2001: A Space Odyssey (4 Stars)

This is one of the most highly acclaimed films ever made. It's usually considered to be Stanley Kubrick's best film, but I prefer "Spartacus" and "The Shining". I wouldn't call it the best science fiction film ever made, but it's certainly the most influential. It's left a mark on later films like "Interstellar". Stylistically, it's influenced every film Lars Von Trier has ever made, especially "Melancholia". 

"2001" – I prefer to shorten the title – is best understood in the context of when it was made. The year was 1968, and the first Moon landing was imminent. There was optimism for further space exploration. It was feasible that there would be a trip to Jupiter in 2001. Why didn't it ever happen? The technology was probably available, especially when computers shrunk in size and increased in power in the 1980's and 1990's. The reason that bigger space trips didn't take place was probably money. The Moon trips were prestige, to prove that America was superior to Russia, so it was worth investing millions of dollars. Russia never caught up with America, so nobody wanted to throw money away on a trip to Mars or Jupiter.

"2001" assumes that computers would become more intelligent but remain large. The date of HAL's creation is given as 12th January 1992. Stanley Kubrick was too optimistic. Artificial intelligence of HAL's level is only just beginning to emerge. We need to wait another ten years before a computer can be interviewed for television broadcasts. (Yes, I know that computers can already speak in a human way, but they're still reliant on knowledge being pumped into them to be recited on demand).

The film tries to remain realistic, but it's science fiction, not science fact. It speculates that the first men were monkeys whose evolution was accelerated by the arrival of a mysterious monolith on Earth. Whoever was responsible for the monolith has been observing us ever since. Pure speculation. It may be true, but it probably isn't. The final scenes deteriorate into bursts of psychedelia. I can't help feeling that I would enjoy the end of the film more if I were under the influence of LSD.

Considering its age, the film isn't very dated. It looks like a low budget film made ten years ago.

This film has sentimental value to me, because it's one of the few films I ever watched in the cinema with my father. Possibly it was the first film I watched with him, because it was usually my mother who took me to the cinema.

Success Rate:  + 11.9

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