Welcome to my page... this page is dedicated to the masterpiece known as 2001:A space odyssey. For all you who havent seen the film then I hope you will take the time to watch it and see 'what all the fuss is about' .... the film itself is a classic in its own right.. I hope that all those who have seen the film will enjoy the page and the ideas, links and images on it.

Before I get into the story I will tell you a little about myself..

My name is Ian Fisher and I live in Coventry, England. My interest are internet, computers, bikes, and 2001.. I first saw it not too long ago and I was hooked on it. I fist heard of the the film over a year ago when it was on telly but I missed it and waited a year and then it was shown again on the C4 Stanley kubrick season. I have watched it virtually every day since and I notice thing in it that I never noticed before.

Here are some links to other 2001:A space odyssey pages

2001 and beyond the infinite
2001:A Space Odyssey - 30 Years on
The Complete Script to 2001:A Space Odyssey
Instructions for the Zero Gravity Toilet

This is my own personal idea of what the film 'means' ..


The Dawn of Man



The film puts us right in the mood with Also Sprach Zarathustra . This tune is repeated at important event in the film as I will explain later. The title shows the alignment of the sun/moon/earth this is also repeated twice later in the film. The film starts us off in an obvious prehistoric setting.. bones lie strewn, there is no obvious man made sights to be seen. it is a wasteland. Then we see Moonwatchers tribe. Weak, tired, slow, barely able to stay alive. They are eating plants, but the food source is scarce. They take a drink from the nearby 'puddle'.. they are drinking when they are interupted by the sight of a fellow homo sapien on the rocks. An argument, and Moonwatchers tribe retreat in terror at the invaders. Nightfall. Moonwatchers tribe huddle together in a group to keep warm. They have not got the knowledge or the tools to make blankets out of fur from the potential food and clothing source that lies all around them. They are dying. Morning arrives, we hear the eerie sounds of Gygory Legeti's unearthly Requiem resound and then we see it. The Monolith. Appeared overnight for nowhere. the only thing that comes to your mind after seeing something like that is 'what' the hell is it, 'where' the hell did it come from and most importantly 'who' put it there. Moonwatchers tribe are terrfied. nothing this size shape or anything so obviously man (or alien) made has been seen by them. Moonwatcher approaches it. He is heasetant. Will it bite ?, is it alive ?, can you eat it ?. The Simplicity of the monolith, the basic thin black rectangle makes it even more intriguing. (note: In some of the original first screenings of 2001 they erected a scale model of the monolith in the centre of the theatre ). Then after much hesitence moonwatcher touches the monolith. Then the others join in they touch it, they are fascinated by it. Then we see the sight again the alignment of the sun/moon/earth. Cut to a scene where we see moonwatchers tribe. Then we see a big surprise. The monolith has gone. where did it go ?. As quickly as it came it went again. The fact is it had served its perpose. There was no reason for it to remain there. So it 'took off' or was taken and then placed on the moon. We now see Moonwatcher sitting amongst a pile of bones. We see a flashback to the monolith and he picks up a bone and procedes to smash up the skull of the dead animal. Man has took a huge step ahead in evoloution. WE HAVE TOOLS . We see Moonwatchers tribe eating meat, they are no longer hungry and they are now strong. We se how strong they are in the next scene when the enemy makes another advancement towards Moonwatchers tribe but this time they are not moving. Moonwatcher and his tribe are holding bones as weapons. The enemy have not touched the monolith and as such are not aware of the danger they face. One member of the opposing tribe makes an advance towards Moonwatcher but gets struck down. He is furiously beat by the tribe and is brutally murdered. The rest of the enemy flee in terror. They are scared to death. Moonwatcher Yells in triumph and hurls his bone in the air........

AN INTERESTING FIND ON THE MOON



.....Where it suddenly turns into an orbiting satallite.. This is (apparently) a laser satallite so we now see the similarity between the bone (used as a weapon to kill) and the satalitte (also used to kill). [THANKS TO MODEMAC FOR THAT VIEW]. We hear the peaceful sounds of 'The Blue Danube' and we see a space ship travelling through space towards a space station. We see Floyd asleep in a chair, His pen floating aimlessly across the room. A stewardess enters and then we see that Floyd is the only one on the ship (apart form the crew which consist of a stewardess and and 2 pilots).. The space scenes are slow and long winding .. this is because Stanley wanted to make the film (especially the space scenes) as realistic as possible. eventually the ship docks in the space terminal (if anyone has played Elite 2 . they will get an idea of what this scene looks like ). We are greeted by the sight of inside the space station. Floyd meets who he is supposed to meet, goes through a 'voice print identification' and then we see another surprise. the ship is virtually empty. The space station is holding around 20-25 people yet it can hold hundreds of people. Perhaps space is not all it cracked up to be and we do not like it in the future ?. Floyd makes a phone call to home . this scene is one of the (apparently) pointless scenes in the film. why did stanley make such a lengthy process in that scene ?. why was it as long as it was ?. Floyd finishes his call and is stopped by some russians. A couple of whom he knows personally. he refuses a drink and is then later questioned about 'something being odd' at Clavius ( A crater on the moon ). Floyd simply refuses to discuss the subject and then Takes a ship to the moon. But it is not known properly what is going on until we see the 'photos' of the moon. These are shown to floyd whilst on a ship on the moon on way to the crater Clavius. Floyd takes a ship to the moon (once again on his own and we see an interesting scene when a stewardess walks upside down. Floyd enjoys his liquid meal and then gives a briefing an the moon stressing 'upmost secrecy' about the monolith. All the space scenes so far are done very slowly so that we 1) get to see the special effects more closely 2) get the feeling of motion and space travel .. All the later space scenes are done in silence.. there is no 'engine sounds' space is a vacumn so sound cannot exist in it. This is the level of realism that Kubrick puts in. On the way to the crater, floyd enjoys a sandwich and is shown pictures of the crater in which ( we havent been told yet ) something has been 'dug-up'.. we are also told that it had been 'delibrelty buried' and it had been down there for 4 million years. We see the shuttle land and the men advance on foot. then we see it again. The Monolith. sitting silent. waiting for man to approach it. Then it happens. It is touched, and again we see the allignment of the moon/sun/earth again. A group gathering for a photo around the monolith and suddenly a high pitched shriek comes from the monolith making the spacemen drop to their knees. what was this noise?. we learn later in the film that the monolith was sending a signal directly to Jupiter. Did the same happen to the apes when they touched it ?

The Jupiter Mission - 18 Months Later



We see the ship Discovery, Moving slowly through space. this scene tails for a long time, showing the full SIZE and realism of the scene/ship. We see Dave jogging, he is apparently jogging around the room, in a constant circle, but in zero gravity, how is this posible then we see the eye of HAL and then we see how dave is managing to keep running. the room itself is spinng creating a centrifuge making a gravity, allowing them to walk freely. Frank enters the room. We see them eating a meal and watching a news broadcast which they had recorded earlier and was eing broadcast from earth ( stanley even got one good thing right. the newsreader said that when talking to the crew, the message took 7 mins to reach them and vica versa. nice one stanley) and they were interviewed and also interviewed was Hal. The ships brain. Hal ( or Hal 9000 computer ) is just like a person he is 'too smart for his own good' Hal plays an important part in the film, we see him later as he malfunctions and kills a number of crew members ( there are only 5 people on the ship and 3 are in 'status' or 'hibernation' ). The Crew members are tired and bored.. everyday has been the same. Frank had a brthday transmission come in from his parents and he looks uninterseted and bored. He doesnt care. We see Dave playing Hal at chess. Hal is of course far superior in interlect to Dave and wins but ( as spotted by someone ) Hal makes a mistake when playing chess. He says a move which is impossible and Dave does not spot it. there are a number of reasons wy this is here
1 ) Hal is malfunctioning and does not realise
2 ) Hal knows he is malfunctioning and tries to drop a hint to Dave
3 ) Hal is losing and cheats
4 ) Kubrick made the mistake in the script
5 ) Stanley out the mistake in on perpose just to be annoying
Any which way in my opinion hal is malfunctioning and does not realise the mistake he has just made. Dave is so bored and not alert that he oes not spot the mistake and simply agrees and says 'I guess your right'. Hal is ill. he knows he is malfunctioning and tries to drop a hint to Dave what the mission is really about, Hal knows but Dave and Frank do not. Dave is miles away in his mind when Hal tries to explain to him about the monolith and (by the look on Daves face) what hal is saying is going in one ear and out the other. Then Hal suddenly comes up with the news that the AE - 35 unit will be 100% faliure in 72 hours. Frank goes outside and fetches it is, ( AE -35 unit is the main satalite that allows the Discovery to stay in contact with Earth ) . The scene when Frank is feching it is extremely slow. We see Frank journey in A pod and then leave the pod to fetch the unit. All of this is under the watchful eye of HAL. We then see Dave and Frank inspecting the unit. Then silence... Dave suddenly says 'Well HAL I'm damned if i can find anything wrong with it'.. Dave and Frank know that something is wrong. As HAL realises that he is malfunctioning he desperatly tries to protect himself by saying that no 9000 computer has ever made a mistake and that the error in predicting the fault was 'Due to human error'. HAL reccomends replacing the unit. Dave announces that the transciever on his pod was broken and asks frank to have a look at it. Once in the pod, Dave switches off all comms and says 'Rotate the pod please HAL' .. There is no response from HAL. He says it again, then Frank shouts it. No Response. For once HAL cannot hear them. They immediatly start discussing HAL .. after talking they decide that disconection is the only alternitive. They suspect that HAl is malfunctioning and have to 'kill' him. No Hal 9000 computer has ever been disconnected before. HAL is technically a person. Would he like it ?. Frank and Dave think they are safe in the pod but the we see through HAL'S eye .. lipreading what they are saying.

HAL is smart. He knows that unless he gets rid of Dave and Frank they will kill him, as Frank goes out to replace the unit, HAL seizes the opertunity, we See the pod (which Frank has just left) suddenly swing around and head for Frank. Dave looks out the window and to his horror sees Frank hurtlng through space trying to reconnect his life line, his pod follows after him. Dave hurries to the pods, HAL has a lock on Frank but 'doesnt have enough information as to what happened'.. Frank hurries and manages to retrieve the dead body of Frank. It is not dignified to let him float in space, but retrieving the body was to prove to be a costly mistake. As Dave approaces the ship, after aout 6 mins of silence we hear the sound of Dave 'Open the pod bay doors HAL' ... Silence.... 'Open the pod bay doors please HAL' ......... silence........ 'HAL do you read me HAL?'..........'Do you read me HAL?'.....'HAL COME IN DO YOU READ ME' ... Dave's voice becomes loud.. he is worried. 'I read you Dave'... HALS voice sounds evil, it is the same tone of voice, HAL is programmed to always speak in the same tone of voice but this time it sounds a bit diffrent. Dave repeats himself 'Open the pod bays doors HAL' .. there is a woried tone in his voice... 'Im sorry Dave I cant do that' comes the pointless answer from HAL... HAL then explains that he knew that him and Frank were planning to disconnect him, Dave pretends not to know anything about it but HAL explains that he lipread them, Dave is speachless, without his space helmet, ( which he left behind in the hurry to get Frank ) he cannot get back on the ship. then he announces he will go in the side door... Dave places the 'Explosie bolts' on the door of the pod (used to get the doors off in an emergency) and then blasts himself into the airlock, within 3 seconds he had re-pressurised the air-lock, now he seeked to destroy HAL. HAL was no longer a friend, he was a killer, He needed to be killed so that he didnt endanger the rest of the crew..... or what was left of them, Dave does not know that when he was out picking up frank, HAL terminated the life support systems for the men in hibernation.. DAVE IS ALONE.

THE KILLING OF HAL 9000



Dave is angry, he Parades through the discovery in his space suit. HAL tries desperatly to stop him or delay hm.. HAL repeatedly quotes that he was ill but is 'better now' ... We see Dave enter HALS brain room . He opens the locks and then procedes to 'kill HAL' .. This scene is very moving.. HAL cannot stop him.. Dave is silent for the whole scene except for one small sentance. Hal quotes the few words that prove he is 'alive' -- 'Stop Dave, I am afraid'... HAL is panicking, he is dying, but despite the panic his voice remains the same, he speaks calmly but is afraid. Dave does not listen to him. He knows that HAL may be lying to make Dave feel sorry for him. Dave slowly one by one removes the chips from hals higer brain functions. HALS voice slows down as they are removed, 'Stop Dave, Please stop'... 'I am afraid Dave' ... then HAL sings a song, Daisy, Daisy.... as the song ends his voice goes from very slow to silence, HAL is dead. then suddenly a screen comes on. it is Floyd.. t is a pre-recording that was meant to be played at the end of the mission, it shows the full meaning ofthe mission, abut 'The discovery of life on Jupiter'.

JUPITER AND BEYOND THE INFINITE



The eerie sounds of Gygory Legeti's unearthly Requiem resound. Then we see it again, The Monolith. we see the ship Discovery, arriving in Jupiter space and again the allignment of Jupiter and its 4 main satallites (io, callisto, ganamede and sinopi) the monolith disappers and we see a flash of light comeat the screen. Suddenly we have a lightshow as Dave (in a pod) hurtles through lasers for about 5 mins, then suddenly we see a multicoloured landscape, (maybe surface of Jupiter) the whole light show lasts for 6-7 mins and is damn weird. so what is it ?. Well it is alien space, it could be a portal, a time gate, or simply him entering the atmosphere of Jupiter. Stanley Kubrick left us to our own imagination about it. then we see a very strange sight indeed. A room. The pod in the middle of the room, Dave steps out, his hair is going gray, the room looks...... human. like any other room in a stately home, there is a noise, We see Dave 30 years later eating. he is dozy and slow. He smashes a glass.. his movements are weak. then we see Dave again, on his death bed, he reaches up and in front of him is the monolith. He then becomes the glowing splendor of the starchild the starchild is then in Earth space aproching the Earth. what happened ?. what is the film really about ?.. the answer is....... there isnt really one. every person has their own opinion as to what the film was about. I have my views and others have theirs. it is up to you.






THE CAST


FRANK
DAVE

Cast Includes Keir Dullea
William Sylvester
Gary Lockwood
Daniel Richter
Voice of HAL by Douglas Rain


E-MAIL ME WITH YOUR COMMENTS 9602368@mail.tilehill.ac.uk