2001: A Space Odyssey

[pete clemenza]

approach it with an open mind and alone..relax and soothe it all in.

This is the only way to watch it

 

[Tom]

In regards to the monkey comment.
In the book, everything gets explained in high detail, but most of it is just implied in the movie. For time reasons obviously.
Clarke started the movie out on the Sarah desert for this reason:

Spoiler

The makers of the monolith were searching for intelligent life. They saw the potential of the primates of earth, and decided to give them a little boost in the right direction. When the monolith appeared before the monkeys, it started subconsiously changing their brains. Making them more intelligent. Altering genes. When the monolith finished making changes, it left the primates alone. Disappeared. At this point in the movie, you see the primates go from a peaceful dying species, to a clan of war(The main primate comes up with the idea of using a bone to smash and the others follow suit.) This group of primates eventually wipes out the competition and goes on to dominate the earth. Millions of years later, the primates become humans and we become a spacefaring species (as shown when the primate throws the bone in the air, and the movie segues into a space station tumbling through space). All of this happend because those "monkeys" had been "made better" with by the monolith.

So that's why the opening scene doesnt make sense to those who have not read the book. It also shows how important this scene is to the rest of the movie.

who the fuk were the makers of the monolith?

i never made it that far into the film to find out

 

[jmg30]

 

[Jackson LeRoy Briggs]

All I know is, Hal's death was just...

"Dave, stop. My mind is going...I can feel it...I can FEEL it..."

 

[Theabbot]

who the fuk were the makers of the monolith?

i never made it that far into the film to find out

They never get into that part of the story in the movie.
Something else to keep in mind:

Spoiler

The same way the monolith tampered with the monkeys at the beginning of the movie, the process is repeated on the astronaught at the ending. Except with him, the process is visualized for us. The whole Beyond the Infinite sequence....

 

[MouseTeeth]

Incredible movie from top to bottom. Certainly not for everyone, but an amazing movie nonetheless. Even if you don't like it, you have to respect it.

 

[Heretic]

2001 is a beautiful film in every sense of the word. You pretty much have to be a cinephile to really appreciate it because it doesnt spell a whole lot out for you but does a great job with inference.

 

[THE 101]

For anyone who loves 2001, I highly recommend checking out the original Russian version of Solaris from the '70s.

Has a similar vibe to 2001. It's almost as good and the ending is just even compared to 2001.

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

Just watched it because of this thread. May me think of Prometheus.

 

[Tetris v2.0]

I need to cop this movie one day. Tried watching it with my fam a few times during my late elementary years and I'd fall asleep within the first 15-20 minutes.

approach it with an open mind and alone..relax and soothe it all in.

Definitely watch alone. Watching with a group is awkward because the format is so bizarre, the other persons reaction will stop you from immersing yourself in it

I cant watch any artsy, weird or slow movies with other people unless its understood that everyone will completely STFU until the credits

 

[ℒℴѵℯJay ELECTUA]

Definitely watch alone. Watching with a group is awkward because the format is so bizarre, the other persons reaction will stop you from immersing yourself in it

I cant watch any artsy, weird or slow movies with other people unless its understood that everyone will completely STFU until the credits

its also good to watch these films with open minded type of friends or partner(s)..i took a few of my friends to a viewing of el topo and enter the void and we had a 12 hour discussion about those (separate occasions)..obviously we had things to keep us alert and high..

 

[Prolific_1011]

Top 5 film of all time for me.

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

Just watched it because of this thread. May me think of Prometheus.

yea, when I rewatched it recently I was like, Prometheus is so similar to this in a lot of ways

 

[daze23]

I love the whole "I'm not at liberty to discuss this" conversation

 

[MouseTeeth]

Just to add on to some things people have already said:

The fact that this movie was made in 1969 adds to its amazing quality. I mean, we're talking a whole 8 years before Star wars. As a matter of fact, I think the dude who did all the space sequences went on to work on Star Wars based off of his work on this movie. It's insane that you could watch this movie today and the special effects look great. There's movies from the 70s, 80s, and 90s that pale in comparison to this one.

Also, the music used in this movie has become so re-used and cliche at this point in pop culture that the audience watching it in a modern context could easily forget that this movie was the FIRST to use those symphonies. That's how iconic it is.


Look at the set design (like dude said before, u have to be a cinephile to appreciate the subtle things)....like the interior of the ship Dave is on. It's I mean a lot of this stuff is made up/straight out of Kubrick's imagination. That's some truly crazy shyt. Kubrick was really a dude who understood shot composition. You could take a still of any scene from this movie and make a poster out of it.