2001: A Space Odyssey-Film Review

Colin Oliver
Sep 3, 2018 · 5 min read
The Dawn of Man, Our First Sighting of the Monolith and The Dawn of Man Tool/Weapon Discovery

This is the first scene we see when the movie starts playing after the opening sequence with the music. This sequence is titled Dawn of Man and is the first of 4 sequences in the movie. What really struck out to me in this scene is the lack of dialogue at all and that continues throughout the movie where we only get the first spoken words at about the 25 minute mark. The first sequence shows a conflict between two tribes of apes and how one group eventually becomes victorious thanks to technology in this case a bone club. I think this scene means to me that the side with the better technology and weapons will always win and this has shown throughout history. The monolith is also shown for the very first time in this sequence where the apes gather around it before touching it and eventually determining it as safe. The monolith is a giant perfectly symmetrical rectangle that protrudes from the ground. In the transition sequence a cinematic shot is shown of one of the apes throwing a bone in the air and as it is spinning cuts to a ship floating in space. This scene is very well done and has some nice cinematic shots.

Dave Bowman on board the Space Pod

In the third sequence, 18 months after the events that occurred in the second sequence, they have sent a mission to Jupiter where the signal from the Monolith is originating from however the astronauts on board don’t actually know that. Frank Poole and Dave Bowman are the two active astronauts on the ship with the rest in induced hibernation awaiting the arrival at Jupiter. During this sequence we see some of their daily occurrences and what they do to pass the time along this journey. We get a slightly eerie Happy Birthday message from Dave’s parents, where even though it seems sincere it seems a bit forced. From here things start going wrong with the craft and HAL instructs Dave and Frank to fix a malfunctioning part of equipment on the plane. They leave the craft and proceed to do so. When they return they inspect the “faulty” piece of equipment and realise its fine although HAL insists it is malfunctioning. They contact mission control back on earth to look at it and they also agree it is fine. Dave ushers Frank into the Space Pod where they cannot be heard by HAL. They discuss about disconnecting HAL due to HAL malfunctioning however little do they know someone is watching them. HAL is watching the movement of their lips the whole time and realises they are plotting against him. HAL then sets up a plan to take out Frank then Dave.

HAL 9000

The antagonist in the story is HAL 9000, he malfunctions however refuses to acknowledge this fact as the HAL 9000 series has “never made an error”. HAL ends up catching Frank and Dave's conversation and thinks that they are plotting against him. When they next go out on the Space Pod HAL disconnects Franks air supply and kills him. When Dave retrieves Frank and returns to the Ship HAL refuses entry for Dave back to the ship with the famous line, “I’m afraid I can’t do that Dave.” Dave then resorts to forcing his way manually into the ship discovering that HAL has murdered the hibernating scientists and heads to disconnect HAL from the system along the way HAL begs Dave to calm down and reason and near the end reveals emotion to Dave with the line, “I’m afraid, Dave.”

Jupiter Stargate Transition

The final, most controversial sequence in the movie is full of mystery and is very strange. The sequence begins with Dave arriving at Jupiter and seeing all these planets aligned with the monolith. The spacecraft then enters the monolith which turns out to be a sort of “Stargate” contraption. The movie then moves into a very strange sequence where colours blare around the screen looking very similar to the Star Wars hyperspace cinematics. Many film critics still argue about what this scene really means, a popular opinion is that the monolith was to bring a human to Jupiter in order to transport via the Stargate to other dimensions or galaxies.

In conclusion, I believed that the music and cinematic experience in this movie was amazing however it doesn't make much sense and it is not a very entertaining movie and I would not want to watch this movie for fun.

References:

Gizmodo Australia. 2018. The Most Intriguing Theories About 2001: A Space Odyssey | Gizmodo Australia. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/04/the-most-intriguing-theories-about-2001-a-space-odyssey/. [Accessed 03 September 2018].

12 Out-of-This-World Facts About 2001: A Space Odyssey | Mental Floss. 2018. 12 Out-of-This-World Facts About 2001: A Space Odyssey | Mental Floss. [ONLINE] Available at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/78437/12-out-world-facts-about-2001-space-odyssey. [Accessed 03 September 2018].

Minnesota Pocket Journal. 2018. How To Enjoy “2001: A Space Odyssey” — Minnesota Pocket Journal. [ONLINE] Available at: https://minnesotapocketjournal.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/how-to-enjoy-2001-a-space-odyssey/. [Accessed 03 September 2018].

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