2001: A Space Odyssey

What a monumental piece of cinema. Everything about this movie shocks, awes and impresses me, from the scale, to the colours to the sheer beauty in every frame, every moment every concept. Highly conceptual and idealised film that relies more on its audience being intelligent than anything else, it’s subtly is masterful. To think that this film was released in 1968 a still manages to blow my mind in 2026 is absolutely unreal. I have put of watching this film for so long and I really need to stop doing that, this film truly is that good. The cinematography is absolute world class, from external shots of the vast expanse of space, to the internal beauty of nearly every single spaceship on screen, classy, stark, cold, everything is on display for all to witness. The sequence surrounding Jupiter and the subsequent head trip with inverted colours, flying neon is unreal, I know see the inspiration for Star Wars Hyperspace. The use of colour in the final 30 minutes is amazing and really grips all attention. The dialogue while sparse does its job so superbly well that I don’t even mind it, from Hal’s emotional final moments to the exchanges between Dr Floyd and his compatriots on the Moon all serve a great purpose to the story an deeply affect all of the plot. Hal is a superbly terrifying antagonist whose idea becomes ever the more poignant as our AI grows in scope and threat. His final monologue despite its simplicity is heartbreaking in a way unforeseen. The use of sound and music is so fitting from symphony to eerie chaos in the Infinite fits the themes and pure oddness of this film. The films iconic score, one I had heard a million times before, yet in the context of this film become ever more compelling, speaks volumes as to why it has stood the test time in the way that it has. The deep breathing in some of the more tense sequences makes them even more so. Even the use of silence throughout makes it impossible to look away or even blink. Every moment seems masterfully crafted and intensely satisfying and composed. The symbolism dotted throughout its 2 hour and 20 minute run time is enough to keep even the most wayward mind thinking throughout. Long extensive tracking shots only add to this films depth as they reveal the scale of the whole film, and that may be its greatest achievement, its pure scale and frightful ability to convey something many could only dream of at the time, Now I can sort of understand the conspiracy theories that Stanley Kubrick faked the moon landing… Somehow this film manages to do everything that Interstellars finale failed to do, now i understand people’s frustrations with that ending as it was done so superbly so many years earlier. Truly one of the finest science fiction films ever produced and stands the test of time even 58 years on. “One Small Step For Man, One Giant Leap For Man Kind” - Neil Armstrong (1969)