Comments, Critic, and Generalities

Rating: 10/10 (3 August 2001)

SPOILER ALERT FOR 2001 and 2010
2010 is a fine sequel to a rambling and visionary film. 2001 takes some getting used to and while I love the movie I ultimately fast forward through Bowman's voyage into the Monolith. That being said 2010 picks up like any good sequel where the first one left off. In the Nevada Desert at the VLA. It is from here that that NASA has been monitoring the ill-fated Discovery mission, and it is here that we learn, not from our own sources, that something is rotten off of Io.
Placed against the Cold War and heightened tensions of 1984, it seems odd and a bit dejevu for some of us. I can remember spending a day in a bomb shelter in Oslo, Norway when a KAL 747 was shot down over the Kamchatcha Peninsula. I can remember the Cold War being this frosty, and coming close to open arms. Watching this movie brings all of that back.

That being said it is a wonderful time capsule looking at what we thought the world could be. 2010 socially and technically represents what the director's and Clarke's vision of the future could be. The Plot is trimmed down from the book, but that is to be expected. The full scope of the book would have been hard pressed to filmed and come in on or even acceptable levels of cost overruns.
2010 stands on its own as one of the more compelling SF movies. Yes it is overshadowed by Kubricks Masterpiece but it is an excellent movie in its own right. The FX, dialogue, plot and acting all come together to turn a complicated and engrossing book into a visual and intellectual film. One can not come out of this movie (cynics and Gen X'ers excluded) and not help but to wonder what is beyond our horizon.
One of the disadents of this movie remarked that the Birth of Lucifer would wipe out life on Earth. If it were any other author than Clarke I would suspect that they would be right. However time and time again Mr. Clarke has shown the world that much of what can be imagined can be built. His brand of technical and social science fiction is based on technical possiblities and is generally pretty accurate. Aside from that I have found a few articles in Scientific American and Popular Mechanics mentioning the premise of the Birth of Lucifer. A star that never got started.

So in conclusion. The science of 2010, the sociology of 2010, and the inspiration of the book are all carried throw to the movie. Maybe not as well as we would hope, but it is all there. This movie is a compelling look at what we could have been had Apollo been continued. It is a worthy successor to 2001 and an enjoyable film.