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Back To the Past: Jandrew Gets Cultured. Maltese Falcon, Arsenic, Blair Witch, etc.

By Jandrew, in The Speakeasy

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Jandrew Global Phenomenon

Jandrew

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No, I stayed awake. Barely. The set pieces were really cool. But the rest? Disappointing. No this isn't one of those posts where I say something and then is like "surprise, im kidding!"...no surprises here. That wasn't what I was expecting. I love astronomy. I thought 2001 was supposed to be an astronomy lovers dream. Even the poster advertises "an epic drama of adventure and exploration" with characters in space suits doing space stuff. Yeah, we didn't get much of that, if any. Hell the first 20 minutes was Planet of the Apes. I didn't get the exploration that I was hoping for, instead I got 140+ minutes of not that.

A major problem with every act: they kept undercutting everything. I couldn't get invested into this movie or any of the characters because they didn't give me any time, even though this is over 140 minutes long. So we spend like 45 minutes to an hour getting introduced and used to the Tom Hanks looking dude, Floyd, and then there was his crewmates, who we got to know zilch about. And then just like that they get their eardrums blown off and the end. Okay...

Cut to act 2. We meet Bowman, Poole, and HAL. Right as soon as we get invested into HAL, boom, they shut him off. Cut to act 3. I couldn't get invested into Bowman because in act 2 he spent his whole time fighting HAL so we didnt get to learn much about him, but then in act 3 there was no dialogue, just an acid trip, which got repetitive after about what felt like 2 minutes, but was probably shorter. Act 3 just went too out there for me, I don't know.

Speaking of the acid trip. Look, I know it was ground breaking then, but I was bored with it. I had no idea what the fuck was going on. Honestly the space shots and ship shots were a lot more impressive. That was the highlight of the film. For 1968, that set piece work is absolutely incredible. This movie did not feel like a movie out of the 60s. The technology, even the hairstyles, nothing was 60's. No matter my feelings on this movie, I have to admit it's timeless. Also the soundtrack is a groundbreaking, influential highlight and its amazing how it goes from loud majestic to quaint subtle. One of my teams, the Carolina Gamecocks, even uses 2001 as their stadium intro music.

But bottom line, I was bored. I'm sorry, but I was bored. I wasn't invested into anybody because everything kept getting undercutted. Lately I usually don't go to bed till around 2, but by 11 this movie was making my eyes water from sleepyness. The design and the sets was very impressive, but I didn't care about anyone, and I felt HAL couldve done more damage. The ending was stupid, too ambiguous, and creepy. And the acid trip scene got boring fast. But the soundtrack and sets were flawless. Oh and dat match cut with the bone turning into a space station...nice.

Maybe I'll appreciate this more on rewatch? But not anytime soon. It gets a D+. I really had no fun with this, and I don't feel like having to analyzing it, I would've rathered Kubrick just present it. I know how influential 2001 is, but I don't care, that has nothing to do with my personal experience with it. I just wanted tense epic space exploration and spectacle and angst but I didn't get that (minus the spectacle), but what I did get instead, I wasn't impressed with. Sorry Tree, go ahead and block me if you must.

Tomorrow is Conan since I promised Numbers.

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TalismanRing Global Phenomenon

TalismanRing

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I have some similar issues with the pacing, characters (none register except HAL) and story but would rate it higher for the stunning visuals, ambitious themes and the use of music.

 

Since you specifically mentioned liking the music, all the music is from pre-existing compositions by Richard Strauss, Johann Strauss, Aram Khachaturian & Gyorgy Ligeti. 

 

Kubrick had a score done by previous collaborator Alex North who claimed he didn't know until he watched the premiere of the movie that his score was replaced.  Kubrick's response - “However good our best film composers may be, they are not a Beethoven, a Mozart, or a Brahms.”  Burn.


The 2001 theme is Also sprach Zarathustra - a tone poem composed in 1896 by Richard Strauss.


The docking music is Johann Strauss II's Blue Danube Waltz from 1867




Khachaturian - Gayane Ballet Suite (1942)  (Kubrick also used some of his spectacular music in Spartacus)

 

György Ligeti - parts from several pieces (used without his permission and he successfully sued)

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Avatree Global Phenomenon

Avatree

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Huh. I went to bed and was expecting to wake up flooded with hate and debate. I guess my review isnt that controversial afterall.

We are all lost for words, that's all. ;)

 

Tbh, I don't think it is that controversial. 2001 is certainly a divisive film. Many, many people don't like it, while the people who do like it tend to think it's incredible. There doesn't seem to be a lot of middle ground.

 

From your review it sounds like you had expectations, and that's why it was disappointing. Not surprising really when so many people have hailed it as one of the greatest films ever.

 

It's not like most films. It isn't character-focused; the characters are all important and represent plenty of meaningful things, but getting emotionally invested in them isn't what the film is about.

 

I don't want to sound pretentious but if you are looking for surface-level fun/enjoyment, 2001 will not provide.

 

 

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obviously I am not going to ignore someone for having a different opinion. I wasn't being serious

:)

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Jandrew Global Phenomenon

Jandrew

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Yep I had big expectations. I thought 2001 was gonna be more like Interstellar. I thought we were going to see more planets and worlds, more exploration, and more thrill. If this was something I hadnt known about and just picked up, recpetion may have been a bit better, but it was just noting like Interstellar, Contact, Apollo, Gravity like I figured it'd be.

It was just too cerebral and too quiet, and like you said, not character focused, and characters are very big to me in dramas, so we just weren't a match. And I went back and saw initial reactions were mixed like you said, so I guess it isnt that surprising.

Like Blade Runner, maybe Ill appreciate it more for what it is over time, but as of right now I have to take what I got.

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Jake Gittes Global Phenomenon

Jake Gittes

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Given Kubrick's meticulousness, it's clear he intended for the human characters to be perfectly bland everymen, and there's a big payoff in how HAL ends up being a richer, more human character than all the actual humans in the movie put together. It's true that their scenes are something of a slog, especially the first time, but I think they improve on repeat viewings - once you know that the film is quite literally about the exploration of the Universe and humanity's journey to the next plane of being, you begin to appreciate the idea that any vividly drawn, detailed human characters and conflicts most likely wouldn't have fit in there. The concepts the movie is dealing with are so huge and overwhelming that any specificity would only distract from them. 

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