2001: A Space Odyssey Blu-Ray Review

Rated G

Running Time: 2 Hours & 29 Minutes

Cast:

Keir Dullea-David Bowman

Gary Lockwood-Frank Poole

Douglas Rain (voice)-HAL 9000

William Sylvester-Dr. Heywood R. Floyd

Robert Beatty-Dr. Ralph Halvorsen

Sean Sullivan-Dr. Bill Michaels

Leonard Rossiter-Dr. Andrei Smyslov

Margaret Tyzack-Elena

Daniel Richter-Moon Watcher/Lead Primitive Human

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

"Open the pod bay doors, HAL."

As I closed my eyes and hummed to the tune of Johann Strauss II’s famous waltz The Blue Danube while it plays triumphantly during the end credits of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 magnum opus “2001: A Space Odyssey,” I lamented on the fact that such cinematic heights have become all too rare nowadays in Hollywood’s increasingly commercialized climate where money has taken precedence over creativity. The only director working today to come close to matching Kubrick’s intense perfectionism while maintaining total artistic control is Terrence Malick, whose latest film, “The Tree of Life,” was released earlier this year to critical acclaim, winning the prestigious Palme d'Or at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival in France. Audience reaction however was mixed as many found the film too abstract and struggled to grasp its meaning while others derided it as nothing more than pretentious claptrap. Strangely, “2001: A Space Odyssey” faced a similar polarizing reception upon its release as during its premiere, 241 people walked out during the screening with actor Rock Hudson reportedly asking, ‘Will someone tell me what the hell this is about?’ Opinions slowly changed and forty-three years later, “2001: A Space Odyssey” is widely considered not just a science-fiction masterpiece but one of the greatest films ever made. I find it humorously ironic that if Kubrick were still alive and released such a film today, reactions would still be polarizing, especially from the masses that lack the necessary patience for such a methodical and philosophical work, weaned as they are on recycled, easily-digestible stories and shiny yet ultimately meaningless CG special effects. Four decades later, “2001: A Space Odyssey” has lost none of its hypnotic power and remains as a singular experience that no filmmaker has come close to replicating with the exception of Malick. Exploring the very nature of humanity’s advancement and place in the universe, Kubrick’s visually dazzling magnum opus transcends the definition of film, becoming an awe-inspiring work of art. 

After an ominous overture, “2001: A Space Odyssey” opens to the booming introduction from Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra before settling into its first of four acts. A group of ape-like, early humans are foraging for food but are driven from their water hole by a more aggressive tribe. They awake the next day to find a strange black Monolith before them and approach it cautiously while György Ligeti’s Requiem (the Kyrie) blares in intensity. Later, one of the members of the group realizes how to use a bone as both a tool and a weapon and reclaims their water hole by killing the leader of the other tribe. He throws the bone triumphantly into the air and the scene shifts (via match-cut) to an orbital nuclear satellite thousands of years into future (presumably the year 2001). Humanity has reached the stars and as a Pam Am space shuttle proceeds to dock with Space Station V, Strauss II’s The Blue Danube plays in the background. The shuttle is carrying a Dr. Heywood R. Floyd (William Sylvester), who is meeting with a security official on the space station before proceeding to Clavius Base, a United States outpost on the Moon, to investigate an excavated anomaly ‘deliberately buried’ underneath the lunar surface four million years ago. This anomaly turns out to be another Monolith which emits a loud signal directed towards Jupiter when Floyd and his team of scientists get close to investigate. Eighteen months later, the American spaceship Discovery One is slowly on-route to Jupiter carrying three scientists via cryogenic hibernation while pilots David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) tend to the day-to-day maintenance of the ship, their efforts assisted by a supercomputer nicknamed HAL (voice of Douglas Rain). HAL begins to exhibit strange behavior during the journey, forcing Bowman and Poole to become locked in a battle of wits against the supercomputer. However, nothing can prepare them for what is waiting on Jupiter and ‘beyond the infinite.’ 

People viewing “2001: A Space Odyssey” for the first time will no doubt wonder what the whole point of the film is but that is one of the beauties of Kubrick’s work as there are no easy answers. Loosely inspired by the 1951 short story The Sentinel by British science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, the film and subsequent novel adaptation were developed concurrently and released the same year with Clarke receiving sole credit for the latter while sharing a screenplay credit with Kubrick for the former. Although the novel does shed light on many of the events and motivations of the characters in the film, it is highly advised to read it after viewing the film because it will allow the viewer to formulate their own interpretations of what Kubrick is trying to convey rather than going the easy route. “2001: A Space Odyssey” jettisons almost all traditional methods of narrative, with some critics such as Roger Ebert likening it to a silent film due to the minimal use of dialogue. Judging from an acting standpoint, the performances do come off as dull with little in the way of emotion since the characters serve mainly as conduits for Kubrick’s themes and ideas. What little is said is largely of the mundane variety and the only instance in which the film strikes an emotional chord is when HAL repeatedly pleads with Bowman not to disconnect him as he fears death and sings Harry Dacre’s Daisy Bell to soothe his own pain—which is ironic considering that he is an incorporeal machine. A tense moment arrives late in the film with Bowman locked in a battle of wits with HAL as the supercomputer tricks the pilot by locking him out of Discovery One, forcing Bowman to enter through the emergency airlock without an oxygen helmet despite the risk of anoxia. 

Split into four distinct acts, the film can best be described as a symphony and Kubrick utilizes a number of classical music pieces in lieu of a traditional score.  The docking sequence between the shuttle and the space station is lovingly edited to the tempo of Strauss II’s The Blue Danube to resemble something akin to a waltz and this beautiful scene, in its stark simplicity, remains superior to all of its CG-driven contemporaries. Certain music cues, especially the ones from György Ligeti, have an ominous and foreboding tone, lending a pessimistic slant to the way humanity’s evolution is linked with an act of violence, first with a simple bone club and finally advancing to a massive nuclear satellite orbiting Earth. Kubrick also took great pains in making space travel as scientifically realistic as possible, starting with the fact that there is no sound in space. All of the space scenes are either totally silent or accompanied by classical music. Space travel follows the speed of light with time delays between sending and receiving communications. Ship designs were made to look functional according to engineering considerations rather than for aesthetics. There are some inaccuracies related to navigating a zero-gravity environment but this can be attributed to technical difficulties or artistic license. 

Unfortunately, all of the aforementioned aspects are ignored by audiences who keep asking the same question over and over: what is the film about? That’s a hard one to answer as it differs from person to person but for me, “2001: A Space Odyssey” is an exploration of humanity’s advancement and their place in the universe. The Monoliths are no doubt of extraterrestrial origin but all attempts to understand it have failed. We often ascribe human-like qualities to strange creatures or objects but the probability of meeting an alien race that resembles us is virtually zero. The inability to establish a dialogue with extraterrestrials is explored in another seminal science fiction work, Stanisław Lem’s 1961 novel Solaris, which was adapted into a film in 1972 by Andrei Tarkovsky and again in 2002 by Steven Soderbergh. Humanity likes to believe they are in control of their own fates but it is the Monoliths who spur our evolution and the signal sent to Jupiter could be a way to signify that we are ready for the next step, to transcend the limitations of the physical form into something entirely new. The final twenty minutes, puzzling as they are, is one of the most visually dazzling and surreal sequences in all of cinema as Bowman is sucked into some sort of wormhole and witnesses a variety of cosmic phenomena. He arrives at a place of limbo full of ornate furniture and lives out the remaining of his years where time appears to be accelerated. On his deathbed, the Monolith appears before Bowman once more, transforming him into the ‘Star Child,’ an event that signifies the cyclical nature of life, death, and rebirth. Free from all physical constraints, this form is the final step in human evolution and represents the unimaginable possibilities that await the rest of humanity. 

“2001: A Space Odyssey” has been available on Blu-Ray since late-2007 and the results are nothing short of stunning. For those who have seen the film, viewing it in full-blown high definition is akin to seeing it for the first time. The opening act is full of vibrant color as the camera slowly pans across the arid desert but the space scenes are on another level as all the intricacies of the ships from the outer hull to the beeping cockpits are fully realized. For a film made four decades ago, this transfer rivals many of its contemporaries. The audio has a bit of a hollow effect that is common in older films but the numerous pieces of classical music are accurately reproduced and the dialogue remains sharp, especially HAL’s monotone way of speaking. The Blu-Ray has a healthy dose of extras including an audio commentary with actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, plus various featurettes in standard definition ranging from twenty to forty minutes long exploring aspects of the production design and the long-lasting influence the film has had on both cinema and contemporary filmmakers. 

Released on April 6, 1968 (re-released on October 5, 2001), “2001: A Space Odyssey” inspired a wide range of reactions with some critics praising the film and others deriding it as nothing but a tedious bore. James Berardinelli of ReelViews writes in his own review that ‘it’s a universal truth that art isn't always immediately recognized as such—this is why so many revered painters, authors, and composers have died in poverty and relative obscurity.’ As with the case with Kubrick’s film, opinions slowly changed and it is now widely regarded as a masterpiece and currently has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. With an estimated production budget of $10.5 million, the film managed to turn a small profit with a domestic gross of $57 million or a whopping $369 million when adjusted for inflation. Apparently, MGM wanted to pull the film from theaters as it appeared to be a major box office flop but several theater owners managed to convince the studio to keep showing the film as an increasing number of audience members were paying to see it specifically for the famous ‘Star Gate’ scene under the influence of psychotropic drugs. The film was nominated in four categories at the 1969 41st Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects, Art Direction, Director, and Original Screenplay but only won for the effects. “2001: A Space Odyssey” caters to a very specific type of cinema lover as mainstream viewers even to this day continue to throw up their hands and wonder what all the fuss is about. One of my Literature professors screened the film to an audience who honestly did not deserve to be shown something of this magnitude and many either fell asleep or began loudly complaining about how boring it is. This is the reality of the majority of moviegoers and I understand they simply want to be ‘entertained’ but to not strive for something more meaningful, something that makes you ponder the ‘bigger picture’ is just sad. “2001: A Space Odyssey” is an important film in cinema history whose influence in filmmaking has been and continues to be far-reaching. This is a work of art the likes of which we’ll never see again and everyone should be given the chance to at least experience it once. ‘Open the pod bay doors, HAL’ and prepare for a majestic, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking odyssey ‘beyond the infinite.’

Final Rating: 5 out of 5

“Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried forty feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter the four million year old black Monolith has remained completely inert. Its origin and purpose…are still a total mystery.” 

Note: Johann Strauss II's The Blue Danube plays during the end credits, which only last for approximately four minutes. Since the piece lasts for eight minutes, it continues to play over a black screen.