tend to appreciate with age and subsequent viewings. It requires patience and intelligence but I can see why some would find it boring. The film is basically a meditation. A meditation on mans evolution and where it might take us next.

I must confess I didn't know what was going on until I read the book so for those who have seen the film and like me were still lost in their own interpretations (that's no bad thing) or who can't be arsed to read the book then a brief synopsis is:

The film begins with early man still not evolved from an ape. An alien race (or supreme being or beings) decide to give man a leg up on the evolutionary ladder and send a monolith that once touched gives the simple ape a thought. Tools. Use what's around them as tools. Thus a bone is used as a weapon. The jump cut from jaw bone to spaceship is breathtaking simply because it sums up millions of years of the evolution of mans 'tools' in one cut. (Fuck you Bay!)
A second monolith or marker has been buried on the moon and serves as a a marker to the alien race that man has evolved to a space travel stage. Once the monolith is uncovered and it is touched by sunlight it sends a signal to another monolith orbiting Jupiter which man is to follow and find a 'stargate'.
The stargate is how the alien beings have been travelling around the universe and it is this that Bowman travels through but not before one of mans own creations, HAL, malfunctions and comes close to sabotaging the mission.
Bowman goes through the stargate and ends up in a hotel room (constucted by the aliens from Bowman's thoughts about a place he'd find comfortable) Here Bowman goes through mans next evoloutianary leap going from young to old and finally becoming a 'starchild' free to roam the universe.

There's still alot open to interpretation but that's basically it. Sorry if you are far smarter than I and sussed all that out on first or second viewings but I honestly didn't really get 2001 until i read the book! Once I understood exactly what the film was about then it all started to click into place. I'm such a thickie!

If you consider that man hadn't yet stepped on the moon when 2001 was made then the scientific knowledge surmised by the film is quite amazing. The permanently manned space station orbiting the earth. The 'shuttle-like' space craft. The view of Earth from space. Just amazing.
The only thing that rankles with me is where the apes are living. It's not a lush green land but more a rocky desert and yet there are still grazing animals populating the landscape. I'm not sure if this was a stylistic choice and it certainly doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the film.

2001 is a fantastic work of art and one that requires your time and patience. Turn the lights right down. Pop it on as big a screen possible with the best sound possible and just enjoy the ride.

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Post #: 21

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 21/7/2009 5:22:49 PM

Private Hudson

Posts: 1720
Joined: 30/9/2005

2001 is unlike so many films in that it is a genuine visual and audio experience. It is an assault on the senses, and remember what it must have been like to see this back in 1968 in the cinema.

TV, video and DVD viewings have perhaps dulled the sense of awe.

Yes the story is a bit dragged out, but the central story of HAL vs the Astronauts alone would make it a memorable film.

Throw in apes learning to kill, the Monolith, a Strauss flight into space, and the wacky descent into Jupiter and what you have is a classic 5 star movie.

The design, FX and music of the movie are all superb.

2001 is the story of man's evolution from primitive ape to what was called the Star Child, and the next step in our evolution.

But it is such a unique movie that it deserves it's place in the pantheon of great movies due to the synergy it achieves.

Star Wars, Close Encounters, Blade Runner, Day the Earth Stood Still, Invasion of the Body Snatchers et al may be better sci-fi movies but 2001 is really I believe in a genre of its own. It was a vision of the future that was all too plausible (but crucially unlike Blade Runner did not have a proper story to go with it).

When will we see the vision of 2001 come to pass? Who knows?

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Post #: 22

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 21/7/2009 5:33:35 PM

FritzlFan

Posts: 4778
Joined: 19/11/2008
From: Bristol

quote:

ORIGINAL: Private Hudson

When will we see the vision of 2001 come to pass? Who knows?

If you mean Kubrick's exact vision, then hopefully never

.

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ORIGINAL: Miles Messervy 007

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Post #: 23

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 24/8/2009 11:06:44 PM

eaws1

Posts: 35
Joined: 13/10/2005
From: Nottingham

Thank you Tokyosexwhale for explaining the last third of the movie for me. I was so confused as to what all that psychedelia and broken glass business was about. Saves me from having to read the book!

I had tried to watch 2001 before and got bored and stopped early on. When it came on TV recently, I decided to tape it and make an almighty effort to chow it down fully. As an atmospheric piece, made before the actual moon landings, the set design and true silence of space is spectacular. I did enjoy the middle section with the Astronauts and HAL. The watching eye of HAL, the clinically cold murders and final death scene made for interestingly uncomfortable viewing. But unfortunately, I did find myself frustrated by the slow scenes of docking or of spinning space stations, and I did fast forward a lot of it. I'm sure you could edit the film down to just over an hour and it still be able to ask the fundamental questions of man's evolution that the full length version does.

I hope that when I rewatch this years from now, I'll come to appreciate it like many other reviews here have said they have done.

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Post #: 24

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 27/8/2009 10:49:04 PM

lebowski_24

Posts: 29
Joined: 23/8/2009
From: ireland

Just got this on blu ray and it is seriously impressive. watched it twice since and would deffinetly place it in my top ten.I dreaded watchin this movie for years ,and my first time seeing it was honestly bored and confused,but on repeat viewings it grew and grew on me.For me it was like listening to radioheads OK COMPUTER,scratching your head at first but eventually growing to absoloutly love it,a real slow burner. ############ MUST SEE ON BLU RAY#########.

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Post #: 25

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 1/9/2009 4:23:12 PM

Achtung Englander

Posts: 895
Joined: 6/12/2005

lebowski_24 you convinced me to get this on Blu Ray. I love this movie and that is what created my friendship with Arthur Clarke. Truely wonderful film and very deep. I really don't mind if people find it boring or pretentious and I can understand why they think that.

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Post #: 26

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 1/9/2009 7:49:05 PM

lebowski_24

Posts: 29
Joined: 23/8/2009
From: ireland

Hope you enjoyed it on blu ray as much as i did,you had a friendship with arthur clarke?,very cool.

< Message edited by lebowski_24 -- 1/9/2009 7:50:28 PM >

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Post #: 27

RE: 2001: A Space Odyssey - 8/9/2009 2:59:31 PM

Achtung Englander

Posts: 895
Joined: 6/12/2005

yeah - from 1992 - 2008 (RIP)

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Post #: 28

The most overrated film in the cosmos - 18/11/2009 5:40:31 PM

wjohnson15

Posts: 2
Joined: 11/9/2009

This film is a confusing, stupid, pointless pile of crap made by a director who was on drugs at the time. Terrible and overrated.

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Post #: 29

The worst movie ever made! - 12/12/2009 10:13:00 PM

Alien Hunter

Posts: 24
Joined: 11/3/2007

2 1/2 hours of solid boredom. Nothing happens in this movie. It is, by far, the most overated, most boring, biggest pile of crap in cinema history. 150 minutes you'll never get back.

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Post #: 30