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| A deliciously old-fashioned, hand-drawn and painted poster for Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey |
New York-born master filmmaker Stanley Kubrick (The Shining (1980)) was granted total freedom to make this unequaled space tale. 2001 is a sci-fi milestone, because it took the genre to a place where it had never been before (on the screen at least): To the seriously philosophical and the abstract.
Super computer HAL 9000 begins to act with uncommon and disturbing individuality on a spaceship in the future. The ultimate question that 2001 seems to raise and probe from different angles is: What is humanity?
It doesn't get much bigger than that.
The film remains unbelievably beautiful, with striking cinematography by great English cinematographer Geoffrey Unsworth (Cabaret (1972)), but at times it is also strenuously solemn and frustrating. It is co-written by Kubrick and great SF writer Arthur C. Clarke (Rendezvous with Rama (1972)), based on a short story of his, The Sentinel (1948).
The concrete plot on the space ship is fascinatingly potent, and it continues to inspire great science fiction films like Eagle Eye (2008) and Moon (2009).
Personally, however, in the amazing oeuvre of Kubrick, my heart beats with more passion for several other of his incredible films.
Related posts:
Stanley Kubrick: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairytale with both heart and mind (concept)
Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Shining (1980) - Kubrick's descent into madness is a timeless masterpiece
Barry Lyndon (1975) - Kubrick's elegant 19th century costume whopper
A Clockwork Orange (1971) or, Outrage! The intellectual sci-fi-prison-crime-drama Shocker!
Watch the official 1968 trailer for the film here
Cost: 10.5-12 mil. $
Box office: In excess of 190 mil. $ (with re-releases)
= Mega-hit (returned more than 15.8 times the cost)
[2001: A Space Odyssey premiered 2 April (Washington, D. C.) and runs 142 minutes, (Kubrick's original cut was 161 minutes, but he cut 19 minutes off for its general release.) It was filmed in England and went way over budget and schedule. It opened to mixed reviews, - confused praise not least, - and originally grossed 15 mil. $ in North America, becoming the highest grossing North American film domestically of 1968. The domestic gross has since grown to 56.9 mil. $ (29.9 % of the total gross) with several re-releases; the latest one in North America was in 2001. 2001 was nominated for 4 Oscars: It won for Best Visual Effects but lost Art/Set Direction to Oliver!, Director to Carol Reed for the same film, and Best Original Screenplay to Mel Brooks for The Producers. The film also won 3/5 BAFTA nominations, a David di Donatello award and a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to two notches higher than this one. IMDb's user-generated Top 250 currently has the film at #90, sitting between 3 Idiots (2009) and Toy Story (1995). Kubrick returned with A Clockwork Orange (1971). Lead Keir Dullea (Law & Order (1976, TV movie) returned in De Sade (1969). 2001: A Space Odyssey is certified fresh at 93 % with a 9.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Is it among the greatest films of all time, - or, as I think, maybe a bit overrated?
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