2001: A Space Odyssey

[Eric Mc]

Another trip to see 2001 looks like it might be on the cards.

[Eric Mc]

jmorgan said:

They did a good job on the transfer of Bladerunner onto 4k disk. Lets hope the same here.

Not sure I want to go see it in the cinema though, quiet film in a lot of places, no one seems to respect that anymore and crunch and munch away.

When I watched it at Camberley Vue in 201the audience was very respectful and quiet - and they weren't all old fuddy duddies like me.

[Eric Mc]

That's why the used to have intermissions.

[Eric Mc]

FurtiveFreddy said:

I thought it was so they could sell you more ice creams

There's been debate about the intermission in 2001 (did Kubrick 'build it' into the theatrical release?)

The most likely explanation I've seen is that an intermission had to be included in a road-show release and when Kubrick found out about it he then decided where it should go and chose the music for it.

Most "big" films of that era had intermissions - "Lawrence of Arabia", "The Sound of Music", "Grand Prix" - all had half time breaks. It was common.

[Eric Mc]

They died out in the 1970s.

[Eric Mc]

FurtiveFreddy said:

Yes, but it did depend when and where you saw the film. As I mentioned, if it was a road-show release it would always have an intermission, whereas once it went on general release and to provincial cinemas it probably didn't.

So you'll find people who remember seeing 2001 without the intermission if they saw it a while after initial release. A nice feature on the HD BR copy I have of it is that the intermission is included.

I think on first release, if an intermission was built into a film, it would stay in - no matter where showed. Subsequent releases were different.

I saw "2001" in 1969 - in a full Cinerama cinema and with the intermission.

I didn't see it again until 1979 when a non Cinerama version (most Cinerama cinemas had closed by then) was released. The distributors also wanted to cash in on the revival of "space related movies" generated by "Star Wars". I don't remember an intermission in those 1979 showings.

I didn't see it in a cinema again until 2014 and this time the intermission was definitely there. I don't remember any ads being shown in the intermissions in any cinema I ever attended - although they did try to flog ice cream and ice lollies.

[Eric Mc]

Everybody can't like everything. I think if you saw it at a certain age in a proper cinema (like I did) it would have a lasting effect on you.

Seeing it on TV or after "Star Wars" and all the sequels and decades of mega CGI effects etc, it's impact would be lost. I still love it though.

[Eric Mc]

Matt_N said:

I agree to an extant, watched it twice and really didn't strike a chord with me.

On a TV?

On your own?

When?

What age were you at the time?

[Eric Mc]

Matt_N said:

Yeh a 50" TV, DVD version.

On my own, about 31 first time and 33 or 34 second, I'm 35 now.

Some bits were brilliant but the film as a whole just didn't grab me.

That's the problem. It's a bit like looking at a famous and great painting as a picture in a book on art - rather than the original. The film was made to be shown and experienced in a certain way. Most people who have seen it since 1980 have NOT seen it in the form that it was designed to be seen in.

Get to a cinema, preferably with as big a screen as possible whenever you have the opportunity and see if you feel differently about it. The problem of course is that you will have a predetermined mind set now so even the cinema experience may not sway you.

That's a pity.

[Eric Mc]

Gameface said:

You like it.

Others don't.

Whats your issue with that?

No issue at all. I've already said that.

My point is that, as with any work of art, seeing it as the artist intended helps the viewer understand what the artist meant.

I'm not looking for a fight.

[Eric Mc]

You are entitled to interpret what I say any way you like.

Even if you are reading FAR too much into it.