2001 - A Space Odyssey

[Pevenseagull]

That is quite brilliant!

15 or so years ago I changed the atributed sounds for start up on all the computers where I worked.
Most went 'Here we ****ing go' from The Fatima Mansions cover of 'shiny happy people', my manager's played the tune from the Wizard of Oz when the wicked witch is on her broomstick and the boss' pc announced 'I'm looking at pornography' in the voice of Alvin and the Chipmunks. The tax manager had 'I feel like making love', Bad Company .....which he didn't find remotely funny.

I got sacked.


But they gave me a good reference.

 

[desprateseagull]

I don't get it. at all.

The black stone. The end bit. everything in between..

 

[beorhthelm]

The academy gave a one off award to Planet of the Apes for 'make up' and ignored the work on the opening scene of 2001 because they thought that they were trained chimps.

Possibly a fact.

probably not - it assumes that no one in the Acedemy or the film studio would contact each other. and the apes are in costume, not make up (the masks are actually pretty poor, against the rest of the setup).

 

[looney]

For those who've read the book (tedious beyond belief), Kubrick's film is a work of absolute genius.

.

The book makes sense the film doesn't ,you shouldn't have to read a book as a pre requisite to understand the film so thats why the film ultimately fails, having read all 3 of ACC's Odyssey books and the two films then the film does fit in welll and has great qualities but I would not call it a great film as the ending was messed up and didn't explain what was going on.

 

[Official Old Man]

Stumbled upon it last night and watched a few minutes. In particular the scene where he calls his daughter via video link. Bearing in mind when this was made, he puts a floppy disc into a slot and dials a number and instant video call. Shame the child was 'alone' and yet the camera was moving about to keep her in shot. But years ahead of it's time.
Expect you all know HAL is IBM but one letter before.

 

[Icy Gull]

I don't get it. at all.

The black stone. The end bit. everything in between..

You need to read the book and it becomes blindingly clear!

 

[burnee54]

Not THE best but certainly groundbreaking, prob top 6. Obviously Star Wars, Predator, Alien, Soylent Green and Blade Runner right up there too.

and Silent Running, you forgot Silent Running.

 

[vegster]

and Silent Running, you forgot Silent Running.

I was very close to including Silent Running in that list, terribly sad ending though. However, given todays emphasis on making money at all costs and Trumps exit from the climate change accord makes it particularly relevant today.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Expect you all know HAL is IBM but one letter before.

You didn't read the rest of the thread then

 

[sparkie]

Didn't understand the ending when I saw it years ago. Haven't bothered to re-watch it.

 

[Goldstone1976]

and Silent Running, you forgot Silent Running.

I was very close to including Silent Running in that list, terribly sad ending though. However, given todays emphasis on making money at all costs and Trumps exit from the climate change accord makes it particularly relevant today.

So many of my friends (& Kermode, obviously) badgered me to watch Silent Running - I eventually did a couple of years ago. Umm, I was bored rigid. How people put this in the category as Alien, Blade Runner, 2001, etc as a great Sci-Fi film is beyond me. I know it must be me, cos I'm the only person I know who thought it was tedious beyond belief. Tell me what I'm missing, please?

On topic: 2001 is a flawed masterpiece. Groundbreaking in so many way, but too obscure - you have to read the book to really understand the plot, unlike, say, Where Eagles Dare.

 

[jakarta]

I don't get it. at all.

The black stone. The end bit. everything in between..

It's a bit of a clever concept so don't worry...

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

It's a bit of a clever concept so don't worry...

For me it's all about the clever concept or it's nothing at all. It's SUPPOSED to be difficult.

For me the top three sci-fi films that work on that rare level are...

1. 2001 - A Space Odyssey
2. Interstellar
3. The Man Who Fell To Earth

Scrub any movie where the hero avoids the apocalypse by jumping on a moped or ducking into a doorway or hopping between spacecraft conveniently placed about about three miles apart in the infinite vastness of space.

 

[vegster]

So many of my friends (& Kermode, obviously) badgered me to watch Silent Running - I eventually did a couple of years ago. Umm, I was bored rigid. How people put this in the category as Alien, Blade Runner, 2001, etc as a great Sci-Fi film is beyond me. I know it must be me, cos I'm the only person I know who thought it was tedious beyond belief. Tell me what I'm missing, please?

On topic: 2001 is a flawed masterpiece. Groundbreaking in so many way, but too obscure - you have to read the book to really understand the plot, unlike, say, Where Eagles Dare.

Bruce Dern plays a reluctant hero who falls in love with the idea of the happy little eco-systems that are stored in orbit awaiting the day when Earth has become clean enough for all the species to be reintroduced, it's a kind of noah's Ark. When the company paying for the ships maintaining these arks decides its not worth it and blasts them all off and detonates them our hero crosses the line and kills the other crewmen and takes the ship out of orbit in a desperate attempt to keep some of Earth's flora and fauna alive, that's it really. But, if you are not moved by the moral and ethical dilemma's in the film....

 

[pearl]

Eraserhead was pretty weird

 

[jakarta]

Cost ten bob to make and it looks like it but I do love Dark Star.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wbzJxXxhIQ

Talk to me Bomb...

 

[Megazone]

One of the best alternatives to a valium I've ever experienced.

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

Apollo 13 was probably the first film I can remember seeing that was set in space, and it set something of a precedent for special effects for me (as a 7 year old, I couldn't fathom how they got them to float around).

Since then, films like Interstellar have set the bar increasingly higher. However, having only recently seen 2001 for the first time, it stands up incredibly well; in fact, I would argue that Apollo 13 has dated far worse in a much shorter time.

 

[GT49er]

On BBC2 tonight - I'm staying up to watch it but I think it fair to say is a film that divides people. The finest Sci-Fci Film ever made?

Yes, definitely 'Marmite'. Bored me to tears; there's a couple of hours of my life I'll never get back again!

 

[Weststander]

It's a bit of a clever concept so don't worry...