2001: Well Predicted But Unentertaining

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, set in the year 2001 but made in 1968, follows five astronauts and a robot as they embark on a mission to Jupiter. The robot, Hal, is considered a sixth member of the crew and is made to be infallible. When Hal senses an impending system failure on the ship, two of the astronauts, Dr. Frank Poole and Dr. Dave Bowman, check it out and determine that nothing is wrong with the system. They then decide that Hal is not as reliable as once thought and decide to disable him so that he does not endanger the mission. What they do not know is that Hal can read their lips and therefore is aware of their plan. Hal conspires against them, killing four of the five astronauts including Dr. Poole. Dr. Bowman escapes being murdered by Hal and in a famous scene Frank begins to dissemble Hal as “Hal gradually regresses as his mind is taken apart until he is finally shut down” (IMBD). Dr. Bowman continues the mission to Jupiter where he comes across a monolith which has been seen many times throughout the movie. He goes inside the monolith and is transported through space and time. He ends up finding himself on his deathbed with another monolith at the foot of his bed. He then becomes a star child, a fetus inside an amniotic sac orbiting the earth.

There have been many opinions and theories made about Kubrick’s film. One thing is for sure though; he did a fantastic job predicting the technologies of the future. The technologies used in this film, such as video chatting, were only fantasy in 1968 but have become reality today. Because the movie was made in 1968, Kubrick had to work on the special effects without the help of computer animation. With this said, the special effects of this movie are ahead of its time. Kubrick was the first to show the idea of weightlessness in space and the scenes of the space ship landing on the moon and Jupiter are done without looking hokey as science fiction movies tended to be in the 60’s.

Along with its advanced special effects, the music in 2001: A Space Odyssey has made an indelible mark in history. Kubrick originally hired Alex North to create an original score for the film but he used classical music temporarily while he edited the film. He liked it so much that he decided to keep it. According to Roger Ebert, this was “crucial” because North’s music “attempts to underline the action—give us emotional cues. The classical music chosen by Kubrick exists outside the action. It uplifts” (rogerebert.com). The music was such a good idea that it is used in montages and spoofs today.

While the special effects and music were without question the best of their time, that does not stop the movie from being a major snore fest. Maybe this is because this movie, meant to be watched over and over and contemplated, went over my head. It also bored me because in a 160 minute movie, it contained only 40 minutes of dialogue. I can’t read a book that does not have enough dialogue, let alone watch a movie. This is why the music is so important throughout the movie. Kubrick needed something to take up the dead space left by the lack of dialogue. Since the characters aren’t going to tell the audience when to be sad and when to be mesmerized, the music had to. When I sit down to watch a movie, I want to relax. I snuggle up on the couch and await laughter and tears. I do not want to have to analyze every scene, determining what the characters are thinking and which scenes are important and which are fillers. 2001 is all about symbolism and I don’t have the desire to figure out what everything means. It takes a certain kind of person, intellectual and inquisitive, to be able to sit through this movie and get what Kubrick is trying to say.

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey no doubt displayed innovative thinking through its spectacular special effects and novel use of classical music, but it failed to be entertaining to the average audience. While many people enjoy a film that forces them to reflect upon it as they leave the theater, I do enough of that in school and work. I don’t like movies that make me feel dumb for not understanding their complicated plots and symbolic meanings. I had a hard time staying awake while watching this movie and would not watch it again given the chance.