The greatest sci fi of them all.

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2019)

Stanley Kubrick's '2001 A Space Odyssey is the kind of film that viewers really have to prepare for. Well, thats what I tell people before they devote their precious time to watch sci fi's most admired entry. 2001 opens to desolate plains in prehistoric times. This 15 minute sequence demonstrates how ape-like creatures can use the bones of an animal to kill a tribal rival. During all this, a bizzare alien monolith appears and causes bewilderment amongst the primates. Just as the bone is hurled into the air to signify celebration, the film jumps thousands of years into the future as a space station orbits the solar system. We are introduced to Dr. Heywood Floyd (William Sylvester) who is travelling to the moon with the task of exploring a black monolith that has been found beneath the lunar surface. The monolith starts to beam a heavy transmission toward Jupiter and 18 months later astronauts Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are en route to find answers. Like many of Kubrick's films, we see a lack of emotion and personality from his characters. But in 2001, it exhibits the fact that we may not be superior to the apes, but having access to better equiptment certainly gives the illusion that we are. The most impressive character is a computer named HAL. He is inquisitive, shows empathy and expresses concern toward the activities of the two pilots aboard the space ship Discovery. The actions of HAL that follow are etched into film history, im sure you have heard many impressions of the rouge computer. Dave confronts the monolith, transporting him into an unknown dimension, ageing him beyond belief, before morphing into a shining fetus appearing in space. Its questionable which segment of 2001 is the most memorable, Kubrick merges together an impeccable ensemble of music and stirring visuals to create a movie that doesnt play by the rules that other films adhere to. 2001 is a puzzle that begs to be solved, the ambiguity only adding to the overall brilliance, each and every frame worthy of a discussion, if not a debate.