The Greatest Science Fiction Movie Ever Made

Rating: Null/10 (27 October 2003)

**************Spoilers Ahead*****************

How does one review an unquestioned classic of modern cinema, and still remain honest and objective. First I have to stress that 2001 is not so much a movie as it is an audio-visual experience. You will not find an easy to follow plot structure in 2001. It is not an easy to follow film. The Film's Director, Stanley Kubrick has stated on many occasions that he wanted the audience to leave the film with more questions than answers. You will not find this a conventional Science Fiction film. 2001 defies conventions as easily as it defies explanation.
The plot of the film , which I will not touch on due to the fact that it has been covered extensively elsewhere, is secondary to the thematic questions which the film asks. 2001 is about intelligence, its effects on man, and man's effects on it. It is about mental transcendence; the mind evolving beyond the body. It is about god, or rather a supreme intelligence, and it's effect on those around it.
The film shows three kinds of intelligence. The apes in the "Dawn of Man" represent an animalistic intelligence. Brutal and warlike yet Kubrick specifically refers to them in the segment title as man. He is trying to tell us that human intelligence is low and prone to violence, due to emotions. Anger, jealousy and fear drive man to destroy one an other.
The next intelligence we encounter is HAL. HAL represents Pure Intellect. Logic with an utter lack of emotion. Kubrick shows us that Pure Intellect is just as flawed as Animal Intellect. HAL kills for perfectly logical reasons. It is not brutal. It is not evil. It is uncaring, and that uncaring is just as dangerous.
The Monolith represents supreme intelligence. In this film god is represented by a solid black monolith. Monolith represents god in an almost deistic manner in that does not interact with its surrounding, it simply waits for its surrounding to interact with it. Ape had to chose to come to the monolith, gain emotion and become man. Man had to chose to use its logic and science to find the monolith and transcend to the next level, a blend of pure logic and pure emotion.
If you go into this movie expecting an easy Science-Fiction Film, You will hate it. As easy to follow communicative entertainment 2001 falls flat. As peace of philosophical art however 2001 ranks as one of the triumphs of western culture. The entire film is an exercise in minimalism, there is either voice or music playing never both (and often neither). In fact the first piece of dialogue does not take place until roughly twenty minutes into the film. The whole effect is to take the emphasis off of the story and more on the questions.
The cinematography, direction, and effects in the film are all superb and still stand the test of time. The acting is excellent all around, particularly Douglas Rain's voice-over work as HAL. In short 2001 is an extremely well made film.
The point of all this is this: Do your self a favor, get in the right mind set and go see this film. When you know what to expect and look for 2001 is an extremely thought provoking film, the fulfills its creators expectation.