"2001: A Space Odyssey" Review By Director Edward Jeffries © August 15, 2005

Release Date: April 2, 1968

Rating: G

Running Time: 156 minutes

Title of movie: “2001: A Space Odyssey"

Director and writer: Stanley Kubrick

The Main Cast:

Keir Dullea - Dave Bowman

Gary Lockwood - Dr. Frank Poole

William Sylvester - Dr. Haywood R. Floyd

Margaret Tyzack - Elena

Robert Beatty - Dr. Halvorsen

Sean Sullivan - Dr. Michaels

Douglas Rain - voice of HAL 9000

“2001: A Space Odyssey" lives up to its name by taking a profound look at mankind. It wonders what our significance is in the universe, and questions how intelligent we really are. It uses invisible, but powerful forces to manipulate the plot, which in turn allows the viewer to use his or her own intelligence and imagination to decide what themes and ideas are being portrayed and what the real meaning behind the movie is.

The opening scene depicts a large group of apes at the dawn of time that encounter a mysterious monolith that suddenly appears out of nowhere. When they touch it they become just a little bit smarter as they learn to make weapons and tools. Although this is blatant storytelling it is symbolic. The director “Stanley Kubrick” has tried to use simplicity, which makes for powerful themes leavening it up to us to decide on the outcome.

We then flash forward to year 1999 where we meet Dr. Heywood Floyd (Sylvester), an American scientist on route to the moon. Floyd leads a scientific mission on the moon where they have discovered a monolith buried 40 feet below the surface. Here is where the "invisible forces" really come into play. The scientists realize that the monolith was deliberately buried, which also means some intelligent being put it there for a reason. Just like the primitive apes, the scientist’s crowd around the monolith, which then creates a dazed radio signal (another unseen force). The reason for this is unknown, but was probably done to show how the other lost ships became attracted to the monolith.

The story again changes as it skips ahead 18 months to the “U.S.S. Discovery 1” on its way to "The Jupiter Mission" to study a new monolith orbiting Jupiter. The Discovery's crew are led by Dave Bowman (Dullea), and Frank Poole (Lockwood), along with the artificial intelligence computer HAL 9000 (voiced by Rain). Kubrick's storytelling establishes a very high-tech atmosphere that makes Bowman and Poole appear primitive and almost useless compared to the machines and computers running their ships every move. During the film we can see that the small crew feels intimidated by HAL's intelligence and capabilities of virtual destruction.

Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey" embraces the value of humanity by simply de-humanizing the characters. The storytelling is slowly paced but always interesting to watch due to the visual detail and realistic atmosphere that has been created by the orchestra as well. When it seems as if HAL has gone insane the mood becomes quite chilling especially considering how gentle and humanistic HAL's personality is normally.

The last act ties all the plots together to make for an overall unfathomable mood and theme. Bowman and Poole become victims of HAL's "breakdown," but Bowman survives and then approaches the monolith orbiting Jupiter. What follows is one of the most bizarre, yet most blatantly thematic sequence of events I have ever encountered. It's a mind-blowing experience because of the sense of the unknown and unexplained.

This makes the film a real mind-blow due to the fact that the ending is totally unknown and could represent so many imaginative ideas about the theory behind what is seen. It begs the question, is it true that just before we actually die we see our entire life flash between our eyes in the last seconds to our own death or does the ending represent life (being born) and death?

What makes "2001: A Space Odyssey" such an excellent film is the fact that we tend to forget that this film was created at least thirty years ago and that the cinema photography and audio effects are mind-blowing for its time, not forgetting that the film has been perfectly constructed in such a way that it enhances the viewers experience making it a must see movie if only for the affect it has on the viewer.