Absolutely Epic in Scope, Visually Stunning, and a Bit of a Rough Watch

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2011)

I've watched Stanley Kubrick's epic science fiction film for the first time within the last few days, and it certainly gets into your mind and sticks. I've found myself thinking about it often, pondering over the subtext of the film and seeing what conclusions I come to. Kubrick has created an abstract film where each viewer is left to their own devices to find meaning. It begins in the past, as an extraterrestrial monolith spurs our man-ape ancestors to use their first tool/weapon. Thousands of years later, as man begins exploration of the lunar surface, a second monolith is discovered. It beams a powerful radio signal to Jupiter, leading to the next phase of man's interstellar journey. A mission of the utmost secrecy is dispatched to Jupiter. Two astronauts (Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood) attend to the ship's operations with the assistance of the advanced AI, HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain), with three scientists in hibernation. Complications arise when HAL, who appears to have evolved enough sentience to feel emotion, becomes paranoid of the astronauts intentions and turns on them. Those who complete the mission will be catapulted into the next stage of evolution.
I've gone years hearing about how epic Kubrick's film was. I'd tried watching it once as a child, gotten about ten minutes into the "Dawn of Man" sequence, and given up. It's certainly a rough watch for those with shortened attention spans. Kubrick fills his science fiction opera with long-winded scenes of slow-moving space vehicles drifting through their operations while classical music tinkers in the background. The dialogue is minimal and, with the exception of the Jupiter mission sequence with HAL and the astronauts, serves little purpose except to set the stage for the journey being undertaken. This isn't a commercial film meant to appeal to the masses. Kubrick has done what few others have successfully accomplished: used the film medium to create a piece of art. Images and music come together to tell a story of mankind's evolution and where it might eventually lead. The story is hardly the traditional three-act structure audiences are accustomed to, and the characters are barely developed. That's because it's not the characters that are important here, it's the human race as a whole and a vision of our next phase in the universe. The characters are merely tools in the story, and don't really carry it themselves.
It's a trippy experience and I'm not so bold as to claim I fully understand it. The entire final act of the film is a fantastic mind-trip of color, sound, and psychedelic visuals leading to an odd conclusion in a glorious bedroom setting. I hope to avoid spilling too many details and urge those who are curious to watch it themselves, not that my descriptions will make the end any more clearer. Kubrick has stated that each audience member is to draw their own meaning from the film and I see it as being that humans must transcend their reliance on technology to achieve the next stage of evolution. The astronauts' confrontation with the similarly-evolved HAL 9000 seems to act as a final challenge to overcome this dependency, as well as their near-equal in evolutionary terms. The entire HAL sequence is my favorite part of the film and will probably remain one of the most memorable movie sequences ever (particularly the last bit as HAL sings "Daisy"...it's so haunting...). As much as I want to share this film experience with friends, I'm aware it's not for everyone. Even with my intense interest in the film, I had a hard time sitting through some of the drawn-out sequences and the 2.5 hour run-time is pretty daunting. If you can manage it, it's worth watching because it can make for some fantastic conversation with other fans when it's all said and done.