2001 - A Space Odyssey

What a load of rubbish.

There is 2.5 hrs of my life I will never get back.

I heard it was a classic, must see, etc etc so when SBS has Kubrick week on I was keen so I watched it. Nothing happens!

Did I miss something?

Yep - like pretty much every Kubrick film the essence of a brilliant 90ish min flick is in there, hidden beneath another 90 mins of absolute bollocks.

Still there are elements of 2001 in nearly every space movie you see today such was the influence and originality of it.

Kinda like St Peppers from the Beatles.. most of is stoner hippy self-induldgent bollocks, and very, very, dated but it blew everyone away at the time and changed the course of popular music.

I first saw it in 1968 and it blew my mind. Man hadn't even been to the moon yet. 9 years before Star Wars was made. Put into that context it is a classic!

Oh, agreed... special effects and 'likeness' to space is amazing for '68. Phenomenal really.
What happened to the story?.... there isn't one!!! They start a story (a reason for heading out into space) and the computer flips out. That takes 2 hrs so I think here comes action, climax etc etc...... and then there is just 40min of acid trippy colours and stars, the guy hallucinates(?) and sees himself as a kid and as an old fella. Roll credits.
Hope I have that right, I only had alcohol in my system.
What happened with the ship, the computer, what was the artifact?
Utter rubbish story-wise.

It was a book first...

A mind bending, trippy, fantasmagorical, incredible, magical book.

The movie doesn't do it justice (think Lord of the Rings)

Hey Airhead,
Is avatar reference to Clockwork Orange?

clockwork orange is a flick ya got to see!

i tried to like 2001 a space odyssey but was a little disappointed. must read the book i guess someday.

if you like a clockwork orange a couple more worth checking out.

boy of macon by peter greenaway - this one is true craftsmanship. you willl experience every emotion. greenway doesn't hold back with his assult on the church and society. there are several very clever twists in this movie that will test you morally.

man bites dog by Rémy Belvaux - this is gold and also very graphic and humourous.

baise moi by Virginie Despentes - ok this one may be banned in oz. it has some very graphic scenes that may not suit all. it is basically a road trip set to a punk soundtrack. it is the story or 2 marginalised women that go on a killing spree. just close your ears and eyes for the first 5 minutes.

all movies are extremely black and not for the faint hearted. but all incredible comentaries on human nature.

gotta love the french when it comes to movie making.

In the same vein:
"Requiem for a dream" by Darren Arenovski...

i guess i could be twisted. [}:)]

i think it certainly has humour in it, fair enough it's probably not laughing out loud type of humour but it's there. mainly in the script. i think it was used as a device to make the viewer feel empathy for such a psychotic character. probably the same reason the film crew stick with him.

there is lots of little funny cracks in the script when the main character (ben from memory) gives his diatribe on the world around him. his take on modern architecture cracked me up.

there is also the slapstick side of the camera man. they keep accidentally dieing. and then the scene where he makes the film crew go down into the pit and try and hide the bodies that have become exposed.

that said, the movie is extremely violent. (so is baise moi) and that violence is pointless and over the top. imdb calls the movie a killer comedy and there is no denying this is classic film noir.

www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/

www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/usercomments

i also can't help feeling that there is an attempt here from the french director to steal back the term film noir from holywood and do it in a way that americans have seen before. "embeded journalism". certainly it is in the same vein as natural born killers just without the hollywood overtones. but i believe man bites dog came first

i don't know what it is about the french but they are masters of film noir.

probably best not to watch baise moir. it is more extreme i'd say.

i haven't seen requiem nebbian, will track it down. cheers.

p.s a clockwork orange is on sbs this weekend

What about Revenge of the Nerds III or Porky's.

look at when the flick was made!

Notice the apes gained intelligence after seeing the black column?

Notice computers gained self intelligence after the same item was seen in space?

Notice the rotating mothership? and that they walked on the outer circumferance to gain gravity, the technology that was written into this movie was 30 years ahead of reality! Awesome!

I agree the movie is a bit trippy, but it was an awesome concept, making phone calls via credit card video phone from a spaceship!

I can see why it was so revolutionary for its time, for myself give me Easyrider anyday.

saw full metal jacket tonight, good movie.

Yep the man bit the dog 1st and NBK would maybe never have gone into production without the prior success of MBD. Oliver stone def ripped off the whole 'talk to camera/doco' thing from this flick. In fairness MBD wasn't the 1st flick to use this but it was very striking whereas these days every 2nd TV show is doin this mocumentary stuff (summer heights etc etc)

MBD is a must see for sure. I saw it 10+ yrs ago and had forgotten some of those super funny scenes. The crew in the pit is tops.

There must be some sort of mistake! The 2001 I saw was a truly mind blowing film. Perhaps they put the wrong dvd in the case at the video store?

Or maybe there just weren't enough gun battles, explosions and car chases in it for you.

Likewise, dont assume we all sit around drinking chardonay because we like 2001.

The story is essentially about the evolution of consciousness from apes to artificial intelligence. The storyline is fine and clear. it isnt a bad storyline, it is just open for interpretation.