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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
A landmark film too boring to sit through
This film is often regarded as an incredibly influential film, and that is hard to disagree with. Several TV shows and movies mimic or parody the ideas of 2001, however the film itself doesn't really hold up. The effects are good, especially considering it's all practical, and the movie looks more futuristic than some other sci-fi movies.
The main issue with this film is that it is slow, often showing imagery that unless you read the book its based off of won't make much sense. Several scenes are slow, such as the opening which took about 25 minutes to have the first line of dialogue. The first 14 were shots of a savannah and footage of grunting monkeys learning what tools are. Then it's a quick scene involving set up, a 4 minute scene with docking a spaceship on the moon, then a board meeting I can't remember anything of.
The worst scene is the 2nd monolith scene because of the soundtrack. A loud, high pitched horrible ringing plays throughout, along with a light show which makes it unbearable.
The enjoyable part of the film is the section with HAL 9000, but it lasts about 30 minutes, however the scenes with HAL are great even if the main protagonist is one of the most bland I've ever seen. However, since it's so short it feels more like a twilight zone episode, and since it has scenes of breathing and HAL's death go on for too long, it loses its charm for good portions of time.
The rest of the film is more prolonged lightshows and music, and I can't even remember the ending as I was too uninterested at that point.
This film looks nice with its space scenes, and the 30 minute episode with HAL is what the film really should've been. Focusing more on HAL and the crewmen on the ship instead of so many light shows and long drawn out sequences you feel every second of. This isn't a horror film, so it's not like a long sequence is there to build suspense for a scare like in Kubrick's "The Shining".
If you're looking for a character driven film, you wont find it here. If you're looking for a riveting science fiction film, go watch Blade Runner or Star Wars. If you're looking for a movie you have to research to understand, while this movie is for you, I wouldn't recommend it. You'd be better of watching a slideshow and a twilight zone episode.
To summarize, the film is a landmark film and its influence is throughout science fiction with good visuals, but it's an agonizingly boring film you understand when you look up what it means. Look up screencaps of the film and you'll probably have more enjoyment looking at the magnificent effects.