Review of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) by Shaun J — 12 Jan 2014

So what if the ending is ambiguous? I think maybe, sometimes, we want easy answers and easy plots but every so often, it does us good to leave a story with more questions than answers. It is simply unbelievable what Stanley Kubrick managed to achieve in 1968 with practical effects and model work.

Indeed, even today, some of this puts the most sophisticated CGI work to shame. Famed of course for putting scenes of spaceships against a backdrop of Strauss waltzes the scope of this film is breathtaking.

With a somewhat slow pace, you really feel the weirdness and tension and uncertainty of what is unfolding. Whether it it the opening scenes of apemen, the mystery of scenes on the space station or the claustrophobic tension of the spacewalking scenes, everything just shows a precision of film art that has seldom been bettered.

Couple with the story by Arthur C. Clarke and this movie is little short of genius. It's a hard science fiction concept movie with no ray guns or alien invasions but rather a perplexing and intriguing vision of human endeavour.

Kubrick is never afraid to linger and allow silence to convey meaning and menace. This is especially effective with the ever-watchful red eye of HAL 9000, the all controlling computer that become the defining character of the third movement of the film.

Kier Dullea, an actor I wish made more movies, is excellent as astronaut Dave Bowman who has to pit his wits against the computer. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that was groundbreaking when it was made and has rightly become iconic.