2001: A Space Odyssey

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Sentience, Jul 7, 2021.

  1. Non Sync

    Non Sync Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Clarke was writing the book while the movie was being made. If you really want to get things mixed up, read Clarke's The Lost Worlds of 2001 where he talks about writing the book and the movie being made. It also includes deleted and original chapters of 2001 that where changed.
     
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  2. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

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    There are a lot of brilliant things about that movie... the surprisingly accurate space scenes (no sound), the surprisingly compelling villain, the psychedelia of the monolith sequence, and the mind bending "how old will Dave be next" at the end.
     
  3. Sentience

    Sentience Lieutenant Red Shirt

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    Wow Nightowl, that was quite comprehensive. I'd certainly like to see the missing footage sometime, but whether I'd go back on my previous statement that there need not be a special edition of this film is another matter.
     
  4. oldtrekkie

    oldtrekkie Captain Red Shirt

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    So does Hal going crazy. After all, he's the most sophisticated tool that humankind had produced at that point.
     
  5. N-121973

    N-121973 Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

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    I myself would love to see that cut. I understand the desire to respect Kubrick's wishes, but still. I was disappointed with the 50th anniversary Blu-Ray release on the grounds that there weren't any new special features (the film is crying out for a making of documentary ala Empire of Dreams or the many literary making of books about the film), though I believe it had been remastered again, so I didn't buy it. Ideally there would potentially be as many as 6 cuts or rather permutations of the films - each with a commentary track - the theatrical cut & the extended cut with three different versions of each based on the sound. One with the classical music soundtrack, one with the narration and one with the score originally composed especially for the film by Alex North. I suppose there could be 8 if you include the narration with North's score on both cuts. And then there would be a feature-length making of documentary plus all the existing special features. I'd buy it. On the subject of redoing the VFX, they're fine a they are apart from the paintings of earth which are washed out and lack detail, apparently because at the time there weren't any suitable reference photos of Earth to use. Though by the time of the film's release Gemini's 10 & 11 had flown to suitable altitudes. i wouldn't object to someone using the techniques for painting planets used in 2001 and the 1977 cut of Star Wars to redo them.
     
  6. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Definitely. I'd attribute that mainly to viewer identification. Unlike the first act, and despite all the high-tech space vehicles, these are relatable people, basically just like the audience.

    So I guess that raises the question, what is the significance (if any) of the woman getting it under control and bestowing it upon the man?
     
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  7. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Yeah, but story-wise, the pen is foreshadowing; Hal is the main event.
     
  8. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Sometimes a stewardess handing you your pen is just a stewardess handing you your pen.
     
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  9. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I was wondering when someone would bring up the proverbial cigar! ;)

    I agree completely, though it's fun (for me, anyway) to speculate. Like, to wonder whether the stewardess putting the pen back in Floyd's pocket foreshadows the Star Child transformation as the reversal of loss.

    Interesting tidbit: Floyd uses a pen floating in space in 2010, to demonstrate the escape plan, and flicks it spiraling away.
     
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  10. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    And he does this on the bridge of the Leonov - which has artificial gravity. :lol:
     
  11. David cgc

    David cgc Admiral Premium Member

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    Not according to the view out the window, but 2010 was notorious about it's sloppy treatment of gravity (replacing the velcro floors of the Discovery Pod Bay with linoleum, and having people slouching against the walls during the "What's HAL's problem, anyway?" scene). While nobody played it like they were using grip-shoes in the pen scene, they probably were supposed to be.
     
  12. Dukhat

    Dukhat Admiral Admiral

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    Yes, I've always thought that scene made no sense.
     
  13. oldtrekkie

    oldtrekkie Captain Red Shirt

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    2001 is to 2010 as chess is to tic-tac-toe.;)
     
  14. CorporalCaptain

    CorporalCaptain Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I prefer 2001, no question.

    Hyams was in an impossible position, to make a sequel to one of the greatest films of all time that had been made by one of cinema's greatest auteurs and filmmakers period, also of all time. With that in mind, I think there's much in 2010 to be respected and enjoyed, the reprisals of Dullea and Rain among them, but also Scheider, Mirren, Lithow, and Balaban, the whole cast from start to finish, actually. The story has great moments. Anyway, one of the two films had the be the lesser, so.... ;)

    It wasn't my intention to hijack this thread into a discussion of the sequel, but I thought it was interesting to observe than the pen motif was repeated. :)
     
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  15. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Hmm. I guess I assumed that the Leonov's control room was inside the rotating section. My bad.

    If you look closely, both Soviet and American crew ARE wearing grip shoes. They're bright orange.

    You can see these shoes in the sequence where Curnow and Max are preparing to spacewalk (several of the Leonov crew are walking up and down the bulkheads) and also in the conference scene in the Discovery pod bay.

    I wasn't aware that one had to choose between the two... :confused:

    I mean, 2001 is my favorite movie of all time, no question, but I also enjoy 2010 very much and IMHO, Peter Hyams did a fantastic job. Especially since Stanley Kubrick had all 2001 sets destroyed after filming wrapped - Hyams did the best he could, trying to rebuild everything basically from scratch (damn shame he didn't get to do the centrifuge - I would have LOVED to see what 2010 could have done with it).

    And I might point out that even though Kubrick himself had no intention of making a sequel, he gave Hyams his blessing and encouraged him to make whatever kind of movie he wanted. So it's not like Hyams was shitting on Kubrick's memory or anything like that.
     
    Last edited: Jul 9, 2021
  16. Ithekro

    Ithekro Vice Admiral Admiral

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    The SAL9000 catching and correcting HAL9000 error? And later being used to test how to bring HAL back in 2010.
     
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  17. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    I really enjoyed seeing 2010 when it came out; I had seen 2001 on video but not yet in a theater. When Bowman appeared in the Discovery and was talking to Floyd, and it cut away and when it cut back it was the star child floating there, I wasn't prepared: A buzz went off in my brain for a split second and I felt chilled all over; probably the single creepiest feeling I've ever had at a movie. I haven't revisited it much, though.

    It was also around that time that one of my senators, Jake Garn (who looked like a real life Montgomery Burns) pulled some strings with NASA to get a ride on the space shuttle. Some clever wit made a knock off of the 2010 poster with Jake's bald head like the star child and the tagline: "1985: The Year He Used Contacts."
     
  18. Orac

    Orac Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    On my most recent viewing of this film it occurred to me how the monoliths resemble the internet-phones AKA pocket-computers that have become ubiquitous over the last decade.
     
  19. MacLeod

    MacLeod Admiral Admiral

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    Well a nice game of chess is better than the game of Global Thermal Nuclear War that they wanted to play on Earth during 2010.
     
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  20. oldtrekkie

    oldtrekkie Captain Red Shirt

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    Something happened during 2010?