2001: A Space Odyssey

A film doesn't have to make sense and offer an explanation for everthing contained within it to be entertaining. In fact, sometimes, an open ended movie with room for interpretation can be brilliant. 2001: A Space Odyssey is the perfect example of this situation. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered and is considered by some to be downright confusing, but it is still a great movie.

2001 begins in prehistoric times with a group of apes going about their daily business and living their lives undisturbed until one day they discover a strange black monolith. The monolith, which we surmise must have been created and left their by alien beings, intrigues the apes and they begin to cautiously examine it. The monolith seems to have a strange effect on the apes and soon after the encounter they begin using bones as tools. Unfortunately, they also discover that the same bones can be used as weapons -- not only to kill other animals for food, but also as a way to wield power over the other apes. After one of the apes kills one of he fellow inhabitants, he throws the bone high into the air and the movie follows the bone and proceeds to jump thousands of years into the future.

It's now thousands of years later and apes have evolved into humans who can now travel into space. A mysterious black monolith (similar to the one the apes found) has been discovered buried on the moon. Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) is on his way to the moon to examine the monolith and see if he can shed some light on it's origins. Dr. Floyd learns that the monolith is broadcasting a signal of some kind in the direction of Jupiter, but no one has any idea what the contents are of this message or it's intended recipient.

Since the detection of this signal, the spaceship Discovery has been sent on a mission to Jupiter to see if it can discover why the monolith is sending a broadcast there. The Discovery is manned by two astronauts Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) and one supercomputer called HAL 9000. HAL is the most advanced form of artificial intelligence ever created and turns out to be too smart for his own good. When the crew realizes that HAL has "issues", they decide that they must deactivate him to save themselves and the ship. HAL fights back in an attempt to save his own life as he believes that the crew is trying to kill him (is he really alive?). HAL is deactivated, but at the expense of one of the crew members (Frank Poole).

Bowman, now alone aboard the Discovery, finds another monolith similar to the one on the moon but much larger. He decides that he must investigate this new monolith by taking a pod directly into it. This begins a journey for Bowman not only to a new world, but a new life.

Let me start off by saying that I believe 2001: A Space Odyssey is a perfect film. I can find no faults with this film and I defy others to convince me that any exist. I know many will disagree, and I've heard all the arguments -- it's slow, boring, and it just doesn't make sense. But I consider all of these assets of this movie.

Stanley Kubrick -- certainly one of the best directors of our time -- was known for his attention to detail and the pacing of 2001 was surely not a mistake. What appears to be slow and plodding is actually conveying scenes in the movie and portraying the physical realities of space. The docking of the spaceship in 2001 (approximately a 15 minute scene) certainly imparts the sensations of space travel more accurately than movies like Star Wars or Star Trek where spaceships fly at top speed into docking bays.

The ambiguous ending and lack of explanation were also not mistakes. Kubrick, when asked about the meaning of 2001, stated on more than one occasion that he would not even discuss his thoughts on what it all meant. He believed that if people left the theater thinking and speculating about the movies meaning, then it had succeeded with the audience. He didn't want to spell out an ending that every view would then have to adopt. Kubrick believed that the movie could have different meanings for different viewers and nobody was wrong.

The problem for most people is that 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that needs to be viewed multiple times to be appreciated. After the first viewing, most people will probably be confused and wondering what just happened. But by the third and fourth screenings, they will have developed their own opinions on the meaning of the film. I believe this is the case for most viewers and is exactly what Kubrick intended.

More 2001: A Space Odyssey Movie Reviews

Movie Review of 2001: A Space Odyssey by James Berardinelli
2001: A Space Odyssey Movie Review and Information Page at The Internet Movie Database