I want to get the optimal experience and I want things to look for if there are things where I might get confused. Or just things to look out for. Spoilers or otherwise.
Always thank your bus driver, and make sure to drink plenty of water so you stay hydrated!
If you end up liking 2001 (1968) then I could also recommend Tarkovsky's Solaris (1972). It could be seen as the Soviet response to Hollywood and Tarkovsky's response to Kubrick. The themes in both movies are at odds with each other which makes for a nice comparative viewing.
Especially if you like the slow boring scenes in 2001 where nothing happens. There's like 5 full minutes in Solaris simply driving down a highway while the character thinks.
I tried watching Solaris when I was like 15 but the first 20 minutes is just scenic shots of a cabin in the rain and my dumb teenage brain couldn't handle it
if you enjoy some cannabis:
when HAL starts getting weird, start toking it
or just toke through out, but the end is when it really gets out there
Make sure that your chair is facing towards the screen, not away from it. I made this mistake the first time I watched Derek Jarman's Blue and it totally ruined the film for me
LSD is actually what made 2001 a hit. It was a complete failure until hippies found it and watched it on LSD in theaters which is how it grew in popularity
Watch it at the same time as Eyes Wide Shut to get the full experience of human evolution :epsteingelion:
It's a movie that's in no rush to get to the end. Be prepared to appreciate scenes that really take their time.
The literal plot is mostly straightforward, but sometimes the narrative focus shifts unexpectedly. Try not to get too ahead of where you think things are going, and just be onboard with what's happening. It might feel like pieces of different movies until you get a chance later to think over how it's structured.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I would find a detailed synopsis online and read it before you watch. Otherwise you will be just :jesse-wtf: for literally every second of the movie. It's complete nonsense unless you know the story it's based on.
Really? I remember the plot being very straightforward. The ending is more abstract
I'm in a weird position where, years ago, I read the book by Arthur C. Clarke but have never seen the film. When I read the book I assumed the film was an adaptation of the book. This is incorrect. Kubrick and Clarke collaborated on the screenplay together and, as they did so, Clarke wrote the novel.
Now, I read this book in high school. My tastes have changed since then, so I don't exactly trust my loose memory of the book. But this was my takeaway.
The opening prologue was interesting. Then roughly 90% of the novel was tedious (though there's one poignant scene that I still think about from time to time). HAL 9000 was interesting, but not as interesting as I expected knowing about the movie. The final 10% of the novel is one of the most bizarre sequences I've ever read.
Sit back and enjoy one of the best science fiction movies of all time?
