"2010: The Year We Make Contact" is compared- unfairly and unnecessarily- to "2001: A Space Odyssey" in almost every review posted here. To make my point, I will have to drag 2001 into this review as well. Let's look at these two films alone and ignore the novels on which they were based for the time being.
(Taking a deep breath as I prepare to offend everyone). I see 2001 as a product of American drug culture in the late 60's. Whether Kubrick intended it as such I don't know, but it is in essence a BORING film. I have only come to that conclusion recently; in my teens I was enchanted with it as everyone else. But on repeated viewings it's clear me that nothing much is going on except psychadelic special effects. The characters are cardboard, non-existent. It contains stunning visuals, true, but these are overdone. Is it really necessary to spend 5 to 10 minutes watching the Discovery's pod leave the ship, orient itself, and begin to move? Of course not. 10 to 20 seconds is all that is needed. This is only one example; nearly every sequence in the film is agonizingly drawn out, until you find yourself screaming "CUT!" over and over again at the screen. (Why does Kubrick do this so often in his films?)
I would hazard a guess that the film is much more enjoyable when you're high as a kite (I don't know, I've never been high). 2001 also brings out all the pseudo-intellectuals that praise it for its' open-endedness, and the fact that "everything is not spelled out". Now none of these statements makes 2001 a bad film; it's only the fact that 2010 is not an exact replica that seems to make everyone dislike it.
(SPOILERS AHEAD). 2010 is an accessible film. What's wrong with that? Curiousity is human nature: we WANT to know why HAL malfunctioned. We WANT to know what the monolith is. 2010 delivers. I think the explanation offered of why HAL malfunctioned is brilliant. Wouldn't it be typical of the American government to instruct a computer to lie, given its long history of concealing things from its populace?
2010 presents the monolith as an agent of an alien intelligence who, after tinkering with the mind of early man (in 2001), seeks to cultivate life further on Jupiter's moon Europa by transforming Jupiter into a second sun. (This also happens in the book 2010, and since Arthur C. Clarke is not just an author but a brilliant scientist, I assume that this theory of transformation is based in scientific fact. By the way, Clarke invented the communications satellite).
The special effects in 2010 are brilliant (supervised by Richard Edlund, whose resume includes the original Star Wars trilogy- enough said). I love the scene in which Curnow (played by John Lithgow) and Max (Elya Baskin) transfer from the Leonov to the Discovery, with the sulfur covered, volcanic surface of Io beneath them.
The dialog is smart and witty, and the acting is solid if not brilliant. Another favorite scene is when Heywood Floyd (played by Roy Scheider) receives a message from Dave Bowman aboard the Discovery. (Look behind you...) Absolutely chilling. Bowman's make-up could have been a little bit better, but oh well.
END OF SPOILERS
A few quirks to look for: Clarke and Kubrick, depicted on the cover of Time magazine as the American president and Russian premier, respectively. A brief view of some scenes from 2001 (of spaceships and the big wheel shaped space station) that appear in a commercial when Dave Bowman's widow is watching TV. Candice Bergen's voice cameo as the SAL 9000 computer.
One last note about the cold war aspects of 2010: Some reviewers criticize this theme (in hindsight of course) as unnecessary and dated. I don't think it particularly adds anything to the film, but in its defense, the cold war had been going on for more than 30 years at the time of the release of 2010. The general feeling of paranoia in the mid-80s made it difficult to see an end to the cold war.
Finally, if you haven't seen 2010, watch it for its own sake, and forget about 2001. Everything you need to know about that film is summarized at the beginning. I liked it a lot better that way...
(Taking a deep breath as I prepare to offend everyone). I see 2001 as a product of American drug culture in the late 60's. Whether Kubrick intended it as such I don't know, but it is in essence a BORING film. I have only come to that conclusion recently; in my teens I was enchanted with it as everyone else. But on repeated viewings it's clear me that nothing much is going on except psychadelic special effects. The characters are cardboard, non-existent. It contains stunning visuals, true, but these are overdone. Is it really necessary to spend 5 to 10 minutes watching the Discovery's pod leave the ship, orient itself, and begin to move? Of course not. 10 to 20 seconds is all that is needed. This is only one example; nearly every sequence in the film is agonizingly drawn out, until you find yourself screaming "CUT!" over and over again at the screen. (Why does Kubrick do this so often in his films?)
I would hazard a guess that the film is much more enjoyable when you're high as a kite (I don't know, I've never been high). 2001 also brings out all the pseudo-intellectuals that praise it for its' open-endedness, and the fact that "everything is not spelled out". Now none of these statements makes 2001 a bad film; it's only the fact that 2010 is not an exact replica that seems to make everyone dislike it.
(SPOILERS AHEAD). 2010 is an accessible film. What's wrong with that? Curiousity is human nature: we WANT to know why HAL malfunctioned. We WANT to know what the monolith is. 2010 delivers. I think the explanation offered of why HAL malfunctioned is brilliant. Wouldn't it be typical of the American government to instruct a computer to lie, given its long history of concealing things from its populace?
2010 presents the monolith as an agent of an alien intelligence who, after tinkering with the mind of early man (in 2001), seeks to cultivate life further on Jupiter's moon Europa by transforming Jupiter into a second sun. (This also happens in the book 2010, and since Arthur C. Clarke is not just an author but a brilliant scientist, I assume that this theory of transformation is based in scientific fact. By the way, Clarke invented the communications satellite).
The special effects in 2010 are brilliant (supervised by Richard Edlund, whose resume includes the original Star Wars trilogy- enough said). I love the scene in which Curnow (played by John Lithgow) and Max (Elya Baskin) transfer from the Leonov to the Discovery, with the sulfur covered, volcanic surface of Io beneath them.
The dialog is smart and witty, and the acting is solid if not brilliant. Another favorite scene is when Heywood Floyd (played by Roy Scheider) receives a message from Dave Bowman aboard the Discovery. (Look behind you...) Absolutely chilling. Bowman's make-up could have been a little bit better, but oh well.
END OF SPOILERS
A few quirks to look for: Clarke and Kubrick, depicted on the cover of Time magazine as the American president and Russian premier, respectively. A brief view of some scenes from 2001 (of spaceships and the big wheel shaped space station) that appear in a commercial when Dave Bowman's widow is watching TV. Candice Bergen's voice cameo as the SAL 9000 computer.
One last note about the cold war aspects of 2010: Some reviewers criticize this theme (in hindsight of course) as unnecessary and dated. I don't think it particularly adds anything to the film, but in its defense, the cold war had been going on for more than 30 years at the time of the release of 2010. The general feeling of paranoia in the mid-80s made it difficult to see an end to the cold war.
Finally, if you haven't seen 2010, watch it for its own sake, and forget about 2001. Everything you need to know about that film is summarized at the beginning. I liked it a lot better that way...