I finally walked to Best Buy today and picked this up today on sale after all the great reviews. I've never even seen the movie but I already know that I'll love it.
If you read the novel, it of course explains a lot more about what actually goes on with the ending and all that. I recommend reading the novel and then watching the film again a few times. What happens is Dave Bowman becomes the Starchild, that's pretty much it. The "aliens" or intelligences he encounters transform him into a being of pure spirit or energy, I believe, in highly simplified terms. Bowman (ironically after total disaster earlier) completes The Discovery's ultimate (secret) mission: he finds the source of the transmission from the moon monolith find, and connects with the intelligences behind it (whatever they are!). He goes out in the pod to investigate, and is transported in mindblowing fashion across unimaginable distances/dimensions (who the fuck knows) and his life cycle is accelerated in terms his brain can maybe somewhat comprehend, and is "reborn" as the Starchild. The Jupiter and Beyond sequence and ending are the way they are because it was the only way Kubrick, I believe, could translate Arthur C. Clarke's concepts into cinematic terms that could be digested "universally" as it were. Any standard depiction of this sequence would ruin the entire message of the film. The whole point is that Dave Bowman doesn't know what will happen when he goes EVA at the end there, and neither do we. However, once he sees the classified transmission after disconnecting HAL, he realizes he has to be ready for absolutely anything once he gets to Jupiter space. The monolith on the moon at Tycho clearly wasn't buried there by sheer accident! But otherwise, I don't understand why people need every movie to explain every single aspect to them. Then what's the point of going to a Fantasy or SF film then? That's just my two cents on it, anyway. If Kubrick had wrapped up 2001 like a Planet of the Apes movie (and I like the orig. ones! of course), i.e. with a standard narrative, it would have taken all the piss out of it. In one sense, though 2001 wraps up on one of the weirdest cliffhangers in all of cinema history. 2010 explains some of what transpired after that, but that's a frustrating subject because the sequel film (if not the novel, which is a good sequel and is worth reading) just didn't come up to par, alas, though they gave it a good try. I've been a 2001 nut since my parents brought me to see the 1976 or so reissue in theaters.
Fortunately, I saw it multiple times in Cinerama during my early college years. I loved it then and I love it even more now! I’m looking forward to a Smilebox version to replicate that super Cinerama experience! I was able to see it again in Cinerama at the Cinerama Dome retrospective ten years ago? It seemed to fly by at an accelerated rate that’s hard for me to explain. It seems you never saw it in Cinerama, so you can’t understand what your missing. Now that you’ve matured perhaps you’ll have an opportunity to see it on that glorouis giant curved screen when the dome re-opens once the lengthy restoration is finally complete. No 😢
Very late to the party on this one, but as a recently converted 4k collector, this was an immediate purchase the minute I bought my first 4k player last month. And man, this 4k is absolutely breathtaking and will sway any skeptic's opinion on 4k Blu rays. I actually want to keep this movie on repeat just to keep looking at it!
I love this movie I was only 2 years old when it came out in 1968 I was to young years later when I was older and more mature I saw it on TCM and I had a more appreciation for this movie
I wanted the 4K version for Christmas, but was told by the family member who I asked for it from, that my BLU-RAY machine wasn't going to accomadate 4K. being new to blu-ray, I said, "just get that one from 2018, thank you !" I live fairly modestly, but my high def TV w/ 2001: in BLU-RAY is just fine w/ me. it's beautiful. maybe in the not too distant future, I'll have the 4K version. and it doesn't hurt to spark up some reefer to watch it. I've seen it on many theater screens, locally. the Wang center once showed a re-mastered version on a 60 foot screen, 30 feet high, I believe. the youngest viewer to go that nite, grew up on 'GOODFELAS'. my neice, who got me the 2018 BLU-RAY this Xmas. you can make the case that space is boring. she turned to me about 45 min./1 hour in, and asked ,"is this near the end?" I got a laff out of that one. good summary! Happy New Year!
Thanks Adam 👍 this is a film I’ve tried to watch and failed- it was years ago and I was very young.. maybe as you said it’s an age thing.. what are you now 21 ? I’m a bit older so will give it another go 👍
I wish I was 21, I’m double that now lol. Give the movie another shot, it still may not be for you but you might surprise yourself. Try to watch it in a home theater setting, it helps.
@@MovieGuy365 I happen to like films that are spectacles, to view. I don't need to understand SCI-FI. as the ad in the '60's said, 'the ultimate trip'. what I never get tired of, are the apes' lack of understanding of the monolith(did they bury it because they couldn't understand it?), which, millions of years later, w/ thouroughly advanced equipment, isn't understood by men any more than it ever was! one of the film's best lines is from Commander Floyd, who, while enjoying some packaged food,asks the rhetorical question of the astrronauts, "I don't suppose y' know what the hell the damn thing is, do ya?" that line is hilarious for a serious SCI-FI film. but the 'classified transmission' that Dave catches sort of off-guard, is the polar opposite of funny. creepy as hell, as Bowman realizes just how alone he really is.
