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2001: A Space Odyssey HD (1 Viewer)

Nelson Au

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Interesting interpretation Dennis. Having very little religious exposure in my life experiences, I would never have made that interpretation. This is the whole point Kubrick is making, that everyone will interprete the film differently and have their own take on it. I always saw it as man and his machines and then man overcoming his machines, starting with a little nudge from aliens.
 

Jefferson Morris

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Kubrick did believe he was making a film about extraterrestrial influence, although these extraterrestrials are so advanced as to be virtually indistinguishable from deities. He even intended to show the aliens at the end, and went as far as having artists do conceptual designs, before wisely abandoning the idea.

Of course that's not to say a religious interpretation or Christian interpretation (though Kubrick was Jewish) isn't equally valid. I've always found it interesting that the monolith in space forms the shape of a cross when it floats in front of the Jovian moons lined up in conjunction just before Bowman passes into the stargate. Bowman can certainly be intepreted as a Christ figure--dying, being reborn into a higher level of being, and returning to Earth (presumably) to bring some sort of salvation.

--Jefferson Morris
 

Aaron Silverman

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Heck, most people stop after only ONE ice cube off a witch's tit. Few have the fortitude to handle a second. ;)

Honestly, it's been so long since I've seen 2001 that I can't remember whether I was bored by it or not. I'm looking forward to seeing it again though (and now I know a lot more about what it's trying to say than I did way back when).

I remember reading the second sequel (2061), but don't remember a thing about it. I can't remember whether I ever read the fourth book (3001!). :)
 

Craig S

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Or, as he's better known today, Zoom-Zoom.

Sorry, it was just hanging there and I couldn't resist!!

Seriously, Dennis, that's fascinating. I hadn't come across that before, and I've been reading about this film since 1968, almost a year BEFORE I saw it in the spring of 1969 (I was 11 at the time, living on K.I. Sawyer AFB in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan - in other words, in the middle of nowhere. In those days it was always 6-12 months after their release that most films showed up at the little on-base theater.). That's one of the thigns that's great about this film - it's open to endless discussion & interpretation.

Now if Warner would just hurry up and ship the damn thing...
 

Josh Steinberg

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Every time I see the sequence with them on the moon shuttle traveling to the Sea of Tranquility (where the monolith is), I always wonder just how they're going to pour that cup of coffee in reduced gravity... and then wouldn't you know it, the scene ends just before he tilts the pitcher enough for the coffee to begin pouring. :)
 

JonZ

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""Yeah, I'm gonna need $200 million to do this giant science-fiction film that's going to be loaded with classical music, begins with apes, lasts about two and a half hours but only has about forty minutes of dialog, ends with a big light show and a floating baby in space, and I'm not going to bother to explain it to you or the audience either. Oh, and by the way, this isn't for art houses or critics, this is for the biggest and best cinemas in the world, it's going to be your big summer blockbuster too!"

:laugh:

Ron & Mike,
Because this film has such long periods without any dialogue, you can always listen to the commentary.Kier and Garys comments on the film are usually pretty interesting. Found how they got some of the things in the Jupiter scenes to work very insightful. I listened to just a fraction of it, but plan on going back for the rest this weekend.

During Pete As showing of 2001 in Mahwah a few years ago Keir and Gary did a Q&A afterwards. Keir recited a lengthy piece of dialogue that was cut which got a nice round of applause. Amazing he remembered it word for word all these years later.

Reason why I mention that is I was hoping Kier mentions it somewhere on this commentary.
 

Josh Steinberg

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I wonder what piece of dialogue it was. Though for how many times Kubrick probably made him recite it onset, he probably couldn't forget it if he wanted to! :)
 

JonZ

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Josh,
It was communication with earth Nasa type stuff. Very long and intricate and Im amazed he remembered it word for word.
 

KurtEP

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As much as I enjoy 2001 (and I've watched it three times since I picked it up Tuesday), I think it's pretty tough to approach without some knowledge of the book. Even reading through this thread, it's obvious that you can come up with widely divergent views of the meaning of the movie just viewing it by itself. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I prefer to view it almost as the film equivalent to a tone poem, much like Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra is to Nietzsche's work. While I don't mind mystery in a film (like never finding out what's in the case in Ronin), I do think the two viewed together are greater than the sum of their parts. Given the strength of the two individual pieces, this makes their sum unbelievably powerful.

The film itself has some of the most stunning imagery of any film I've ever viewed. There are more scenes capable of sending chills down my spine in this movie than any other in my collection or that I've viewed elsewhere. Just off the top of my head, a few that jump out:

* The beginning eclipse
* The sun over the monolith
* The discovery of tools
* The four million year jump in time.

And this is just the first part of the film, there are countless others. The only pity is that the film didn't get the earth a bit better, but they didn't have enough to really work with. There are very few other films that have any scenes that really jump out like this.

I also love the sense of optimism in the film, although I know many find it as pessimistic. While HAL is viewed as a villain, it is a different sort of villain than the banal and almost ubiquitous computers that surround and tend to dehumanize us today. Kubrick and Clarke showed us a future where AI was a reality, space travel was common enough to be boring, and a trip to a Jovian moon was not out of the question. Today, I fear we've lost the view that science will improve our lives, probably from unfortunate experience...

In any event, this is a magnificent viewing experience in BD, and it is movies like this that made my buy into HD formats in the first place. It's a pity there aren't more of them to be bought, although the list is growing slowly.
 

Jack Gilvey

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Great thread. Not surprising that the level of discourse is so high in this one compared to, say, any number of Transformers threads. :)
I picked up this and The Shining at BB, but won't watch until I get my projector set up again.
 

Peter Neski

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The only think that could have been even better on this,is the extas
Theres little about the special effects,and no still file,I made a dvd of
the still File sections from the two laser boxes and found some intresing
stuff(a small amout of plans,Photos ect)
They sould have done something like this on the new DVD,They don't
do Still frame sections on dvd much.I wonder if that massive still file
from the Cllose Encounters box will finally make it to dvd now.
 

Nelson Au

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I believe the reason there is so little info like stills and plans for the special effects, especially the miniatures, is that Kubrick had all that material destroyed after filming. He didn't want his material reused in other Sci-Fi films.

I just got an A35 the other evening, still getting up to speed with it, but I did buy this DVD at the same time, my first HD-DVD aside from the 2 that came with the player. This title and the upcoming Star Trek are what turned me over to HD!

Very impressed with the PQ and the transfer for 2001. I've only seen the first 50 minutes up to the Jupiter Mission. Cool to be able to see all the little details like the Whirlpool logos and other small text. The Dawn of Man sequence was really impressive and it wasn't till this thread that I realized parts of that are shot on a set! I can finally see that, but it's so well lit, it looks like it's really outdoors.
 

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