There are so many ways to look at 2001. From a technical standpoint, it is almost flawless, especially for its time. The sequences aboard Discovery accurately portray life in space; silent, monotonous, tedious, and visually stunning. The overall arc of the story is profound, about man's place in the universe, starting from the Dawn of Man, as we see the first steps in man's evolution. Watch as Moonwatcher, the lead ape, uses a tool for the first time. And after he uses it as a weapon, he is STANDING ERECT. After the flash-forward of about a million years, man has become a space-faring species. Again the mysterious Monolith has reappeared to steer mankind to another level of evolution. For me, the most interesting, and complex, character is HAL. His motivations and behaviour are the focal point of the movie. He goes haywire, but for what reason? Computers are supposed to be logical, but HAL is not. There are subtle scenes involving HAL, like the scene in which he expressed doubts and uncertainties about the mission to Jupiter. When Dave asks if he is doing a crew psychology report, HAL pauses before answering the question. It's only for a few seconds, but for a computer, that's an eternity. He has to "think" before answering. And when Dave re-enters Discovery, after HAL had locked him out, he puts on his space suit, presumably as a precaution in case HAL lets the air out of the ship. Why didn't HAL depressurize the ship BEFORE Dave got back in? These are fascinating details that still leave me guessing after dozens of viewings. 2001 is a landmark film.
Review of 2001: A Space Odyssey
