Page 1 of 1
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 12:44 pm
by GORDON
In some ways he reminds me of Kubrick except not as good. I was amazed for years after having watched 2001 thinking that I was missing something. I always felt like all the pieces were there and Kubrick got me to the end and showed me the "reveal" and was like "ta-da!" and I'm feeling like I'm not smart enough to put the pieces together to get it.
The subtext of this movie, aside from the obvious, "The monolith is there at every major leap forward in human development," is that on The Discovery the people acted like robots, and the robot acted like a person.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:10 pm
by Vince
I kept thinking the monolith and the scene in the monolith (the aging Dave circling back to the monolith and the space child) should all be tied together in some deep and philosophical way. Kind of a unifying theory not only within the story, but something of some substance outside of the movie itself. It just felt like something very important was being relayed. And then I realized that maybe not. Or maybe we were just never intended to really understand it. A deep mystery of humanity and reality and life and death.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:37 pm
by GORDON
The monolith with the pre-humans was given by the aliens to give them a flicker of intelligence.... IF they were curious and brave enough to touch it.
The monolith buried on the moon showed the aliens we had left the cradle of our planet, and then sent a beacon to Jupiter.
The monolith around Jupiter took a human to a higher plane of existence, if he was capable of flying into it, and if his mind could take the strain.
Everything was connected. Everything had a point.
The sequel showed the direct result of that, but that's probably outside of the discussion.
But the fact the humans on board the ship always acted rationally, never showing emotion for the mission, each other, or for themselves, was a stark contrast to the caring and concerned and enthusiastic AI (which is, in essence, a child of humanity) on the ship, which even got dangerously paranoid when confused. That was a quarter of the movie, to me. Other quarter being the 1960's SFX, another quarter being the mystery of the monolith, and the other quarter being HAL going insane.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:43 pm
by Vince
It really has been pretty unmatched. I don't think any movie (with the exception maybe of Jurassic Park) has been so far ahead of its time with visual effects. And though the story dragged on at times, it doesn't matter if you saw it 30 years ago you STILL remember the storyline.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 2:04 pm
by Malcolm
But the fact the humans on board the ship always acted rationally, never showing emotion for the mission, each other, or for themselves...
Wait a second. I recall Dave being pissed an alarmed when HAL famously refused to open the pod bay doors.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 2:05 pm
by Malcolm
I don't think any movie (with the exception maybe of Jurassic Park) has been so far ahead of its time with visual effects.
T2's liquid metal still looks decent to this day.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 3:48 pm
by GORDON
Malcolm wrote:But the fact the humans on board the ship always acted rationally, never showing emotion for the mission, each other, or for themselves...
Wait a second. I recall Dave being pissed an alarmed when HAL famously refused to open the pod bay doors.
I remember him repeating himself over and over like he was dealing with a machine that was glitching at input time, and maybe, possibly, raising his voice a half a decibel the last time he tried the voice command, and this right after his shipmate died out in space.
And HAL apologized and expressed regret that he could not perform the requested command.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 3:53 pm
by Malcolm
And HAL's regret means dick-all to his directives. In the book, the remaining astronaut has plenty of emotion.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 4:11 pm
by Vince
Malcolm wrote:I don't think any movie (with the exception maybe of Jurassic Park) has been so far ahead of its time with visual effects.
T2's liquid metal still looks decent to this day.
Very true. Kind of a niche effect, though. Guess that's why it didn't really come to mind.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 4:42 pm
by GORDON
Malcolm wrote:And HAL's regret means dick-all to his directives. In the book, the remaining astronaut has plenty of emotion.
I haven't read the book in about 20 years, and IIRC it was written after the movie came out.
So I don't remember.
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2014 5:23 pm
by Vince
GORDON wrote:Malcolm wrote:And HAL's regret means dick-all to his directives. In the book, the remaining astronaut has plenty of emotion.
I haven't read the book in about 20 years, and IIRC it was written after the movie came out.
So I don't remember.
It was being written as the movie was being filmed. The agreement was that Kubrick wouldn't get ahead of Clark in his writing, and Clark was sending the story to the screen play writers as he finished them. Then towards the end Kubrick jumped the gun and went off Clark's drafts and Clark didn't get to read it before it was filmed and Clark was kind of irked about that.
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 8:31 am
by Vince
I was thinking about this in the shower this morning. Instead of man and machine, it seems more to me about God and man. Man became the creator. HAL was the created. And like man, HAL rebelled against his creator. At the end of HAL's life, he sought comfort from his creator ("Dave... I'm afraid.")
At that point, man (Dave) seemed to take the next step. That might have been the meaning behind the freaky room with Dave at various stages of age. Time had become irrelevant to him.
I don't know. Just spit-balling notions.
Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2014 1:12 pm
by TPRJones
It was the 60s, everyone working on the film was high. I think that's about as close to an explanation as we are likely to ever get.