so the Confused Matthew 2001 debacle continues, in a different form

[1701EarlGrey]

Re: so the Confused Matthew 2001 debacle continues, in a different for

Sorry, guys but Matthew is right: this movie have no plot - sorry, but going from point A to point B is not a plot! - and it have no characters, other than HAL 9000. It's impossible to describe people in this movie as characters since they have no character traits, backstories, or motivations. As for deeper meaning; yes, let's talk about deeper meaning of scenes in which spaceship, endlessly fly towards moon, or scenes in which astronaut slowy fly in space to change some part in antenna dish... That's clearly deepest thing I've ever seen in my life! Sorry, but throwing some symbolism at you doesn't excuse over two hours of meaningless and pretentious borefest. BTW, novel was much better that the movie.

 

[Silvercrest]

Re: so the Confused Matthew 2001 debacle continues, in a different for

Bumping a five-year-old thread is considered bad form.

And the main character, or one of them, is the human race. You're not supposed to focus on the individual characters, only where their actions lead. The plot is about humanity trying to grow.

The ape-men are at a crossroads. The monolith shows up and gives them a nudge. What do they do? Develop tools. Does this lead to enlightenment? No. A zillion years later humanity is still shown playing with their tools, much more advanced but not noticeably wiser. (There is no new title card when it transitions from the ape-men to the spacecraft. It's the same scene. It's still The Dawn of Man.)

The monoliths are observing humanity this entire time. Humanity finds an alien artifact and what do they do with it? Treat it as a photo-op. At this point the monolith probably would have face-palmed, if it had any hands.

Humanity is at a crossroads again when Bowman faces off against HAL, the ultimate item in humanity's tool kit. This isn't a "Star Trek" plot. If it was, the heroes would defeat HAL by more of the same: firing phasers, overloading the GNDN conduits, or unleashing an inverse tachyon pulse.

Bowman has to learn differently. He can only defeat HAL by doing the opposite of what the ape-men did, learning to stop using his tools as a crutch. Once he does that, he's proved that mankind is advanced enough to manage their tools — and adaptable enough to recognize that tools aren't the answer to everything. A tricky test, considering that you have to be in Jupiter's orbit before you can take it! But having passed it, the monolith uses him to give humanity another nudge. What happens to Bowman at the end is a hint of where mankind's development actually is at that point — but it's also a hint that there's more to come.

If you don't see anything in the movie other than "spaceship endlessly fly toward moon", I guess that's your business.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Re: so the Confused Matthew 2001 debacle continues, in a different for

This isn't a "Star Trek" plot. If it was, the heroes would defeat HAL by more of the same: firing phasers, overloading the GNDN conduits, or unleashing an inverse tachyon pulse.

TNG-era Trek, perhaps. Kirk would have out-reasoned HAL and caused him to self-destruct.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Re: so the Confused Matthew 2001 debacle continues, in a different for

This isn't a "Star Trek" plot. If it was, the heroes would defeat HAL by more of the same: firing phasers, overloading the GNDN conduits, or unleashing an inverse tachyon pulse.

TNG-era Trek, perhaps. Kirk would have out-reasoned HAL and caused him to self-destruct.