2001: A Space Odyssey, A Review


This movie is probably the most influential movie in Science Fiction of all time, there is absolutely no doubt about it. The movie, 2001 A Space Odyssey, was released back in 1968, around a year before we actually had gone to the moon, so it’s sort of crazy to think that the plot(briefly) contains extraterrestrial life that is believed to be on Jupiter(not even the moon!), and goes through 4 acts in which it details how human life has interacted with this extraterrestrial life. This goes back from all the way in our “early stages”, or when we were believed to be apes, and all the way to the future in the supposed year 2001 where we are traveling through space to other planets. Fair warning though, this film is not an action film, while it has some action sequences in it, it’s not an action film, and when watching this film, it is clear it is not intended for that market. It has long, drawn out scenes, and they are very long scenes. These are not 3, 4, 5, 6 second scenes and then cut to the next one, no. They’re 3, 4, 5, 6 minute long scenes, where the beauty of the cinematography, effects, and music get to come out and play.

As the movie progresses, the gorgeous design of these sets and use of effects and music really grab the viewer into the movie, but still letting them watch from afar. These scenes are just absolutely amazing when you think back to the fact that this was made in 1968, back when we did not have too much of advanced film processes and effects as we do today. Throughout the story, it’s told in an elegant way, and gets the viewer to really pay attention to the space used, the spacecrafts, and the actual universe. For example, one aspect I really enjoyed and made it come to life, is actually whenever 2001 cut out to space scenes, the sound would stop. It would just completely stop. This is to simulate what actually happens in space, because you cannot hear anything in outer space. Effects like these is what this film excels at, apart from the fact that it has a very interesting story. This film and the plot in it is so great, and will definitely have you thinking at the end, and it sure as eggs had me confused at the end, so much to the point where I had to look up what actually happened because I had no idea.

The film 2001 also gets you to think in the mindset of what the societies of 1968 actually thought we would have done by year 2001, what would have happened, what we would have invented(looking at you, HAL). But not all of what was used or invented in 2001(film) was realistic. For example, it was particularly hilarious when one woman is walking in a space station, and she had gravity shoes so that she could stick to the ground, yet since it seemed they had no effects to make this realistic, she just pressed into the ground to make it look like she had the effect of being magnetized to the ground. Also another event that seemed unrealistic was when David had flown out through space for about a second without a helmet, and then went into the space station. This had seemed very unlikely that he would have survived--he did however. There is little details like these in the movie that gets the head scratching because it’s either funny or just completely confusing/wrong. But these small details don’t deter from the bigger picture, and trust me, when the bigger picture is seen, it is sure to amaze.

From the sets, to the effects, to the dramatic music that is paired with it, it is just a fantastic movie. Now before everyone goes to rush and rent it, buy it, stream it, etc. it has to be told that this movie requires patience, and the ability to look at the same scenes for a long time. It seems like a terrible movie just because of that, but once someone sees the beauty and glory of these sets paired with everything, actors, plot, etc. it is hard to get mad at. So whenever anyone is curious to see one of the most influential Science Fiction movies of all time, and gets to see how great it actually is and how it will send someone’s heart racing, just get the film, sit back, and prepared to be amazed, because I’m certain that you will be.