A somewhat disappointing prophecy about things to come

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2004)

There are some imaginative ideas in this film but with the passage of time since it was made the element of surprise and amazing feats described are now every day occurrences. Space craft landing on distant planets....computers that are voice-activated. Astronauts are now the new explorers....the great adventurers reaching out into the dangerous unknown spaces. We read about them every day in the newspapers and we see them floating around in their weightlessness on our TV screens.
This film is not a documentary nor a drama (there are far more exciting films) but rather a man's artistic interpretation of what might be in his future. The film is divided into segments beginning with the dawn of man. The episodes which follow are only mildly linked with what has gone before. The most obvious perhaps is the tossing of an ancient thighbone into the air and in the next episode we see a spaceship which somewhat resembles the shape of that thighbone. Some of the other linkages must be left to the imagination.
In one sequence we get the impression of the spaceship (isn't it huge?)hurtling through space by the use of colours streaming from a central point giving quite a good 3D effect. But since this film was made the computer graphics have advanced to such a degree that everything in the past pales into insignificance.
I cannot imagine how such a mighty spacecraft could be launched. Nor is there any attempt to suggest how this was possible. I presume it was built in space beyond the earth's atmosphere. As I said this is an art film not a how-to-do-it documentary.
I was disappointed with the salon that the astronaut enters when he reaches Jupiter. The furnishings look so familiar with tables and chairs, wine glasses and knives and forks. I never imagined that the beings on Jupiter looked like us nor had the same life style.
As for the mysterious black monolith that pops up from time to time, every one is forced to use his own imagination as to what purpose it serves. I do not know. I can only surmise that it has some kind of regenerative power which creates beings for the next step in man's development. A sort of super cloning device. Imaginative, yes. This assumes of course that we are on the right path to the summit of excellence.
The most exciting moment in the film is the argument between the astronaut and the computer when the computer informs him that something has gone wrong and danger lies ahead. The close-ups of the astronaut's intense expression are well done. Most of the other characters are not developed to any extent and consequently less interesting.
In my opinion...interesting, but not Kubrik's best work.