Kyle Thomas Space Odyssey

Kyle Thomas
Tess Evans
English 103
8 December 2009

The Odyssey Of Man

2001: A Space Odyssey is said to be one of the greatest movies of its time. The film shows evolution through time, and the technological advancements man made starting with a single tool. The film doesn’t use much dialogue, which gave me a feeling of what space would be like. I think the lack of dialogue makes you think deeper into the message of the film. Watching it now, the graphics and special effects don’t look like anything special, but for the films time they were far advanced.
When I first started watching this film I didn’t think I would make it through the entire thing. Science fiction films have never been my favorite things to watch. With the lack of dialogue and the slow suspense building music it was hard to keep my eyes open. The film had a deeper meaning that I just couldn’t seem to grasp. I had to watch some parts a couple times to really understand it. I think it would have helped a lot if I didn’t have to watch the movie on youtube.
The movie opens with primitive apes struggling for survival. They are eating grass, and getting water wherever they can find it. The apes were at the bottom of the food chain. While drinking from a water hole a leopard jumps out attacking one of the defenseless apes. In the next scene a large black monolith appears to the apes. There was no sound when it appeared except for the apes panicking. When it first appeared I didn’t know what to think. The silence to me represented the unknown of what this large black rectangle was. After this large stone came to them, the leader of the apes went to a skeleton and picked up one of the bones. He began smashing the rest of the skeleton with the one bone. At this time tools were discovered. The apes were no longer vegetarians eating grass, they discovered weapons not only to protect themselves, but also to hunt and kill. The scene ended with the ape throwing the bone into the air. The bone made a slow transformation into a satellite in space, representing the evolution of man.
The film then jumps millions of years to a space ship. The ship was very “futuristic.” The furniture, the video phones they used to contact home, the lack of gravity and the astronaut’s fancy apparel gave the viewers a feel for what the future held. The transition from the first scene to the second showed the advancements we have made through time, and how far our technological advancements have brought us. The camera kept moving around the ship showing all the bells and whistles it had. There wasn’t much dialogue in the second scene. I think the lack of dialogue made the viewer think and ask questions, which is what the director wanted.
After the transition to space, the film jumps to a different space mission to Jupiter. The ship was again; very futuristic but had one big difference. On this ship was a computer named Hal that was made to help the astronauts, and was programmed to have genuine true emotions. As the mission continues Hal starts to have “computer complications.” He starts questions the humans, and beings to lose his trust in them. Hal then goes completely insane. Feeling so betrayed he kills one of the astronauts, and then goes on to kill the scientists who are in hibernation. The one astronaut that is left manages to shut down Hal, and escape in one of the pods to continue the mission to Jupiter.
This scene was very well done and did a very good job portraying its message. To me, the director was showing us what could very well happen with the advancements in technology. The scientists developed a computer that can think its own thoughts and feel human emotions. The message portrayed is that the technological advancement that are made, will eventually be better and stronger than the human race. We will collapse under our own inventions.
When the astronaut finally gets to Jupiter he is alone in a house. He has nothing. Without technology he ages years at a time until he is in his deathbed. The black monolith from the beginning of the film appears at the foot of his bed. He then passes away and you see his soul rise.
The final scene shows how technology can help us tremendously, but if we become completely dependant on it we are bound to fail. I think that the black monolith represents time. Not time itself, but how far we have come in time. Every time the monolith appeared something was discovered, and time shifted to the future.
2001: A Space Odyssey is a film that requires in depth thinking. It’s not your typical action movie with no real meaning. This film represents the evolution of man through time and how far we have come with the advancements in technology. The discovery of tools marked the beginning of man. This film was very well made, and did a good job making the viewer think. The lack of dialogue left you with your own thoughts, leaving the interpretation of the film completely up to you.