OT-2001 ASO (includes spoiler)

Randallw · #1 June 13th, 2004, 03:11 PM

I just finished watching 2001 again after not seeing it for awhile. I have only one thing to say ,

I was hoping I would get it this time, but it still eludes me. I get the monoliths. I get HAL. What I don't get is the end. Dave reaches Saturn, he goes through hyperspace, then he is in a room seeing his older self from time to time, which I suppose means he is in the alien room the rest of his life. Why the Heck does he turn into a space baby at the end?.

ps. I am going to assume everyone realises HAL is IBM shifted backwards, HAL even says at the end he was created at HAL labs. Was Kubrick or Clarke unable to get IBM's permission?.

[ June 13, 2004, 14:12: Message edited by: Randallw ]

Atrocities · #2 June 13th, 2004, 03:33 PM

2010 was much better. I think they had no clue what to do with 2001 ASO and it shows. Great music, slow boring movie of all time.

And remember, the critics who loved this movie also thought GiGi was the most exciting movie of 2003.

AMF · #3 June 13th, 2004, 05:00 PM

Hmmm...IIRC my interpretation of the book was that at the end he was supposed to be the "starchild-messiah" thing who brought the knowledge of aliens to the humans in a way that wouldn;t blow their minds and save their species, preparing them for the stars. and didn't he end the nuclear war that was about to erupt on earth by his presence. SO he was a signal that humans ain't alone, and, I would think that because the humans simply coulnd;t fathom the aliens - too advanced for our minds to handle, etc...? But, really, this is all going from memory. And, I never read the Last book but by then I think the aliens had given up hope on humanity, after they had brought them up from the apes and given them technology, the humans still didn't get it, so they were going to wipe them out, or something like that?

Quote:

Originally posted by Randallw:
I just finished watching 2001 again after not seeing it for awhile. I have only one thing to say ,
I was hoping I would get it this time, but it still eludes me. I get the monoliths. I get HAL. What I don't get is the end. Dave reaches Saturn, he goes through hyperspace, then he is in a room seeing his older self from time to time, which I suppose means he is in the alien room the rest of his life. Why the Heck does he turn into a space baby at the end?.

ps. I am going to assume everyone realises HAL is IBM shifted backwards, HAL even says at the end he was created at HAL labs. Was Kubrick or Clarke unable to get IBM's permission?.

dogscoff · #4 June 13th, 2004, 11:50 PM

My interpretation was always that the Clarke and/or Kubrick were messing around with some hardcore hallucinogens when the end of the film was made.

But I could be wrong=-)

geoschmo · #5 June 14th, 2004, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Randallw:
ps. I am going to assume everyone realises HAL is IBM shifted backwards, HAL even says at the end he was created at HAL labs. Was Kubrick or Clarke unable to get IBM's permission?.

According to Clarke, that was merely a coincidence. It's quite possible that he's not being totally honest in his denial. It is a pretty amazing for a coincidence.

gregebowman · #6 June 14th, 2004, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by geoschmo:

quote:
Originally posted by Randallw:
ps. I am going to assume everyone realises HAL is IBM shifted backwards, HAL even says at the end he was created at HAL labs. Was Kubrick or Clarke unable to get IBM's permission?.

According to Clarke, that was merely a coincidence. It's quite possible that he's not being totally honest in his denial. It is a pretty amazing for a coincidence.

IIRC, I read somewhere that it was intentional. As far as the ending of the movie, I have no clue. I've seen it so many times, but conclude that I need to take the same stuff that Kubrick and Clarke were using when they came up with that ending. The metamorphosis theory does seem right, though, if you try to intellectualize the movie. I've read all the books, but since the first book was a novelization of the movie and not actually the movie based on the book, I don't recall a very comprehensive ending. Maybe I'll have to reread it again, if I can find my copy.

psimancer · #7 June 15th, 2004, 01:15 AM

at the end of the movie 2001 dave bowman was brought through a process of metamorphasis into a new state of existence becoming a child on a par with the race that had been guiding humanity through the monoliths however it would be truly interesting if in actuality the starchild had initiated the program of raising humanity from the apes by sending the monoliths back into the past thus the product ofthe program becoming the creator of itself