2001: A Space Odyssey is regarded as one of the best science fiction films of all time and I have always rated it highly on a technical level. I had the opportunity to watch it on the biggest screen in my cinema with the best sound system. Whenever people question why I still go to the cinema when we have Blu-rays and DVDs as well as streaming I will point them to experiences like seeing this film. There was something magical about what I was seeing, especially all the final 20 minutes or so after Dave removes HAL’s memory and there is all the psychedelic imagery.
The opening portion with the apes really affected my hearing. It felt like my ears were gonna burst. Thankfully that moment passed. The score and soundtrack is absolutely fantastic. During the many long sequences where there is no dialogue there is some great music which helps maintain your interest. The model work is fantastic and the sets are equally as impressive. There are some decorative blunders but on the whole on a technical level the sets are superb. It is unclear to me how they managed to pull off some of the shots. I know how it would have been done today but in 1968 the amount of work that would have gone into making these things work would have required a lot of planning.
As for the story its….well complicated. The film starts off with the apes (make and prosthetics that lost out to Planet of the Apes at the Oscars yet is far superior) going about their lives until the monolith appears and freaks them out. Then we meet Heywood Floyd who is the head of the US National Council of Astronauts who is sent to the moon to investigate a monolith that has been found buried in the moon. Then the story moves along to the Discover One spacecraft where we meet scientists Dave and Frank who are on their way to Jupiter along with their computer HAL9000 but when there is a dispute with HAL, the astronauts decide to disconnect HAL but HAL starts to go a bit crazy and then Dave ends up in some fancy bedroom with another monolith looking at him. The plot does become a bit confusing once Dave deativates HAL but even then I still felt involved in the story and that is the reason why the film works so well. Even when the plot is slightly confusing or some things dont make sense, there is enough intrigue to keep things ticking along nicely.
I really enjoyed seeing this at the cinema. Not only is it great on a technical level but seeing it on the biggest screen has made me enjoy it even more. At nearly two and half hours the entire film flies by and even with the awkward intermission in the middle which might have worked in 1968 but in 2026 doesnt, this film rightly deserves its place in the discussion of greatest sci-fi films of all times. There are technical feats here that look just as good as stuff made today. I dont know if its the best Stanley Kubrick film but its up there.
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