2001: A Space Odyssey in Review

There are films that you watch and enjoy, that entertain while they play out on the screen in front of you, but afterward dissolve from memory. Fun, and enjoyable certainly, but ultimately disposable. Then there are films that grab on to you. Films that demand further inspection and meditation, long nights before sleep flicking through the images in your mind, in search of a greater meaning. These films become points of reference, archetypes for concepts and ideas that take on meaning in your life. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is the epitome of this type of film, and a personal favorite.

2001: A Space Odyssey can be summarized as a depiction of three related points in the continuum of human evolution, all marked by the presence of a mysterious and unexplained black obelisk. Thusly the film is broken up rigidly into three acts. The first, entitled "The Dawn of Man" depicts man-apes, the evolutionary missing link, as they first discover utilizing tools. This sequence is marvelously scored, beautifully shot, and masterfully engrossing as it tells its story without the use of dialogue or a single human character.

The film's second, and perhaps most iconic act details the perils of the "Jupiter Mission" a spaceship, the Discovery One, bound, appropriately, for the planet Jupiter. While much of 2001 seems to be avoiding describing its own plot, focusing more on a rich and immaculate sense of atmosphere, the Jupiter Mission is more story-driven. This is a tale of failed evolution, an attempt by technology, the supercomputer HAL 9000, to usurp its creators as the dominant life-form.

The final act "Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite" is regarded as the film's most ambiguous. It illustrates, through a series of oddly domestic alien interactions, humankind's next evolutionary step. This is explored via Dr. David Bowman, an astronaut from the Jupiter Mission, who transforms ultimately into what has become known as the "starchild." The film concludes with the haunting and enigmatic image of the fetus-like starchild, floating in space, with Earth in the background.

What is truly incredible about 2001: A Space Odyssey is just how little of this plot the movie ever spells out. It will pull you along with gorgeous imagery and amazing, particularly for the time, special effects, even as you may be entirely puzzled by the actions playing out in front of you. It demands to be examined further, to be cracked open and explored until it will reveal its deeper meaning. It is because of this deep layering of ideas, left so courageously up to the viewer to decipher, that 2001: A Space Odyssey is my favorite film.

Links to Purchase on DVD:
-http://www.amazon.com/2001-Space-Odyssey-Two-Disc-Special/dp/B000UJ48SG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1238181167&sr=8-1
-http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8510168&st=2001+A+Space+Odyssey&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=41606

And in Blu-Ray:
-http://www.buy.com/prod/2001-space-odyssey-special-edition-blu-ray/q/loc/322/205115466.html