#65: 2001: A Space Odyssey in IMAX

I have always wanted to see Interstellar in IMAX, and arguably this is a far better option.

Once again, in the modern day, this movie falls victim to a lot of people feeling that a movie needs a story 100% of the time.

This movie isn't even set up narratively - The first fifteen minutes or so is showing us the Dawn of Man, and that sequence ends with them learning how to use tools.....to beat the shit out of opponents.

When an ominous black rectangle shows up (twice, once far before anyone could reasonably record it's existence, and later in the "present day" of 2001), humans on the moon are trying to figure out what it's deal is.

It's aliens. I spoil it because it's not a big deal.

What is a big deal is the sheer scope, beauty, and technicality of nearly everything.

And, today I learned that the main song is only the opening fanfare of a song called Also sprach Zarathustra.


The rest of the music - Besides the ever-popular The Blue Danube - is appropriately thrilling and chilling. There's a lot of ominous chanting and wailing in this. I found it rather soothing, as well as the sound design and sometimes lack thereof.

You're seeing this in the theater for the visuals. There's not a bad one among the bunch, and I often found myself gasping at a lot of the scenery.

It is peculiar to see the 'retro-modern' interior design. I get a kick out of it, especially how things like the 'Videophone' are commonplace today, yet that's the only thing that really has a modern equivalent for mass use.

The characters aren't impressive, but I didn't need them to be. Until halfway through, they're given little to do.

Of course, the one character everyone remembers is HAL 9000, a very smart computer with an evil Mr. Rogers voice. I wish it had acted with a bit more malice, but the "resolution" was a tidy reminder that while machines can be helpful, humanity has limbs.

Back to that rectangle - I basically see it as giving life intelligence. From arriving in the midst of our human ancestors and leaving right before they discover tools, to giving the astronaut ... the ability to see his live and then transcend it.