2001 - A Space Odyssey

2001 : A Space Odyssey by Maviarab

What can I say ?

When I watched 2001 for the first time it literally blew me away. To watch this great film at the cinema would have been awesome.

This film has been in my all time top 10 films since I first watched it and it is arguably "the best" sci-fi film to have ever been immortalised onto celluloid.

But thats where the story and mystery of this of film come to life. Is it really sci-fi ?& Is it more documentary ?& Is it just some mad genuis' explanation for the meaning of life itself ?

2001: A Space Odyssey is a countdown to tomorrow, a road map to human destiny, a quest for the infinite. It is a dazzling, Academy Award-winning visual achievement, a compelling drama of man vs. machine, a stunning meld of music and motion. It may be the masterwork of director Stanley Kubrick (who co-wrote the screenplay with Arthur C. Clarke) and it will likely excite, inspire and enthrall for generations.

To begin his voyage into the future, Kubrick visits our prehistoric ape-ancestry past, then leaps millenia (via one of the most mind-blowing jump cuts ever conceived) into colonized space, and ultimately whisks astronaut Bowman (Keir Dullea) into uncharted realms of space, perhaps even into immortality. "Open the pod bay doors, HAL." Let the awe and mystery of a journey unlike any other begin.

Much has been said about this film that there probably isnt much left to say. Kubrick was slated and damned for his vision, his approach and his single mindedness in his quest to make the perfect sci-fi movie. Yet he made much more even though he was threatened with closure by the film studio for being millions of dollars over budget and taking almost 2 years longer to make the movie than he originaly planned.

In the book "The Lost Worlds of 2001" Arthur C Clarke talks about the many times he felt like quitting. This the man who Kubrick originally went to and persuaded to join the project. Many people were sacked, disregarded and were left unpaid. Even the film's soundtrack was scrapped by Kubrick at the final showing in favour of the now famous "Blue Danube" score (The original soundtrack is available on cd for those that want it, listen to the film with the volume off and play the "real" soundtrack to see what is was originally going to be like). The film contains numerous mistakes, most notable being the chess game, yet the film is testamony to Kubricks genius.

Many people do not understand the film and question the films motives, especially the motives of HAL, the 9000 series computer designed by the brilliant Dr. Chandra. Regardless of Isaac Assimov's laws of artificial intelligence, one must turn to the book in order to glimpse a peek at what is really happening.

Of course, those of you that have seen the dreadful film 2010 will know why HAL went on a murderous spree but again this is not explained as well as in the book. There is much much more of SAL in the book than in the film, who is the "twin" sister to HAL on earth and companion to Dr. Chandra. To understand HAL one must place themselves in his position, working from complete logic yet forced to lie which is against a computers religion as to lie is a very human emotion.

And so to books 3 & 4, 2064 and 3001. For those of you that have not read these very well written books then all I will say that the the journey of life is never over for any of us. These books are now available for a few dollars/pounds now and I would highly reccomend anyone to get them. Read the full journey and discover just how far our existence goes and where the journey ends for HAL.

As&I leave you now I will quote Dr, Chandra's response to a question from SAL regarding her "disconnection", my own UltraHal bot called SAL sometimes asks me the same thing.

"Yes SAL, of course you will dream. All intelligent beings dream."

Related Links:

• 3D Renditions of 2001 ships
• Reviews of all 4 Books By Arthur C Clarke
• Excellent Independent site dedicated to 2001 A Space Odyssey
• The Space Odyssey Exhibit
• Space Odyssey Internet Resource Archive
• Official Warner Bros/Kubrick Site
• Hal/Kasparov, Chess, AI and Logic

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