Mummelmann said:
I'm almost ashamed to admit it, but I've never seen 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm considering buying it on 4K blu-ray, I hear it's a gorgeous film in that format, like many others from that era. |
You're not alone—I didn’t watch the film until relatively recently, although I remember my father watching it a few times when I was a kid (he’s a big Kubrick fan).
Fair warning so you know what you're getting into: this is not a typical "movie"/rollercoaster-type Hollywood film. 2001 is an interpretive art piece and has elements of slow cinema (think Jean Dielman). While there are a few dramatic arcs in it, they’re not the focus. Think of other art films like Fantasia, The Wall, or Blowup (or really anything by Antonioni). Think of it as the cinematic version of music.
I’d also recommend watching the film before reading the book - if you plan on reading the book - because the book is less a work of interpretive art and more an explicit narrative. And if you end up enjoying the book, in my opinion, Clarke’s Childhood’s End is the superior work—and it’s also the main inspiration for the PlayStation game Xenogears.
When it comes to 2001, I've been watching this sequence of films: 2001 → Alien → The Thing → Aliens. There is a bit of a thematic continuity, and also a logical progression of style from a more artistic film into a Hollywood blockbuster style film.
Last edited by Jumpin - on 01 June 2025I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
