2001 - A Space Odyssey DVD > Reviews > to space and beyound

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Satisfactory
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Outstanding
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Kubrick
Disadvantages:	sometimes too long

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I got the DVD version of Stanley Kubrick, A 2001: A Space odyssey for Christmas. The film is viewed by many people as one of the best Sci-Fi films of all times, but at the same time one of the most difficult to understand.

The DVD is part of the Stanley Kubrick collection and can be found at any good shop. This version is digitally restored and remastered, and is 2.21:1 widescreen. This means that it best watched on a widescreen telly, but to be honest, I soon forget that I was watching it on a normal telly. The running time is 143 minutes, so you might need a flask of tea, before setting down to watch the film. The sound is 5.1 in English and German, and the normal subtitles, including hearing impaired. The quality of picture and sound is good, and needs to be to get the full affect of the film. The special features are interactive menus, scene access and trailer but nothing to shout about.

The film stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, but the real star is HAL the onboard computer. The film is based on a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, who also party wrote the screenplay with Kubrick, who directed and produced the film. The film was released in 1968 to poor critical reviews, but now as cult status.

While the film is seen as Sci-Fi classic, it is more than this, for example some people see the film as a comment on human development and its palce in the universe, but Kubrick as denied this.

The film is divided into three main parts: The Dawn of Man, Jupiter Mission and Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite, which can be viewed like chapters in a book.

The Dawn of Man: This starts the film with in humans prehistoric past with some apes, who are happy trying to survive a harsh world, until one day a mysterious black monolith, appeals, and after this there seems to be a leap in their development. This seems to reflect some of the ideas of Erich Von Daniken, whose first book was also published in this year 1968. That human development was aided from aliens, hence the monolith.

Watching this part of the film was like watching a nature programme in some areas, and was a bit too long, with no spoken words. I did find some parts of this part were a bit boring, but does set the scene for the rest of the film.

Jupiter Mission, 18 Months later: This is part of the film is set in the year 2001, and see the finding of another monolith, and a space journey to Jupiter. This is where we get to meet HAL, the onboard computer, and the first spoken words in the film. For me this was the most enjoyable section of the film, for a couple of reasons.

The interaction between an super intelligent computer, with also human feelings and the human crew reflects some of the worries that computer technology may be a threat to the human race, something which seems to worry many people now, with modern computers like HAL replacing many tasks human used to conduct.

The other part is the use of classical music, when we see space ships, and the space base, which coinciding the film was released in 1968 bear remarkable likeness to the ideas of space fight like the one the American’s and the Russian are trying to develop today. The movement of these ships through space, linked to the music gives this section a ballet feeling, and beautiful to watch.

Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite is the final part of the film when the crew completes their fight to Jupiter, where there is another monolith. I found this part of the film a bit confusing, and like watching or having an acid trip, and leave’s the viewer with more questions than answers.

If you are expecting a Star-Wars type of Sci-Fi film or the answers to the great questions about the universe you will be disappointed. While the film can be a bit boring in some parts, and maybe a bit too long, you will see some of the best space shots filmed, and put to music, and worth watching for this alone.