Stanley Kubrick's Classic 2001: A Space Odyssey on Blu Ray

2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction classic. It is a film classic! Decades before CGI, 2001 looked positively stunning. Blu Ray really shows off what a great looking film 2001: A Space Odyssey still is.

Stanley Kubrick

If any films deserved to be released on Blu Ray disc, it would be the films of Stanley Kubrick. The man had an amazing eye for cinematic detail and was meticulous in every shot on the films he directed. Kubrick is my absolute favorite director. Most every film he made was way ahead of its time, and still are regarded as classics today. Some famous Stanley Kubrick films are Lolita, Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket Kubrick films have had impact on films in general and are even today referenced, homaged and parodied in films and sitcoms and even video games. Many Kubrick films for example have been referenced in The Simpsons and Futurama.

The Film Classic - 2001: A Space Odyssey

The film features one of the most amazing opening cinematography scenes ever. The music of Strauss plays as primitive monkeys gather. A strange monolith attracts their attention and soon, they have learned to use bones as tools. In a victory over another group of monkeys, one monkey launches his bone spiraling into the air. As it spirals down, the scene segues into a space station following the same spiraling path. Two million years of history in one brilliant shot.

2001 is certainly science fiction for adults, it does not at all have the comic book style of Star Wars, the charm of E.T. or the horror and visceral thrills of Alien. However, without 2001: A Space Odyssey, none of those films would exist. It is a film you need patience and understanding to watch. The movie progresses slowly and in fact in many scenes there is no dialogue. The first spoken lines occur some 30 minutes into the film.

After the two million year jump, we cut to the discovery of a giant smooth black monolith buried on the moon, and soon a mission is underway to Jupiter to learn more.

Of course the main story lines in 2001 ask questions such as What is Life? and ponders what higher intelligence exists out there, perhaps even questioning what or who is God? The film is based on famous science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke's book of the same name. Clarke also worked with Kubrick on the screen play.

As astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole make their way to Mars, their computer HAL 9000 begins to act strange, and then exhibits very human traits when Bowman and Poole decide that HAL should be disconnected. I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.

Cinematography - Blu Ray Picture Quality

I compared this to the Digitally Restored and Remastered DVD that came in the Stanley Kubrick collection. All I can say is; there is no comparison. The Blu Ray just shows how absolutely stunning this film was and how ahead of its time it was. I would put 2001 against any CGI film of today for its special effects. This was the benchmark film that showed how science fiction was supposed to look.

Some Kubrick scenes that are even more stunning on Blu Ray!

A spaceship is going to land on the moon. The moon is in three quarter view with all its craters and lines lit against a starry black sky. It is an incredible scene of quiet beauty. On the original DVD, the moons fine details cannot be seen, they are washed out. On Blu Ray, the moon looks incredibly detailed, every line and crater can be seen in great detail. The black sky beyond is blacker than the standard DVD and takes on an almost three dimensional quality.

Another scene shows Dr. Floyd meeting with a group of people on board a space station. Seats are bright red, the walls and floor are white, and the people are dressed in a pastel yellow. The DVD lacks some depth and clarity in this scene that the Blu Ray captures with pinpoint accuracy, showing all the colors very vividly and in sharp detail.

Even scenes as simple as a woman gathering her space age meal has an amazing amount of detail in it. Kubrick's eye for detail completely shines on Blu Ray.

Scenes of the Discovery One spaceship heading towards Jupiter and the pods that go out to do maintenance work have to be seen to be believed. Every detail on the massive ship could be seen. The Discovery One, the interior of the ship, the pods that floated out, everything looked and behaved very realistically. Many of today's films do not have the realistic and detailed portrayal of space travel depicted in Kubrick's masterpiece.

In summary, Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a visually stunning treat, and Blu Ray really brings out every single detail that Stanley Kubrick put each scene of this film.

Sound Quality - Blu Ray

Sometimes in a quiet film, sound quality is actually MORE important than in a film filled with a booming orchestral soundtrack and lots of explosions. You don't need to blow things up to be AWESOME!. A lot of Space Odyssey is very quiet, we only hear sounds of breathing, or of people quietly working or sometimes nothing at all.

As Frank Poole floats outside his POD to do repairs, all we hear is his breathing, as HAL maneuvers the PODs arms to give Frank a gentle push out into space. The breathing stops, we hear NOTHING. It is an amazing scene.

The Blu Ray features a PCM 5.1 surround sound track, and it is incredible in its depth and detail. The dynamic range is very impressive. When we finally do get to Dave Bowmans amazing journey at the end, the sound wells up and fills the room with sounds.

Extra Features

Lots of extra stuff is on the Blu Ray disc, none of which was on my Kubrick Collection DVD copy. One of the features I watched for example was an everyone who is anyone commentary on the film and the man Kubrick. Needless to say all were genuflecting before him.

Summary

2001: A Space Odyssey is amazing on so many levels, that five stars just doesn't begin to do it justice. If you have a Playstation 3 or Blu Ray player, and you are a film geek for me, you MUST see this movie on Blu Ray. It does such an incredible job of showing Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. I felt goosebumps watching this classic film again. If you are a science fiction fan, you MUST see this film, it looks as beautiful,stunning and realistic as any film made since. The reality is that most of your favorite sci fi films owe a lot to this film. If you are a Stanley Kubrick fan, you've already seen this many times, but you must see it again on Blu Ray, it shows so much more detail than the DVD.

Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do. I'm half crazy all for the love of you

Also on Blu Ray

Stanley Kubrick's Clockwork Orange