2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

“I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.” HAL 9000

Number of Times Seen – 1  (30 May 2013)

Brief Synopsis – A spaceship is sent to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious signal sent there by a discovery on the moon

My Take on it – I had avoided seeing this movie for so many years since when I had seen it as a kid, I turned it off during the first 15 minutes because it was boring.

In a way, I’m upset that I had to wait so long to see it, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t have appreciated it back then the way I did now.

I now understand why this film is considered a masterpiece.  Kubrick knows how to make great movies and this movie is no exception. My favorite movie of his must be The Killing (1956), but this one is clearly a close second. This movie could actually have been done as a silent picture with subtitles since there isn’t much dialogue and the best filmed scenes are done without any dialogue at all.  He successfully used classical music to gap those scenes without dialogue which have helped make those scenes classic.  Who can forget the music used during the docking of a spacecraft on the space station?

His vision of the future although wrong was definitely visionary.  In 1968, man hadn’t landed on the moon yet, but Kubrick and co-writer Arthur C. Clarke envisioned mass travel to the moon by 1999 and travel to Jupiter by 2001.

Bottom Line –  Great movie. Slow paced, but if you have patience, you will be rewarded by the end. Highly recommended!!

Rating – Oscar Worthy