Sunday, July 08, 2007

2001: A Space Odyssey


I'm probably gonna get a lot of hateful comments for saying this. I'm probably gonna get a lot of "Why? What's wrong with you? Don't you see blah blah blah" comments, trying to help me understand the errors of my way. But I feel it must be said. So here goes.

I do not like 2001: A Space Odyssey. There. I said it.

And yes I will point out why. But first, let's focus on some of the GOOD things.
1. No matter what my opinion is of this movie, I still think Stanley Kubrick is a great director. I do put some of the blame on him since he co-wrote the script, but you gotta hand it to the guy, he knows how to make a movie.
2. The cinematography is stunning, I will admit that.
3. I found the last 35-40 minutes (The scenes with HAL) the best part of the movie.
4. The acting was quite good.

With that out of way, here comes the bad shit.
1. It's boring as hell. Sure, let's spend the first ten minutes of the movie with some cavemen who don't do anything but sit there and bang on rocks.
2. All the things that happen in the movie aren't explained so we (or I) have no fuckin' clue what's going on.
3. It seems like it was made all artsy on purpose, as if to say "OOOH! Only CERTAIN people will understand this movie. If you don't understand, then you're like the cavemen at the beginning of the film. Where's my Grey Poupon?"
4. What the hell was up with those big black things? If any of that was explained, I missed it...all three times I watched this movie (yes I watched it till the end all 3 times)

If the whole entire movie was about HAL going berserk and killing astronauts, this would be in fact a kickass movie. But it's not. And I know I'm not alone on this opinion. Besides a few of my friends, and my fiance, there's this guy who seems to hate it as much as I do. Of course he was a bit harsh. I hope I don't come off as that harsh.

That's all I really have to say. I'm not trying to start a "flame war" here. If you like this movie, and even understand it (somehow), that's fine. Go ahead on wit yo bad self. Me? I perfer movies with something called "a plot".

Yep, I'm gonna get hate mail now.
-Jason

1 comment:

DVD Infatuation said...

Yeah, I do love 2001: A Space Odyssey, but you're definitely not alone in disliking it (I have friends who can't understand why I love it).

For me, it's more about the spectacle than anything, the way Kubrick sort of focuses on the visuals. Nowadays, these type of Sci-Fi special effects are common-place, but I keep thinking it must have been awesome to see on the big screen.

But, no, you're definitely not alone. In fact, these days, I think I'm the one in the minority!