Sci Fi movies have kind of a reputation for being cliche. Given how much movies in this genre tends to borrow from their predecessors, this reputation is not entirely undeserved. 2001: A Space Odyssey seems cliche at first, but what you realize is that this is the movie that invented a lot of the cliches. Stanley Kubrick’s fanatical attention to detail and accuracy in every aspect of the film, as well as the ambiguous nature of the plot, make this movie a refreshing change from the stupid blockbuster direction Sci Fi has taken in recent years. This “thinking man’s” Sci Fi film is probably my favorite Science Fiction movie ever, and is one of my favorite movies ever period.
From the opening score that many Sci Fi movies have either emulated or straight up stolen, this movie sets itself up as a full-on epic. Kubrick makes many design decisions throughout the movie that, on the surface, appear to make no sense. For example, the movie is 2.5 hours long, but the main plot doesn’t actually begin until about an hour into the movie. What’s more, the first hour is pretty much explained through plot exposition in the second half of the movie, so it’s entirely superfluous unless you look at it carefully. The first hour sets the tone and feel for the rest of the movie, and provides some great commentary on the main themes of the movie (is progress really always good, are computers with advanced AI “human”, etc.) It’s stuff like this that really elevate 2001 above it’s peers, but at the same time, it’s stuff like this that would never make it into Avatar, Star Wars or any of the high-budget, popcorn blockbusters of recent times. I wish more movies were like 2001.
Score: 5/5 (A 5 is a movie I absolutely loved, would see again many times, and would recommend to absolutely everybody. I probably think it should be rated higher on the list than it currently is.)
