Nobody is going to believe that I had not watched this sci-fi Stanley Kubrick classic until now! I read the book when I was in school and I was fascinated by the monoliths and HAL. Well, I made amends over this weekend.I don’t have too much to write about it. It is haunting, elegant, full of poise, but a little stretched out. I loved the concept and the fantastic photographic/directorial finish the movie had. But I have to say one thing: I was disappointed with the ending. I would have loved if the movie had ended with the ending that Arthur C. Clarke had proposed initially (which got scrapped). I am giving it a 4*.
I can’t finish without commenting on the amazing soundtrack of the movie. The Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II and the famous symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra must be the most defining choices made for a soundtrack in a movie.
(PS: I thought I saw the silhouette of Anil Kapoor in the “Dawn of Man” sequence. Was he even alive in 1968?)
4 comments:
having read Odysseys 2010, 2061, and 3001 some time back
me saw the movie only recently
and blew my mind it did
especially the scene in which frank poole runs around and around that centrifuge for exercise
if such cinematographic brilliance is what kubrick could achieve in 1968
the current lot of movies makes me feel that we have only taken some giant leaps backward in film-making
(ps: still have to read the book though)
I had read all the four books when I was in college. Loved them that time.
I love the centrifuge scene too. Did you know they had to strap up his co-astronaut in the scenes when they were together?
Modern sci-fi movies are disappointing considering Kubrick's brilliance!
strap him ... didn't know that
but those depictions of zero (and synthetic) gravity
would have given watchers goosebumps i think
especially when watched in a theater
i wish kubrick makes movies of the Rama series too
but alas that Clarke is dead
(long live Arthur C.)
Yeah, I wish someone did the Rama series. Did you enjoy the whole series? I loved it!
Plus, Asimov's Foundation series.
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