By JONAH GRAY
Monkeys, a mysterious monolith, a discovery on the moon and a man’s journey to Jupiter and beyond. “2001: A Space Odyssey” is a sci-fi epic — a masterpiece of cinematography that has aged like fine wine.
Directed by the famed Stanely Kubrick and written by prominent science fiction author Sir Arthur C. Clarke, it’s no surprise that this film has gone down in history as one of the best science fiction movies of all time.
Without “2001” as inspiration, it’s unlikely that “Star Wars” or “Star Trek” would’ve ever come into existence.
Released in 1968, this film was truly ahead of its time. The United States hadn’t even put a man on the moon yet, but somehow Kubrick portrays life in space and the moon with stunning accuracy!
Viewers are introduced to the beauty and whimsy of a world where commercialized space travel exists, where space stations with artificial gravity flaunt the Hilton logo and where humanity has even developed zero-gravity toilets for comfortable space travel.
Perhaps the film was a little far off in some respects; in 2024, we are yet to have commercial space lines.
However, Clarke and Kubrick successfully predicted some common innovations we have now, such as video calling, tablets and even artificial intelligence as portrayed by the calm, sinister and sometimes endearing HAL-9000. Although Chat-GPT 4 is intelligent, it’ll need 8,996 more iterations before it’s capable of flying a ship to Jupiter.
Although many regard this film to be the definitive science fiction film, it received mixed reviews when it originally came out.
I recently talked to my grandfather and mentioned I would be reviewing this film, which was immediately met with a groan and comments, “That was the biggest waste of money. We got to the end, and I was still waiting for it to start!” Though I disagree, I understand my grandfather’s sentiment. “2001” is a slow movie. At 2 hours and 30 minutes in runtime, the film drags on at certain points.
Be prepared for long stretches without dialogue or even music — an interesting choice by Kubrick that (in my opinion) engulfs the viewer in the vast, loneliness of outer space.
Viewers may have had a distaste for this movie because the story is largely shown, not told. However, this choice did attract audiences.
Due to the spectacular visuals, cryptic storytelling and surreal climax of the film, some people would partake in recreational drug use before the film when it hit theaters in the ’60s. If timed right, the hallucinations would line up with the climax of the movie. According to a 2018 article in The New Yorker by Dan Chiasson, the studio caught on to this trend and changed the tagline of the movie to “The Ultimate Trip.”
Despite the pacing, I encourage everyone to watch this movie at least once for its engaging, cutting-edge visuals and iconic moments mimicked since its release. “2001” is a cinematographic work of art. The masterful use of practical special effects only makes this movie better with age and it makes you wonder why we ever even switched to CGI.
So, is “2001: A Space Odyssey” a sci-fi masterpiece or a big waste of time? I’ll let you decide.
Kubrick is known for other films such as “The Shining,” “Full Metal Jacket” and “Dr. Strangelove.” “2001: A Space Odyssey” is available for streaming on Tubi and Sling TV for free, or if you have a subscription to Max, Prime Video or YouTube.
