It Grew On Me, And Now I Can't Do Without It...

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2009)

I had to watch this movie for my film class. I walked out. It bored me to tears, and I simply was not interested in anything it had to say, mostly because of the tediously slow pace to it. I had been told about the terrific technical achievement and all that, but it still bored me stiff.
My friend lent it to me a year later, and I got a bit further before turning it off again, having been bored to tears once again.
A couple of years ago, I saw it on sale for three pounds. I bought it, thinking I should give it another try, and I am so glad I did.
I went into it remembering that they started filming it in 1965, and that it was released in 1968 - before man had landed on the moon. This changed my whole perception of the film.
Firstly, it is a Kubrick film. He was a perfectionist. Nothing was in the mise-en-scene that should not have been. It has the feel of perfection, with symmetry and precise actions being commonplace.
Secondly, the technical achievements of this film, and the never-before-scene imagery still stand up today as astonishing, so how they were perceived back in the sixties must have been something to behold.
The part of the film I had never seen before (The Jupiter Mission) was the part that impressed me the most though. The Jupiter Mission both impressed and scared me. HAL is one of the most frightening creations I have ever seen in cinema.
Overall, this film still looks impressive, even today. The only criticism I have for this film is the slow nature of some of the shots. I imagine this was done for two reasons - the first being to showcase the technological achievement in film-making that Kubrick had managed - the second being Kubrick's message that space is both frightening and mundane at the same time.