Replies

I bought 2001 from the bargain bin last year and watched it. Absolutely terrible. Then I remembered I hadn't really liked it much when it was new.

And now for an opposing point of view...

2001 came out in 1968; I was in eighth grade and living in Japan. Over the next year, I went to see the movie at least 14 times, including losing the chance at a girl friend over it (I took her to the movie, then spent the remainder of the date trying to explain the movie, and that was our last date). To steal an old 7-UP ad line, 2001 was the un-movie, which is one reason why, when 2010 was made a generation later, it was much more of the traditional plot and archetypal characters that movie audiences have learned to expect. I will occasionally watch it now, but more for nostalgia than fascination, since so much of the techniques and technology in the movie is outdated.

I can say that Special FX aren’t all that great alone by themselves. Fitting the FX into the story is the big key. Great Escape, despite being from back in 1963, is entertaining from the fact that you can see real stuntmen doing their thing, and not CG imitations of the person.

Clash of the Titans (the original) is immensely entertaining for how well Harryhausen pushed at doing claymation in the Krakken and the other mythological monsters. How they played with the lighting on Medusa in the original made her scary enough I was glad she was fake, otherwise, my bladder would empty real fast.

I would say, however, that it actually took the novel for me to appreciate the film 2001. Mostly because the novel allowed me to have somewhat of a background understanding of what was going on.

2001 came out in 1968; I was in eighth grade and living in Japan. Over the next year, I went to see the movie at least 14 times, including losing the chance at a girl friend over it (I took her to the movie, then spent the remainder of the date trying to explain the movie, and that was our last date). To steal an old 7-UP ad line, 2001 was the un-movie, which is one reason why, when 2010 was made a generation later, it was much more of the traditional plot and archetypal characters that movie audiences have learned to expect. I will occasionally watch it now, but more for nostalgia than fascination, since so much of the techniques and technology in the movie is outdated.

I used to be a big fan of 2001. I still enjoy the special effects which still look great. I like the actors and all the stuff with H.A.L., which is classic. The soundtrack album helped get me into classical music. However, these days I see the whole evolution concept of the movie as rather over the top. The fetus floating in space representing the 'birth of the superman' strikes me as ridiculous now.

IMO, the great Kubrick film is Barry Lyndon.