One of the most profound, insightful movies ever made

Rating: Null/10 (30 November 2004)

If there is just one helpful hint I can give you, PLEASE . . . Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book
Late Breaking News: Tuesday, 14 September, 2004 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3651184.stm
HAL named 'top sci-fi moment' ever!
The scene when the computer HAL becomes insane in 2001: A Space Odyssey has been named the most important moment in sci-fi history by a panel of experts.
' 2001 was the permission slip that Stanley gave all us students to go out and flex our imaginations. I think without 2001 there would not have been a Close Encounters or Star Wars.' - Steven Spielberg
I just had to comment on one of my favorite movies. For all of those under 30 that say it is 'slow', no action, it is true. . . it is not the Matrix. It deals with the Alpha and Omega, the creation of man, and (in my interpretation) the returning of the Messiah (or if you are Jewish, the first time he is coming) to earth! Yes folks, this is what the 'Star Child' is. This new, evolved omnipotent being is human . . . but is here to save the world (from ourselves).
Remember, the movie was written during the cold war, and it projected that (as unfortunately Bush is now pushing for), there will be a weaponizing of space, with atomic bombs and doomsday scenarios. (read the book 2001  at the end - ' The Star Child  silently detonates the atomic weapons that threaten all of mankind' !!!)
Why it missed the mark on AI (computer) Artificial Intelligence? The hype, at the time the film was made, by AI enthusiasts might have been one of the reasons Kubrick and Clark over estimated what those approaches might deliver. The lesson to learn is that we all need to take a critical look at allowing marketing people in the computer industry over hype items they do not understand.
What Happened to HAL?
A human computer programming error and poor Project Management judgment caused the Jupiter mission to fail. As HAL explains it, a coding bug caused his breakdown. Human error! He was instructed (ie: programmed) never to lie to people, and at the same time, was instructed to keep the truth about the purpose of the "real" mission (ie: investigating the blinking light) a secret. This human induced conflict and dilemma is the reason HAL had a neuroses, leading to a psychosis and eventually, with a realization of its own mortality, delusional megalomania, and a complete 'nervous breakdown'.
The Toilet is an 'inside' joke. The very detailed instructions on the 2001 space toilet was very clever. We must all remember the KISS principle. (Keep it super simple)
If there is ONE criticism I can make of the movie, since most people I talk to have NOT read the book, it is that Clarke and Kubrick (who co-authored the book and screenplay in conjunction with making the movie) could have spent 10 more minutes to give better hints as to:
what the two monoliths were (artifacts left by a visiting cosmic intelligence),
what do they do (give man  as one reviewer here calls it, a 'kick in the pants' toward its next stage of evolution),
the psychedelic color show (a space warp  through which  the humans that were eventually drawn to the blinking light will be sucked into and be taken to a far flung place in the universe  which is the original 'home' of the supreme cosmic intelligence that planted the two monoliths ( so long ago) in our part of the Milky Way Galaxy.
(NOTE: This technique was used not just with us here on Earth, but as the book points out, this cosmic intelligence used the same mechanism (monolith  blinking light  cosmic warp) hundreds of times at hundreds of places in other parts of the Cosmos (and had the same effect  namely  drawing hundreds of various diverse spaceships to his 'home' location, if they should ever evolve to a technological level that would let them build space ships in the first place).
The first monolith, in my interpretation, is Alpha  the 'creation' of what is 'man'. The 'moon watcher' ape turned  via a spark of intelligence to use tools  into a 'higher' being - thereby allowing his clan to eventually 'dominate' the world and take the next logical step  to go to the moon.
One Last Comment: PLEASE . . . Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book, Read the Book  and remember  it was written during the cold war, with the very existence of humans on earth decided by a push of the button at Moscow or Washington!