2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

“The Ultimate Trip”

Science fiction has come a long way from its inception in literature and art, but in 1968, the greatest conversion to film took place in the form of an ultimate trip.

2001: A Space Odyssey is Stanley Kubrick’s epic masterpiece of space and exploration. The film follows a storyline, spanning 18 months, of mankind’s discovery of the origins of the human race and set out on a quest to retrieve that information. The crew of the mission is aided with the state-of-the-art computer technology of the HAL 9000 series, which can mimic the human brain.

The film is broken up into four different sections, all continuing the same story and sticking to a similar narrative.

It is with the advanced technology aiding the astronauts that put forth one of the major themes of the film: the dependence we are having on computers. It’s more of science fiction now than it was back in the 1960s with the rise of technology. Another major theme is the evolution of man. The artifact that is discovered is interpreted to be the key finding out how we got here and how we came to be. It plays a very significant role in the film.

Other significant roles are the different directions that Kubrick contributed. The cinematography of the film was spectacular. The wide-set shots and the narrow circular set of the setting applied to the sense of confinement and claustrophobia.

Also, not to mention the visual effects that basically won this movie over. The dazzling and blinding rays of lights brought alive the trip and the depiction of extraterrestrial life on the planet Jupiter.

Another way that this movie achieved so greatly, I think, is the minimal use of dialogue. What this movie basically consists of are extravagant shots of the space shuttles and the open space accompanied with the equally extravagant orchestra playing over these shots. The minimal use of dialogue adds ambiguity to the film’s themes and eventual climax. It opens up interpretation to the characters’ true thoughts of their actions.

At over two hours long, 2001 didn’t bore me. I watched with my full attention and gave a hundred percent of my mind to it to decipher the silences.

2001: A Space Odyssey is a brilliant masterpiece that marvelously brings alive the themes space exploration, evolution, the dawn of man, and extraterrestrial. I give this film a remarkable and lengthy 5 out of 5.