Advantages: Fascinating, thought-provoking, fantastic use of music Disadvantages: None
2001: A Space Odyssey is a sci-fi film made in 1968, directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke.
One of the recurring themes in this film is evolution. The first 30 mins or so have no dialogue at all, and focus on a very distant point in our past, when a group of herbivore apes are attacked, and one is killed, by a leopard. They are also driven from their water hole by another tribe, so they sleep in a rock crater overnight. When they wake up, they notice that a huge black monolith has appeared in front of them. They are very curious as to what this is, and one of them touches it. Not long after, this particular ape remembers the monolith and realises he can use a bone as a weapon to defend himself. So they go back and kill the tribe that took over their water hole and, jubilant, the aforementioned ape ...
Advantages: Great gore scenes, acting is so bad its laughable Disadvantages: Acting, acting and uh.... acting!
c1985
Dir. Tim Sullivan
A remake of legendary gore-meister Hershell Gordon-Lewis? 2000 Maniacs, 2001 Maniacs goes for the ?so bad its good? style of horror but slightly misses the mark.
Three college slackers, Anderson, Corey and Nelson are on their way to Spring Break in Florida when an unexpected detour takes them into the small, off the map town of Pleasant Valley, South Carolina. They are joined by 3 drifters; Joey, Kat and Ricky, and biker couple Malcolm and Leah, who have all also arrived in the small town as a result of the road detour. They are all welcomed as guests of honour for the town?s annual ?Guts and Glory Festival?, led by the sinister Mayor Buckman (Robert ?Freddy? Englund). Unknown to the 8 unsuspecting Northerners however, they are the main course of the festival BBQ, and they are killed off one by one in ultra gory ...
Advantages: Great introduction and cinematography Disadvantages: the story does not link or explain itself
Few would deny the impact of 2001 - A Space Odyssey or the ingenuity of Arthur C. Clarke, but I believe that this story really lacks any fluidity and detail in its concepts. Also one of the main plots of the story is not fully explored, but it is hardly Stanely Kubrick's direction which is at fault.
This is a story charting man's progress to the current pinnacle of achievement - SPACE TRAVEL and ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. While the introduction of the development of early ape-man's use of tools (which is very impressive - for a 1960s film I was surprised how excellent the gorilla costumes were it did not look fake at all) Anyway the film then abruptly enters the 21st century on board a space ship.
Nothing is particularly missing, but as the story continues the story does not explain certain events or their significance it merely ...
