Mark Kermode reviews 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Published 2014-11-28
Please tell us what you think of the film -- or Mark’s review of the film below. We love to include your views on the show every Friday.
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All Comments (21)
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Count on Mark Kermode to talk more about Douglas Trumbull than Stanley Kubrick.
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Not many films ask so much of an audience. You're never told a narrative arc explicitly. You're never told what the mission really is. You're shown it and it still makes no easy sense: temporal paradoxes, psychedelic journey, starchild, symbolism stacked into stunning imagery without any narrative intrusion... Not many film makers were (or are) so cavalier about breaking so many narrative and cinematic conventions, let alone capable of pulling it off. That's the singular genius of Kubrick, right there.
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'2001: A Space Odyssey' is not just a great film... It's one of the greatest art pieces of all time.
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Hard to believe this was released in 1968, have actually seen the real bone in this film when I went to see a screening at the Cambridge arts picturehouse and watched a talk with stanley kubricks daughter afterwards.
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An anecdote...Kubrick apparently brought his mother to the premiere of 2001 in New York. He was from the Bronx, from Arthur Avenue.... Anyway, the story goes that Kubrick and his mother were sitting and watching the end of the film. As the Star-Child appeared, with Richard Strauss' music, Kubrick's mother looked at him and said, "Oh Stanley, really!"
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I've watched a lot of horror movies in my life. No single character has scared me to my bones as much as HAL9000.
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I am so grateful to have got the chance to see this on a big screen at Manchester Cornerhouse I can only watch it ever 4-5 years as the distance makes me revisit it completely. It is my favourite film by an astronomical distance and I don’t see that ever changing. It’s also the time of year to remember the extraordinary Doug Trumbull and his remarkable work on the effects. A work of astonishing genius, across the board
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The best film ever made in my opinion. I don't see it as 'cold', but as the closest thing possible in any artform to the human soul. Then again, it acts on many levels. But when you go really deep it's pure alchemy in its references and mythology. When you don't it's either boring or the way it is reviewed here by Mark. That's okay. It can be enjoyed or dismissed in many ways.
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I saw 2001 in CinemaScope and surround sound in a huge Art Deco cinema. I was 13 and was completely spellbound from start to finish. This unique, wholly unexpected experience inspired me to become a photographer for the rest of my life. Every time I watch 2001 it gets better and better. It reminds me of a world of wonderment we have lost forever.
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That Quentin Tarantino reference came out of nowhere lol - Kermode makes Gordon Ramsayesque analogies
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I saw it on my own, when it first came out. It came to our local cinema (in the days when cinemas only had one massive screen) , I was 11 years old. Afternoon performance, so there were only about 10 other people in there. It started my love affair with film. What an experience, I still remember it 50 years latter.
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I just saw 2001 during a limited run in 70mm format and the movie still looks gorgeous, even by today's standards. 2001 is possibly the greatest film ever made. There are only a few movies I consider "perfect", and 2001 is definitely on that short list.
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What a great reviewer you are, Sir. Keep up the good work!!
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There's something about the ending that's so strange and unsettling it haunts you for a long time after.
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The kind of time Quintin Tarantino wouldn't get out of his bedroom. LMAO!
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That cut, from the bone club to the satellite (possibly a space nuke platform) is indeed amazing. However, in the opening of Powell and Pressburger’s A Canterbury Tale is a very similar looking cut forward over many centuries. A knight on pilgrimage to Canterbury releases a falcon, which soars, and becomes a Spitfire fighter in the middle of the Second World War. And I forget the name, but at least one member of the cinematography crew on A Canterbury Tale also worked on 2001.
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Seeing it on Sunday, bloody hell I'm pumped, my favorite film of all time.
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Went and saw it at GFT a couple nights ago......Every time I've seen I've noticed something I hadn't before This time: Leonard Rossiter - never realized he was in it before ha This BFI season's been great, I unfortunately won't be able to see Blade Runner [one of my favourite films ever....and I've seen it on the big screen before] but I'll be seeing Alien this weekend, can't wait :)
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Wish it would be shown in Sweden. This movie is one of the more important ones in cinema history.
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On BBC2 tonight. I implore people to watch it but so many people need a narrative and a concise setting in the first 5 mins which you obviously don't get but this film set the standard for all Sci-fi films that followed.
