We first saw 2001 at the Capitol cinema in Scarborough (now a bingo hall, we suspect) in what must have been a 35mm print. It didn’t make a lot of sense, but was impressive.
When we came to London, the Casino theatre, now the Prince Edward, was showing it as intended: huge screen, 70mm or similar print, surround sound, overture and interval. What a wonderful experience.
2001 got mixed reviews when it came out, but, over the years, has become regularly one of the ten best films ever made in many polls.
It is a true cinematic experience. There is dialogue, but mostly it’s inane, you know, normal. The story is told through the images. This is pure cinema.
You have to be impressed that there is no cgi here, so short cuts. But don’t judge the film by how it was made, judge it by what you see on the screen.
Digital scans have done this film no favours. There are big format film copies around. The BFI shows one sometimes, but it is scratched and broken with portions missing and is not great to watch. We have seen another with intrusive French subtitles.
The story? At it’s heart it’s another Kubrick war film. In the first section, the monolith appears to give one ape tribe an advantage over another. They learn how to make weapons and how to kill their enemies. War has begun.
Once we are in space, we see objects orbiting Earth. In some version of the film they were bombs. The Cold War continues: the American and Russian scientists have a very cold and wary conversation. The American scientist is evasive and lies to the Russians. And so on. In the Jupiter voyage section, HAL wages war on the humans.
It’s another film that was reduced in length after the first performances, and at some point there was supposed to be a prologue and narration, but that did not happen.