#4: 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, Kubrick)

It's strange watching films made in the past that take place in our present. There are space stations with functioning artificial gravity and machines that use abstract reasoning, but giant cameras and no internet. Then there's Back To The Future where in 2015 we have flying cars and cold fusion but no mobile phones. Maybe we should all, as a race, just stop trying to predict what technology will be like in the future.

2001: A Space Odyssey is a very influential film. I mention that first because when we enjoy movies, it's only because we're so excited about the way those movies affected future films, right? That's why all the films that were the most influential appear at the top of every poll ever made, no matter how poorly they've aged. Because there's no such thing as movie fans, just film theory students.

Okay, so if it weren't for 2001 a lot of my favorite science fiction wouldn't exist. But 'I came first' points only go so far. As for all Kubrick films the visual style is awesome, but the pacing in this case is dictated by the style, and some aspects of the style haven't aged well. The ship design, for instance, just looks awkward, and the apes with human eyeballs cast an awkward tone on that entire sequence. The pacing of the entire first hour of the film is dictated by the style and thematic conceit, and now that the novelty of the space age imagery has worn off, that entire hour is pretty tedious. The part of the film people remember it for; the Hal part, ages a little better. But if you ignore the style points and look solely at the substance of the plot, there's nothing that other films and TV series the film influenced haven't done a lot better. The biological characters are dull and generic. The only memorable character is Hal, humanity's arrogance reflected in its creations. But if you're not impressed by Kubrick's intellectual conceits about human nature and progress, Hal's the only bright spot of the movie, and the last twenty minutes are just a bunch of cool psychadelic colors and an ending that's all concept and no actual plot. (Of course, being a David Lynch fan, I can't justify complaining about that.)


Style rating: ***** / 5
Substance rating: *** / 5
Overall rating: *** 3/4 / 5

4/100