Im guessing that is because your interpetation of the film was close to the book. Though I would agree with you that I don't think the book and film are very far apart. I think the film and book started to drift apart once they arrived at Jupiter.

I feel part of what makes the film work so perfectly is Kubrick's abstract vision during the final thirty or so minutes of the film. I think some of the above posters also make a good point as to the meaning of the moniliths being open. It just happend that my interpretation of them was the same as how they were explained in the book, which I didnt read till after seeing the film quite a few times.

One interpretation that could be made is that the monoliths are God, observing and gently guiding the human race where it wants us to head.

The first monolith was there when the primitive hominids learned to use tools for survivial. It was either observing or guiding.

The second monolith, on the moon, was there waiting to be found. Once mankind had travelled to the moon and found it, it alerted the third monolith, which acted as an evolutionary agent in a more overt manner.

I just saw this movie for the FIRST time in my life, watched it in glorious HD from HDNet. Picture quality was amazing for such an old film, but thats not what this thead is about.

Im glad i searched for a while, it took me a bit to find this existing thread. Before i watched the film, i knew nothing about it. I knew kubrik directed it, and i knew there was a lot of talk about it, but i knew nothing of story, characters, etc etc.

So as im watching the begining, i was really confused at what all this ape stuff was about. That was until the weapon scene with the bones occured, and it dawned me that this is just progression, albiet a slow way of showing it. Then the monolith showed up, i was awe'd by that, it came out of nowhere.

Then of course came the scene with the govt officials, and how they're talking about the coverup, etc. I still had no clue what was going on. I also wondered, what happened once the light hit the monolith, and what was that sound? Nothing there made any sense, and nothing was said at any point to resolve what had happened from there. I did enjoy the part about them talking about how it was 4 million years old and intentionally buried. I found that fascinating, but also curious, as they discovered it on a alien planet and not on earth like we saw with the apes? So many unanswered questions, and it wasnt even half way!

Now, some things about the discovery shuttle parts were odd. I got the impression that HAL 9000 actually knew what the monolith was but was holding back from saying anything. He tried to say something, but then said that something malfunctioned to change the subject, which ultimately led to his own demise and the demise of almost everyone else. I also dont think lips can be read from the side, but thats just movie magic i suppose. I also didnt like how he threw away franks body, why did he do that? Couldnt he have just put him somewhere to float around a little till he had 100% control then went and gotten him back vs sending his body into deep space? I also saw no point in HAL singing while he dies. Was that a way to soften his death as if he were a person? Just weird.

Now, once he gets to jupitor and is told whats going on.. Is it a whole new monolith? Hard to put the size of it into perspective. Are there a bunch of these things floating around in the universe? Was it just chance that the planets were aligned and the monolith just hit the right spot for another Big Bang of some type to occur? What could those triangle things represent?

And lastly.. Why would he imagine that room? Why would he see himself become older? The damn monolith showing up again.. I was in awe as its so magical in the movie with no explenation of who/what/when/where/why.. Then he becomes a baby overlooking earth.. Hard to know what happened.. Also, nowhere anywhere in the movie is there anything about aliens. They say inteligent life 4 million years before them, but doesnt mean much.

Well, thats what i got out of the movie. I enjoyed it a lot till the last part of the movie with the psychodelic stuff then the weird aging. It threw me off by a long shot. Obviously it wasnt meant to mean one specific thing, but im almost posotive in kubriks mind, it did. We'll never know what tho..

It was already posted earlier in the thread, but I'll post it again for you: check out this website, http://www.kubrick2001.com/, it helps to break the movie down into manageable and understandable segments.

I finally watched this not too long ago....
Watching it is like listening to Pink Floyd on a case of whip-its

HD version looks GOOOOD

2001: A Pink Floyd Odyssey

Just watched that whole thing. It makes the movie seem stupider then what i saw out of it. Has some decent answers, but over simplifies it all..

I'll try to answer some of your questions. I'm not sure if these are answered by that link or not.

The monolith sent some kind of message to Jupiter. It seems to have been buried on the moon, so that once it was uncovered and the sun hit it it would send a signal to Jupiter. Whoever placed the monoliths would now know that mankind had ventured out into space and had the ability to explore the solar system.

I believe this was to show that HAL's brain was "dying". He was going back to a simpler, less intelligent state before his brain was completely dead/turned off.

Yes, the monolith around Jupiter must have been much bigger than the other two. I mean it looks rather large and that is in front of Jupiter. The "triangle things" are something having to do with the stargate that transports Bowman to some other time and place in space. I'm not sure we can really know what they are supposed to be.

I believe the room was created from his memories by whoever placed the monoliths. Basically they wanted him to feel comfortable and at home. And at the end he becomes a "starchild," a creature of pure thought with no need for a physical body. He is the next step in man's evolution. I also love how the movie never shows you the "aliens." As a matter of fact how do we know it is aliens? Is it perhaps God, or some divine creator? That's what makes the movie so interesting and keeps me coming back to it.

Hopefully this made some sense.

First off, thanks for the great reply.

See above.

That makes sense, but, shouldnt that have happened MANY times already? They didnt dig it up the same day the guy arrived there to see it. The guy who came is a peon and insignificant, so why have it happen then? Or perhaps it happens everyday the sun hits it, but if that were the case, they'd be prepared for it and not be shocked/surprised by it like they were. More hmmm's...

If thats the case, i see no advantage of that being in the movie. I guess you could say he becomes dumber (aka, more human) as hes dyeing, but hes not alive, so why compare it. HAL isnt mans evolution, its just a machine. I dont see the point in trying to make HAL seem more human then they already did.

I see. Makes sense. I guess if the Triangle things were computers of some type, id be more inclined to beleive that it was aliens who put it there. However, theres no evidence either way.

Why do they make him grow old and die in bed tho. I see how become a being of spirit is the next step, makes sense (in the movie), but why make him go through all that? And why so fast? I guess it would make it easier on him in a way, to see it all unfold vs it just happening. Maybe give him a sense of understanding since its happening in steps in front of his eyes? I will definetly be re-watching it (sans the monkey begining) and will now try to see it with more understanding of whats going on to see if i can make a better assesment.

Thank you very much, very helpful!

Perhaps it's a way for a 60's film to show how advanced man's technology had/could become at that point in history? Yes, Hal is "just a machine". But I don't think one can easily dismiss how advanced Hal was.

Bravo " Breakfast with Girls "
I agree, that was one of the best explanations "in a nutshell" I've ever read.

I first saw 2001 in 1982. I was twelve. My stepfather saw it advertised as being revived in a local theatre. It was a "must see" on the big screen according to him. Now being twelve..you may wonder what did a kid think of it. I loved it. I thought Wow..I'm a Buck Rodgers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Star Trek, Omni Magazine reading enthusiast..How did I miss this movie??? Where's it been?? Then I understood it was shot in 1968. My mouth dropped since my mind was now comparing the set design in 2001 to other contemporaries such as movies like Alien, Star Wars and the original Star Trek series AND 2001 was shot roughly the same as the Star Trek TV series...Plus the ramnifications of the content I just saw (evolution of tools, 0 gravity toilets, aliens planting our intelligence and then this last guy gets sucked into another "way of being"...damn. I was a far out deep thinker at twelve..I basically understood it..but after reading the book shortly thereafter..seeing the movie helped me visualize the ending when Bowman is in a "hotel room". His thoughts are expressed in the book. He discusses that the food that is given him tastes like anything he thinks of. I still think the Star Child is a metaphor for "pure" energy. clean and renewed and where it does not know of space or time restrictions. I guess it's hard to convey this type of existence into a 3 dimensional space.. when it's really not physical, is a metaphoric artistic choice.

When watching for the first time..I know it's slow..but remember this was shot in a time when people had patience!! Space travel does not have Warp speed. The movie tried to maintain science in actual scientific fact sidelining a story of a supernatural experience. There is no immediate gratification here as a viewer. No "action-jackson" scenes. It's purely a cerebral film. No one gets immediate gratification in the movie either (except maybe the ape with the tool)..and no one knows why the monolith was buried on the moon... which is why the audience has to travel through the "mystery journey" as a 3rd person. Even the two main astronauts at the end know nothing about the monolith or why they are going to Jupiter.

Maybe the big lesson in the movie is that there is no point in making secrets and hiding info. The secret almost always gets out, they usually come out in a bad way because then it's discovered that it was covered in the first place, which pisses people off and causes mayhem to which is usually followed by people getting hurt and die unnecessarily. All because others don't think OTHERS are entitled to know anything.

Yes folks, The big action here is that ONLY HAL (computer) has the dilemma! The importance of the mission was top secret priority! No matter what. Crew expendible. Why should a computer know all the good stuff and the human scientists know nothing??? Sound familiar?

"Burke you don't see them "f"ing each other over for a goddamn percentage!" - Ripley, Aliens

You just have to appreciate the design. This movie was 15 years ahead of it's time by decor. The storyline is about 800 years ahead of us now. Thanks to our current bureaucracy, "hijacked republican party" spending and economic decline over the past 27 years...we won't see space travel like this for generations. When Kennedy was murdered..that did it. Currency no longer printed with previous metals. 1964..last year folks for coinage! Very disappointing as from the eyes of a twelve year old now 37 seeing jobs outsourced, making less than my parents made in the 80s, everything costing more, music getting worse and with less talent than a saltine cracker. (Hey, at least musicians from pre 1986 actually played their instruments! These movies created so much hope for the future. We thought..it could only get better!!!

So, bear in mind, it takes a certain creative open mind to tolerate the movie all the way through.

I just had a thought after posting the last two.

The monolith reminds me of a big magnet. Like the kind you used to play with in science class. Remember reversing one of them so it's super hard to press them together. It is believed that magnetism and energy have something to do with gravity. The monolith design and function could have used magnetism and energy to do it's purpose.

One thing is certain.

Stanley Kubrick, wherever he is now, must be a very happy man that his 40 year old masterpiece is still giving us all something to argue/debate/reflect about!

So good:

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Also the bone being thrown by the ape and the cut to the satelitte armed with Nukes orbiting the Earth. Showing how we may have progressed intellectually and with the tools we use...but at the heart of the matter man is still an armed brutal animal.

This sync of the final segment of 2001 and Pink Floyd's song "Echoes" (both of which are 23 minutes 31 seconds in length) is pretty interesting:

Jupiter and Beyond The Infinite



(Wikipedia entry on this synchronization)

The only thing I still have no explanation for, after all these years, is whether the howlings we hear as Bowman first explores the bedroom are part of the soundtrack (Ligeti?) or intended to be ambient noise (other aliens?).

What? You can't be serious. Clarke and Kubrick NEVER collaborated. Clarke was writing the novel while the movie was being made and saw clips, but wrote the novel before he had seen it in it's entirety. Kubrick FREQUENTLY stated that Clarke's novel was an interesting take, but not necessarily the right interpretation because there isn't one. He made the film, also stated by him frequently, with the intention of many interpretations. He never explained his original meaning for the movie before he died. One look at his Wikipedia could have told you all of that.

You joined to rage about a 5 year old post?

Wtf is w/ all the fucking new guys bumping dead threads?! Jesus titty fucking christ, man.

At least it was a contribution to the discussion, unlike bumps by long-time members here that add absolutely nothing new.

I agree bumping old threads sort of suck, yet people complain when someone starts a new thread on a old or semi-old topic too. They'll post links to the old thread like anyone cares. It's a no win. I rather see new thoughts and thread on a topic, except when it's the age-old question: When will Kill Bill the Whole Bloody Affair be released?

oh god, fuck KB:TWBA threads.

It's very clear. 20 minutes of colors, then space baby. The end.

Early man, as shown in the movie (after the monolith shows up), evolved from being herbivores into carnivores. They use their new tools to kill animals (tapirs and such) and are shown running around eating meat. In real life these added nutrients from meat and bone marrow would eventually lead early man to develop "bigger" brains, etc.


Yes, I am responding to a comment from a dead thread. I just watched 2001 and 2010 this morning. In a row.