2001: A Space Odyssey
Routinely cited as the greatest of all Kubrick movies, it can be said that this is certainly Kubrick’s best-LOOKING movie: The visuals are astounding even today, living proof that models and miniatures are much more worth the trouble than CGI will ever be, and just how in 1968 Kubrick managed that last 20 minutes remains a mystery to me. First-time viewers should be warned though: This film requires a LOT of patience to get thru, but the payoff is worth it. Once you get thru the Overture and the Preamble featuring prehistoric man (much better on repeat viewings), you then come to the part setting up the main story with the Heywood Floyd character. This might make some people very antsy, and William Sylvester’s Shatner-like delivery (minus the charisma) as Floyd makes the film a bit ponderous as one wonders when we’ll get to the “good stuff”. Once we finally arrive to the main story (The Jupiter mission), that’s when the film really starts to fly by, surprising since it has its share of overly drawn-out sequences as well. A lot of credit has to go to Keir Dullea as Bowman, underplaying without ever becoming zombielike or going over the top, dealing with some horrific circumstances and actually making the viewer root for him as well (his reentry thru the airlock without a helmet is one of the ballsiest moments in cinema history). As for the celebrated HAL 9000, Douglas Rain contributes one of the most effective voice-over acting jobs ever. We know about HAL’s intelligence and propensity for emotions, yet we wonder how and why he does the things he does (I have my own theory, but that’s for another thread). Gary Lockwood’s Poole is also well-done even if his character is a means to an end, and then we come to that ending, which must have blown people away in 68 and still has tremendous impact 40 years later as we realize what’s become of Bowman. All in all, while not the well-paced masterpieces that were Clockwork, Full Metal, and Strangelove, an outstanding film that requires a little work to get into, but the rewards are really worth it…
9/10