Ok, I'm aware that this movie was discussed millions of times in this forum on many different threads, but in my search there is not a 2001 thread for the film alone, and since I saw this movie yesterday for the first time in about 6 years and finally realised how fucking good it is, I thought it would be a good idea to talk a bit about this amzing work of art.

Yesterday finally decided to watch this movie. I liked it when I first saw it, but now I can say without any doubt that this is Kubricks masterpiece, and one of the most challenging movies ever made. I was blown away by every second of it, the Dawn of Man part was great (with the famous bone scene), the space sequences are mindblowing (the music fits perfectly) and my favorite part is probably the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite".

This movie raises so many interesting and deep questions, touches so many aspects and all of this with only 40 minutes of movie containing dialogues. Beautifully shot. Amazing.

Oh and on a side note, I went to imdb.com and found out at the trivia section that there are some theories about the "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" section on the movie being syncronized with the song Echoes by Pink Floyd. As a huge Pink Floyd fan, I first thought this was all just a bunch of mindless assumptions, but after watching it (yeah that's right I tried it ) I think it's not a coincidence at all. I mean, everything seems to fit perfectly. Even the lenght of that section of the movie matches perfectly the lenght of the song. Well, even if it's just a (huge) coincidence, be sure to try it if haven't yet, it's a fantastic experience. If you want to know more about that visite this site: http://www.pinkfloydonline.com/synchronizations.html

i downloaded the jupiter sequence once with echoes for the audio and it is pretty uncanny. likely coincidental, but fucking cool nonetheless....very worth the time. very trippy.

im sure everybody has done the dark side of the moon/wizard of oz thing right? now THAT is cool. and thats saying a lot cause i fucking hate that movie...

back to 2001. i love the dawn of man segment. i still dont fully "get" 2001 though. everytime i watch it ADD kicks in and i want shit to happen faster, even though i know its a visual masterpiece. it was the most technologically advanced movie of its time

For anyone who doesn't full get it, I'd recommend reading the book. From what I remember, I think the book and movie were written/made at the same time, and thus go well together. There are some things in the movie that make more sense after reading the book, and there are some parts in the book that can't be described well by words alone and are done justice by the movie.

This is an amazing film, one of the best ever. I still don't know which is better: 2001, or Dr. Strangelove. There is so much to be said about this film, so I'm not going into detail. But it puts so much about existence into perspective, I think it is a hopeful film (assuming you are not a "creationist," LOL). It is a glimpse of our destiny and is everything opposite of cynical. Such an amazing piece of work, by a brilliant director.

I think the film ecompasses man's destiny, the destiny of life on earth, that we are not meant to be earthbound, but come to a great realization of existence, the stars, matter, etc. You see the monkeys using the first tools to kill eachother and for millions of years man makes tools, makes spaceships, makes AI - which eventually turns on man. Man conquers his machines and the sequence at the end is representative of space and time travel - the mind blowing visual effects emphasize the plainness of the machinery and designs earlier in the film. Then you have the spaceman growing old, in a nice room by himself, dying, shedding off his material existence, and then reborn as the Star Child, a higher being. The monoliths were supposedly placed there by aliens, but that is not made clear in the movie. Instead, Kubrick went for ambiguousness, and it adds an air of mystery to the film. (THe monoliths, appearing everytime man evolves, signaling evolution, etc. )

thanks for the info. i never realized the symbolic significance of the monoliths. it makes quite a bit more sense now

I've said it before and I'll say it again:

2001: A Space Odyssey is the greatest movie ever made.


And to all the people that voted for A Clockwork Orange over this film in the Movie Tournament: Damn you all! *shakes fist*

2001 is the most beautiful movie ever made.

I haven't tried the "Echoes" thing yet, but I have heard about it.

Well, I think Kubrick once said that if you, as a spectator, are questining and thinking about the movie, his mission as the filmaker of this piece is accomplished. He said that even he doesn't fully understand 2001, because he raised a lot more questions than he awnsers in the movie.

It's a brilliant film. Kubrick was probably the greatest filmmaker to ever live, and I greatly admire all his works. The restraint he shows in his directing is just remarkable.

My favorite part has got to be "The Dawn of Man" though, it just blows my mind. Kubrick had such a cynical view on mankind, and this conveys it perfectly.

The biggest complaint I hear from people who have not read the books is about the ending. Everyone just goes...ummm...wtf?

Although left to be a bit interprative in the film, the books clarify what is going on at the end.

***Spoiler
The ending represents Bowman's essence becoming part of the monolith machine. Hence he dies and is "reborn" as a sort of image of his former self.

Humm.. Is the book worth reading? You're talking about "The Sentinel" right?

I have read the Sentinal, but that's not what I'm referring to. There are 4 books in the series: 2001, 2010, 2061, 3001
Pretty much everything (within reason) is explained in the books.

Oh ok. Thanks for the info. I'll check them out.

My husband thinks this is one of the greatest films of all time, along with the Russian film "Solaris".

I think its horribly boring, and whatever message it's trying to convey is lost in the depths and breath of boring long quite shots.

Cinematography wise - stellar. Interesting, nope. Not to me. I'm probably alone in that opinion though. Sorry.

c-

what movies do you find interesting?

I cant adaquetely describe how fond I am of this film, gorgeous and thought provoking.

I read those a long time ago when I was a kid, but it's been a long time and I didn't know there was a "3001" book. Crazy!

The movie 2010 is good as well and does explain a few things that might leave some people confused, especially regarding Hal. I reccomend it.

Good call.

I just saw the sync of Echoes w/ 2001, the ending from Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite to basically the credits....there were some parts that were just amazingly dead on. Somehow I doubt it was made that way though, but supposedly it works better than DSOTM with Wizard of O.

Anyway, back to 2001....that last 1/2 hour has to be one of the best 1/2 hours of cinema. Its easy to call all those special FX pointless, but its just an abstraction for something incredible. What a stunning piece of work this film is.