Blu-ray review: '2001: A Space Odyssey'

"2001: A Space Odyssey" was erected in 1968 by a pair of geniuses, the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and the futuristic writer and thinker Arthur C. Clarke.

Kubrick, of course, died in 1999. Clarke passed this week. Both men left behind giant legacies of thought and creative works, none better-remembered than "2001." The black monolith that looms over this science fiction classic will long be their most visible monument.

Here's hoping that Arthur C. Clarke in his final months was able to see and appreciate Warner's Blu-ray release of "2001: A Space Odyssey," released late last fall.

Kubrick's films have a spotty video history -- several released only in cropped versions because of the director's fear of the visuals losing their power on small TV screens. Last year, his estate finally permitted release of his widescreen masterpieces in their original aspect ratios, and in high-definition. This DVD blog reviewed "Eyes Wide Shut" in October and now catches up with "2001" on the occasion of its storyteller's passing.

Visually, the early high-def hits "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" have nothing on "2001" (outside of factual accuracy).

The Blu-ray "2001" images are uniformly stunning -- crisp, color-correct and artifact-free. Contrasts are dramatic and artful. The fineness of detail allows for careful examination of Kubrick's sets. Flesh tones are incredible for a color film from 40 years ago. Watching the movie on a big screen in a properly lighted room proves to be a singular experience.

The audio remains mostly front-centered, thus being sonically friendly to the classical music pieces that Kubrick wisely chose, safeguarding "2001" from premature aging via an outdated score. (Imagine "2001" with the Jefferson Airplane.) What favors the music comes at the expense of the possibilities of the 5.1 audio, of course, but an essentially stereo soundstage would be true to the era.

Via the dynamic range of uncompressed PCM or Dolby, the silence that's so essential to the experience retains all of its drama. "2001" is partially a silent movie. The ambient sounds (breathing, the hum and clicks of machines) are more noticeable and enveloping than in past video releases (or on the new DVD). Almost certainly including the theatrical release, the "2001" audio has never been better.

The "2001" extras are the same on the Blu-ray, HD DVD and double-disc DVD releases. Clarke participated in the "2001" extras via interviews that appear to have been taped a few years back. Presumably he was too old for commentary chores, which were handled by the astronaut actors Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. Effects wizard Douglas Trumbull also participates in the extras but doesn't do a commentary, a real shame.

Clarke says of "2001": "It is still amusing and interesting. Movies that continue to try to upgrade it are ridiculous."

He calls the film's villain, the world's most famous computer: "My late friend Hal."

Clarke is seen in clips from the mid-1960s discussing his theories about space travel and human evolution. He calculates the first alien responses from man's earliest radio signals would arrive in about 50 years, which would be any day now.

Of interplanetary travel he says: "Just as the first amphibians could not have imagined us, so we cannot imagine the ultimate results of space exploration." Just as Clarke could not have forseen mankind's drastic loss of interest in manned exploration.

The actors' commentary is dominated by Lockwood, who played a relatively small part in the film. He's also known for "Star Trek." Unfortunately, star Dullea's comments are sporadic. Lockwood's talk has its moments but is rather clumsy at times ("There goes the bone!") and not all that interesting in total. (The men are recorded separately.)

Lockwood says of directors who would be Kubricks: "Are they willing to pay the price? Stanley just devoted his life to research and cinema. He never really left his house much."

The making of the film is celebrated in the fine Channel 4 docu "2001: The Making of a Myth," which runs almost an hour.

"Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick" recruits George Lucas, Steven Speilberg and lesser lights to talk about the impact of "2001" on their lives.

Spielberg, who worked with Kubrick on "A.I.," recalls the master saying he wanted to make a movie that changed the form of film. "I said, 'Didn't you already do that with "2001"?' "

Lucas says: "I'm not sure I would have had the guts to do what Stanley did," noting that every effect that appears in "2001" is done physically or chemically, on film. "As far as special effects, it is the pinnacle. ... The whole idea is that space travel is exquisite."

There is also an hourlong audio interview with Kubrick from the 1960s, on which he's on good behavior.

A trio of shorts that clock in at 20 minutes are "The Prophecy of 2001," "A Look Behind the Future" (an archival puff piece with a visit to the set); and "What Is Out There?" about he search for E.T. and such.

Much of the talk in the extras is of the space age's lost momentum.

Trumball says, "We don't look at the stars anymore."

"We're well past 2001 and none of this has come to pass," the effects master says. "We haven't made alien contact, we haven't taken men anywhere beyond the moon. ... There's a kind of disappointment in the air that our imaginations got ahead of our ability to deliver."

Clarke adds: "I'm disappointed that space travel, unlike air travel, did not take off for the simple reason that there's nowhere to go to yet."

Another extra of interest shows the early visual concepts for "2001," many done by Kubrick and his wife. They are of their time -- images drawn from hippie consciousness with objects floating around in outer space, like rejects from a Yes album cover. Had these prevailed, the mighty "2001" might have just been a stepping stone on the way to "Star Wars."

Comments

[OlliS]

If memory serves, Kubrick shot his later movies with an open matte. Therefore the 4:3 releases are not so much cropped as uncropped compared to the theatrical releases – or the now-released new dvds.

This wouldn't apply to 2001, of course. It really is a stunning, stunning transfer (I've got the HD DVD).

[Matthew]

Yeah, the last three movies are supposed to be 4:3. Now the ironic opposite has happened in regards to widescreen releases...

4:3 is a better format to shoot in anyway. I wish they'd still make regular TVs and computer monitors in that shape.