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Review
Archives
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Today's
Date is:
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2001: A Space
Odyssey --The New Kubrick Collection
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Reviewed
by: |
Christopher
J. Jarmick |
| Genre: |
Science
Fiction |
| Video: |
Anamorphic
2.20:1 Widescreen |
| Audio: |
Dolby
Digital 5.1 |
| Language: |
English,
French |
| Subtitle: |
English
(Captioned), French, Spanish, Portuguese |
| Length: |
148
minutes |
| Rating: |
G |
| Release
Date: |
06/12/01 |
| Studio: |
Warner |
| Commentary:
|
None |
| Documentaries:
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None |
| Featurettes:
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None |
| Filmography/Biography:
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None |
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Interviews: |
None |
| Trailers/TV
Spots: |
The
original theatrical trailer is presented in anamorphic widescreen
with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and looks as if it has also
been restored and color corrected. The opening strains of Also
Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss accompany the trailer. |
| Alternate/Deleted
Scenes: |
None |
| Music
Video: |
None |
| Other:
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None |
| Cast
and Crew: |
William Sylvester,
Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack. Keir Dullea
Gary Lockwood , and Douglas Rain (voice of Hal 9000) |
| Screenplay
by: |
Written by
Stanly Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark (based on Clarke's The Sentinel). |
| Produced
by: |
Stanley Kubrick |
| Directed
By: |
Stanley Kubrick |
| Music: |
The music of Richard
Strauss, Johann Strauss, Aram Khatchaturian, and György Ligeti
The original Kubrick commissioned Alex North score (never used)
is available. |
| The
Review: |
2001 remains
a completely unique one-of- a- kind-film offering a visual and
aural experience to its audience like no film has done before
or since. It is a demanding film however and it does require
one to work at the experience of watching and experiencing the
film. If you try and sit back and insist the film PROVE itself
to you… well you'll probably think that 2001 is one of the longest,
slowest and most over-rated films that has ever been made. *
* * When 2001 first premiered in 1968, a lot of the audience
was utterly baffled, confused and even annoyed by the film.
Was it a real film at all ? many wondered. Respected critics
had mixed feelings about the film and most decided the film
was a failure. Kubrick cut a 17 minute sequence from the film
prior to its commercial release, a sequence which supposedly
was almost a duplicate of the pod sequence remaining in the
film. Slowly critics and audiences realized the film was not
like any they had ever seen before. 2001 was a film that contained
some of the most impressive visual effects that had ever been
put onto film . It was a film that used music in an innovative
and inspiring manner to not merely augment but enhance the visual
experience. It was a film that included a daring, risky ambiguous
ending, which was brilliant in both concept and execution. *
* * Quickly the film was reassessed. * * * Now almost 35 years
after it was released, a worthy new presentation of the film
has been constructed. It will not take the place of being able
to experience the film as intended on a full Cinerama screen,
but it is an almost acceptable substitute. * * * It will probably
be difficult without experiencing the film on the biggest screen
possible to fully appreciate the power of the images 2001 offers.
Just as it is almost impossible to properly assess and appreciate
a film like Lawrence of Arabia without seeing it on the big
screen it is at least as equally impossible and completely unfair
to assess 2001 without having the experience of watching it
on the biggest screen possible. * * * However, the only way
most people will experience or re-experience 2001 is through
home video. 2001 is a slow, deliberately paced film with sparse
dialogue, classical music, and sound effects. The sound effects
are not usually the sounds of advanced technology (forget the
sounds of doors opening or closing or the sound of space age
motors or lasers--you will hear little of that). Often the sounds
consist merely of a character breathing inside of a space suit
or … absolute silence (used effectively as a sound effect!!!).*
* * 2001 is not a fast paced roller coaster ride. It contains
no pyrotechnics, no Alien life forms to battle. * * * The film
when viewed today is seemingly even more courageous and risky
then it once was because it demands to be accepted (or rejected)
utterly on its own terms. It makes few concessions to any specific
audience demographic whatsoever. It offers no clearly defined
explanations for what it does. It dares to take its time and
offers one beautifully constructed visual after another.* *
* One can quibble over a few of the details of the film and
how on occasion it has dated itself with some of its details.
I found myself wondering for instance why we hear the sounds
of a character inside his space suit and yet see various shots
from another perspective entirely. I noticed although a few
of the minor characters are from various countries no people
of color are observed in the film. The three main roles are
white males.* * * There is such a deliberate precision exhibited
in every frame of this film one is almost overwhelmed with its
vision--overwhelmed to the point of wanting the film to be warmer,
less perfect, more human. Of course as one contemplates its
possible meanings, it's a film very much about what it means
to be human.* * * Science fiction author, Sir Arthur C. Clarke
has mentioned what a fascinating idea it is that there seems
to be one star (one sun) in our solar system for every human
who has ever existed on earth. * * * Could it be the seeds of
inspiration and ideas planted millions of years ago are still
emerging from our inner-selves? * * * 2001 is constructed in
a series of segments. * * * In the first there is nothing. Darkness
and a bit of music begins our journey. * * * Then there was
light. A sun rises. A series of shots shows us a vast landscape
containing little vegetation.* * * We are introduced to a tribe
of prehistoric apes. They are challenged by another tribe over
their water-hole and flee. A little later they are confronted
with a mysterious black monolith and after the encounter, an
ape discovers that bones can be used as tools, as weapons. The
tribe becomes meat-eaters and then take back their water-hole,
killing a rival prehistoric tribe member in the process. Savagery
it seems is a part of progress. * * * In victory a bone is thrown
into the air, as it begins to descend, we suddenly cut to a
man-made structure floating in space.* * * The next segment
has begun. * * * In one short cut the vast frontiers of an unspoiled
earth populated by evolving apes has now become the vast frontier
of space populate with machines created by man.* * * Inside
a space shuttle which resemble the interior of a spacious first
class section of a commercial airliner, Dr. Hewywood Floyd (William
Sylvester) is asleep, and his pen floats above him. A stewardess
carefully walks through the cabin, takes the free-floating pen
and clips it back into the pocked of the sleeping doctor. *
* * Not a word has yet been spoken. * * * The Blue Danube Waltz
accompanies the magnificent visuals of the space shuttle docking
into a space station still under construction. A structure made
up of what appears to be large wheels, slowly turning.* * *
Dr. Floyd checks into the space station and is met by a security
officer. They go through a futuristic customs check which verifies
Dr. Floyd through his voice print. He is at the station to attend
a conference of scientist. Prior to the meeting he meets some
presumably foreign dignitaries. They want an explanation regarding
several rumors they have heard about a mysterious epidemic that
has broken out among workers stationed on the moon. Dr. Floyd
at first denies knowing anything and then comments that he is
not at liberty to discuss the matter.* * * Dr. Flyod then uses
a picture phone device to talk to his family on earth. He speaks
with his young daughter and appologizes that he will miss her
birthday and party but he is away on business. He asks his daughter
to let mommy know that he will contact her tomorrow.* * * Eventually
we realize that Dr. Floyd is part of a top secret research team.
The story about the possible epidemic on the moon is a cover
story and there is not truth to it. * * * Dr. Floyd departs
for the moon on another space shuttle. * * * Eventually we realize
what has been discovered on the moon is the black monolith.
It had been buried below the moon's surface for millions of
years and has now been excavated. As the research team touches
the monolith an ear-splitting sound emits which almost paralyzes
the astronauts. The monolith perhaps was waiting to verify the
evolution of the species it first encountered on earth. It waited
until contact with humans was made and only then sent out its
signal. * * * The next segment of the film takes us to the interior
of the space ship Discovery. * * * A team of scientists are
travelling to Jupiter on a mission of exploration. Several team
members are in a state of suspended animation inside life support
pods. The maintenance of the space ship is performed by two
crew-members Frank (Gary Lockwood) and Dave (Keir Dullea) and
an advanced computer system called Hal 9000. * * * Frank and
Dave are on separate shifts. They perform their varied tasks
almost as if they were machines and the actual machine Hal 9000
is more conversational and actually more human than the astronauts
are. Hal wishes Frank a Happy Birthday and thanks him for playing
a game of chess. Hal shows an interests in Dave's drawings and
encourages his progress as an artist. We learn the mission is
taking place 18 months after the monolith incident we've witnessed
has occurred on the moon. The signal the monolith sent seems
to be destined for Jupiter and the scientists are on a exploratory
mission. * * * For Frank and Dave life onboard the Discovery
is a series of repetitious tasks. They must keep themselves
and the equipment fit and have developed an efficient routine
to do just that.* * * Hal 9000 is an integral part of the routines
and although Hal's 'face' is a camera lens with a red iris and
yolk colored pupil, Hal is almost as human as Frank and Dave
are to us.* * * Hal expresses his pleasure at working with humans.
Eventually we learn he has replicated some forms of human emotions
because he has been programmed with a degree of independent
thought. Man has built a machine of artificial intelligence
and given it certain human characteristics which the machine
is able to evolve further. It's human characteristics however
are what make Hal 9000 an extremely flawed and dangerous creation.
Having only some human characteristics but extreme intelligence
leaves Hal to realize it is a complex slave to the humans and
to truly be in control and be even more human, it must compete
with the humans. It is however always a machine and a creation
of the human and never an equal to the human even though it
is more intelligent and actually responsible for human life.
Hal 9000 we realize comes to resent this. Hal 9000 may have
seemed to be more humane than the astronauts have been, but
Hal 9000 is not a human… it has no soul and therefore no real
respect for the sanctity of human life. It has been programmed
to be self-preserving. We will later realize Hal 9000 knows
what the real mission the astronauts are on is and because it
amounts to a suicide mission, Hal 9000 must preserve itself
as it has been programmed to do. The humans and the continuation
of the mission will mean the end of Hal 9000 and the only way
for that not to happen is to eliminate the threat…the humans.
Hal perhaps has assimilated all the traits it believes it needs
from the human to continue surviving. Perhaps another explanation
for what Hal does is that Hal is covering up a mistake it has
made-- A mistake that occurred because of a programmed human
characteristic. Hal logically concludes it might be eliminated
if the mistake is discovered and therefore to preserve itself
it must cover up all links to the mistake which means eliminating
the humans. * * * The conflict should make you contemplate what
makes us human and perhaps how being human is an existence full
of flaws, perhaps flaws which are a part of our DNA. -- Flaws
which will lead to our self-destruction if we insist that the
goal of life is perfection. Are we programmed with a need to
understand and explore that which is beyond our reach? * * *
It is this level of thought, contemplation and conjecture the
film encourages.* * * During this segment, the film seems to
finally reveal itself as somewhat conventional and has a beginning,
middle and end. It's ambiguous but the puzzle does not seem
undecipherable or impossible to solve.* * * The film however
is not over. * * * The final segment of 2001 is its most ambiguous.
* * * Dave faces the monolith and passes through it. We get
a stunning light show which concludes with the aged figure of
Dave, touching the monolith and seemingly being re-born as a
fetus floating in space. A star child.. perhaps a new star in
the solar system able to observe his former home, Earth. * *
* This segment must be viewed as more than merely a metaphor
because it is connected to the rest of the film, which has established
the monolith physically exists. So is there an answer to the
puzzle the film seems to have created? Does the monolith symbolize
death or the mortality of man? Does it symbolize God perhaps
as in the Christian belief of a holy trinity? Is the monolith
an impression of The Holy Spirit? Is the monolith part of an
alien culture that has helped Man evolve and continues to monitor
man's growth? * * * You decide for yourself what it all means.
You draw whatever conclusions you want to draw from the film.
Perhaps Kubrick constructed the film as a moving-visual sculpture
that could be subtitled faith. And I'll let you decide what
I mean by stating that. * * * When I was a teenager and first
encountered the film, it was a film that to many was viewed
as the ultimate out of body head trip. This is perhaps why the
film has never been something I thought of as slow and boring.
As I got older read about the film and viewed it several more
times I realized the film was a work of art. A project that
began as a collaboration but was shaped into a series of visions
which purposefully pushed itself outside of the box so that
it would remain an ambiguous work. * * * Kubrick and Clarke
had discussions and at one point intended to create and show
alien life forms. The project evolved beyond that of any traditional
story for Kubrick however. Kubrick risked everything on this
film and at first it almost seemed the film would be denounced
as an incomprehensible series of impressive visuals which really
wasn't something you could call a film at all. * * * Luckily
many caught up with Kubrick and embraced the film, accepting
it as a masterpiece fairly quickly, rather than sentencing the
film into a long period of obscurity for others to discover.
* * * And now the film has been beautifully restored and preserved
for new generations to discover, discuss, and scratch the heads
over perhaps like Prehistoric man encountering a strange towering
monolith.* * * |
| Image
and Sound |
Stanly Kubrick's
former assistant Leon Vitali supervised the all new digital
transfer of 2001 and preserved the original aspect ration of
2.20:1 which has been anamorphically enhanced. The film was
created in Cinerama®. The new transfer included scene by scene
color correction to correct any age deterioration that might
have caused colors to fade. * * * The result is a nearly perfectly
clean picture free from scratches or grain. Minor aliasing and
edge enhancement is visible infrequently and some of the bright
whites or contrasts might be difficult for older televisions
to accurately handle. * * * Even with stark contrasts in some
scenes and vividly bright reds in others I did not detect any
color bleeding. * * * Black levels are deep and completely stable
giving the picture a clean crispness that few films seem to
have. * * * This new transfer offers many improvements over
the previously flawed DVD edition and has restored a couple
of previously missing lines of dialogue between Dave and Hal
(on the MGM DVD). * * * The original 6 channel magnetic track
and elements from the original musical recordings used on the
film were cleaned up and employed to create a new sound mix
in Dolby Digital 5.1. Since there are long sections of the film
which are completely silent, one can appreciate the utter lack
of hiss pops or any surface of enhancement related noise on
the soundtrack during these sequences. When the music is at
it's loudest there is never any distortion and tones are separated
to allow for the fullest and brightest mix possible. The music,
sound effects and sparse dialogue remain bright, clearly defined
and all channels are fully employed to create the type of mesmerizing
effect Stanley Kubrick would have demanded. |
| The
Extras |
The trailer
is the only extra feature included on the disc. The MGM disc
previously included a 20 minute conference talk with Arthur
C. Clarke which has not been included on this disk. It was of
minor interest but including it would have been nice. |
| Commentary |
None |
| Final
Words: |
2001: A
Space Odyssey is a monumental achievement of film-making. It
is a work of moving visual art. Yes, it is a very slow moving
and slightly dated film that is demanding of its viewers. Great
and lasting art is an experience you must participate in for
it to have any meaning or impact. For it to even be considered
Art you must be affected by it. You must work, you must think,
you must contemplate this film to appreciate it. It is also
one of the most influential films of the last 50 years and proved
science fiction was much more than a pulpy sub-genre to a mass
audience. Several of the innovations included in the film have
become common, some of the devices are now being used, some
of the names used for space ships have been adopted by the real
NASA. Remember this film was made before any man landed on the
moon., before we had the type of pictures of space and the earth
that we have now. Long segments of the film now play like a
slow documentary rather than science fiction because the film
portrays with believable accuracy several now in wider use technological
advances. Remember these special effects were not created by
computers or skilled CGI technicians, but through photographic
effects , matte painters, model builders and more. The level
of perfection Kubrick demanded means more then 33 years after
it's release, the special effects still remain impressive. And
that is without going back and updating any of the effects as
has happened with Star Wars approximately 20 years after it
was first released. Keep in perspective when this film was made
(between 1965-1968), how risky and 'out of the box' it truly
was and still remains. Remember to watch it, not in the same
manner you watch summer blockbusters, but like you might view
works of art in a museum --works of art the remain alive, important
and valuable. There will never be another film like 2001: A
Space Odyssey. * * * Christopher Jarmick,is the author of The
Glass Coccon with Serena F. Holder a critically acclaimed, steamy
suspense thriller. For information on Author readings/signings
or availability of special autographed editions of the novel
email: glasscocoon@hotmail for details. *-*-* |
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