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I feel
a sense of guilt for criticising this movie. It is supposed to be brilliant, and I like Stanley Kubrick. I admit, I am not
a science-fiction fan. I don't care for aliens and space travel (I thoroughly dislike the 'Star Wars' saga, really dislike)
or things of that nature. But don't think that just because I don't like this genre that this is the reason I don't like the
film. I'm not that close-minded. This film can be viewed in two ways-as a purely science-fiction film, with the typical visitors
from outer space, space travel, and futuristic look at the world. Or it can be seen as a work of modern film art, like an
abstract film or something. Maybe it's a symphony on screen. It's hard to say which. There is very little dialogue, and much
of the film is classical music with various events happening on screen (and then there's that bit at the end with the light
show, or whatever it is). I don't think we're really supposed to know the real way to see the film, or the what it's supposed
to be. Perhaps Mr. Kubrick didn't even know himself (this seems likely, judging by the fact that many critics who have seen
this film countless times and have even met its director STILL don't know what's going on or what it's about). At first blush
the film seems like a bunch of scenes thrown together with no real connection. It is confusing (it still is) and makes no
sense. But this is one of those films that you need to chew on after watching it, and, if you can handle it, watch it again
to fully grasp every aspect of the film. I had no idea what was going on with the monkey people in the beginning until the
film was over. The film is about the rise of man in the universe and his advancements throughout time. The beginning is the
dawn of man, simple and primitive. Then we have man who has achieved space travel to the moon and created space stations.
Next man can travel to Jupiter, and finally man completes the circle of life and becomes reborn again. The black monolith
is the forerunner of advancement: everytime it appears man advances evolution wise to another level. But why aliens want to
help us advance is never told. Maybe they just want to meet us. I suppose that Mr. Kubrick thinks that fully evolved man is
like an infant, as the fetus at the end of the film suggests. Some critics call it a star child, but I have no idea what this
is or means, so I can't elaborate. But I found the fetus Dave very creepy and disturbing. I hope man doesn't look like this
a million years from now.
Aside from the confusing nature of the film
and the message that is never quite grasped, the film is long, slow, insanely boring, and dull. The acting is shameful. No
one can act. The evil computer HAL has more personality than any of the men in the film. It's hard to like HAL because he
is evil, yet he is more interesting than any of the other characters. But then, he also doesn't seem very sinister to me.
There is no story either. Astronauts find a black thing on the moon, go to check it out, and then cut to over a year later.
More astronauts are going to Jupiter to find said object, but first they must outsmart a sinister computer on the space ship
who is smarter than they are. After HAL is no more the story disappears. Dave gets to Jupiter and that's about the only thing
I could understand. The only thing I liked about the HAL/Dave problem was the idea that some day man might be so advanced
as to create computers who actually think for themselves. Mr. Kubrick sees the obvious trouble with this. Computers might
become so smart that they start to destroy their own creators, a frightening thought since man is a living organism with a
brain and is the smartest creature on the planet. Imagine becoming second best to a machine that isn't alive and has no brain.
The thing that makes the film at least worth seeing once are the effects. The props (if
you can call them this) or rather, the space ships in the film, are incredibly constructed. Everything was created by hand.
And it looks real. Set wise this film is exceptional. The effects at the end (the light show and following) are groundbreaking.
Before this film nothing was seen like the light tunnel before. The producers must have had a hard time getting the sequence
to work, especially with primitive computers. The only problem is that the sequence lasts about 15 minutes and your mind starts
to hurt. That's the biggest problem with this film. Every scene lasts much longer than it should, and it starts to wear on
you a bit.
It's not a bad film. It's just so long and slow and dull with the worst acting and most
poorly created characters ever that it is painful to watch after a while. It's worth the special effects though, and I suppose
if you like this genre of film it's a rite of passage viewing. I hated it. And it's a shame, for Stanley Kubrick is a good
director. One final thing, though: the monkey people at the beginning. I sure hope those people were paid very well to get
into those costumes and make weird noises and act like monkeys for hours on end; I know I sure as hell would never do anything
like that if I was not offered a few hundred thousand dollars to lose all dignity and respect from others.
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