Late to the party

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2010)

Strictly speaking, I should have been in the queue for 2001 when it was first released - aged 16 and a major science fiction fan, I can't understand how come I missed it, and didn't pick it up until a cinema re-release 6 years later, when I saw it 3 times in 3 days.
You can take it that I really liked it.
The intervening years have cooled me down somewhat. I still like eye candy, but we're spoiled for it these days. I still like spacecraft and sci-fi generally, but ditto.
And this leaves me looking at 2001 solely on its own merits.
When I saw it in the 70s, I had read Clarke's short story The Sentinel shortly before, and I therefore had a pretty good idea of what the story was. Standing back and looking at the movie and imagining myself in the position of someone coming to it cold, it must have been a nightmare. I guess it would be possible to figure out the link between the monoliths, although possibly not until encountering the one on the moon - fabulous though the jump-cut from bone to orbiting satellite may be, I'm not sure it actually explains anything. The Jupiter mission is straightforward enough, but the final sequence is baffling to anyone not in the know.
This was not a friendly film to offer to the general public although, to be fair, there is no reason why it should have been. I read aggressively defensive comments disparaging those who have trouble with the movie because it does not offer a readily comprehensible narrative, and I find myself thinking that, while there is no reason why Kubrick should have done so - his choice, and I respect that - it is perfectly understandable for members of the film-going public to be a little bemused not to find the narrative they expected. People expect things to be explained and, to some extent, it is perverse not to make that explanation available given that it exists.
For all that, this is trailblazing stuff from an effects point of view, with a stunning vocal performance from Douglas Rains.
By the way, count me among those who think Kubrick took it at rather too leisurely a pace.