Uniquely Boring and Brilliant

Rating: Null/10 (3 January 2004)

Kubrick's sci-fi epic is arguably,even nearly four decades on,technically the most accomplished of it's kind ever made.This is not surprising,since Kubrick was,with little doubt,the fussiest,most meticulous of filmmakers. Visually,the film is breathtaking,with special effects that are still remarkably convincing,and unlike every other sci-fi caper there are no scaly alien psychos,no ray-gun fights,no spaceship chases,no planets being blown-up.Instead,we have a measured,methodically-paced narrative which(personally)gets off to an interminable start with actors in ape suits(no where near as good as the same year's PLANET OF THE APES),but the scene finishes ingeniously when a flying bone cuts to the shape of a space station floating in orbit.The big 'if' about 2001 is the human interest,or rather the lack of it.Kubrick has(most certainly deliberately)no big name actors in the film,only mildly well known North American performers like Keir Dullea,William Sylvester,and Robert Beatty,but there are surprising appearences by the great Leonard Rossiter(better known for his roles in classic British sitcoms like RISING DAMP and REGGIE PERRIN)and even veteran BBC newsreader Kenneth Kendall,on BBC 12(an accurate prediction of cable and satalite TV). The problem for the actors is that the script is just plain dull,and the only real character of interest is a non-human,HAL the computer,a gentle-voiced,monotoned contraption that turns nasty(superbly voiced by Douglas Rain). Despite the sensuous visuals before it,the final journey into infinity is a quite extraordinary piece of cinema which even surpasses the outstanding model work seen earlier in the film.The ending is either confusing,pointless,obscure,symbolic or meaningful according to your mood,but despite the lack of human feeling throughout,just sit back and enjoy some of the most lustrous images ever filmed,or even,as they did in 1968,think of it as 'THE ULTIMATE TRIP',without LSD!