As we now stand foursquare in the year 2001, it occurs to me, this is not the first time in my life that the numerals "2001" have held special meaning. An event that took place 33 years ago, once again finds itself thrusts into the forefront of the minds and imaginations of many of us. That event was the release of a motion picture.

In 1968 Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clark presented the world with 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm sure those of us old enough to remember the actual release of this movie are now saying things to ourselves like: "Good Lord! Has it really been 33 years?" Well, yes, 33 years have passed in the blink of an eye. Not at all unlike what happened mission commander David Bowman in the final scenes in the movie.

Did the average moviegoer have any idea they were viewing what would come to be one of the most analyzed motion picture of all time? Probably not. However there were those with open minds, who knew they were seeing something special. Science fiction that actually transcended the label science fiction. A movie that actually brought dignity to the genre.
Kubrick and Clark presented the world with a whole new approach to modern day movie making. Let the images convey the messages, let the sounds drive home the point. Don't insult the audience with narration, let them use their minds. Make the audience work a little. For a lot of people 2001: A Space Odyssey was much more than a 139 minute diversion. It opened minds and eyes to the possibilities of what may lay ahead. This was not your average 'space movie'. There were no ray guns or monsters with 2 heads. No little green men or sexy space vixens from Venus. No spaceships zooming through space making sounds where no sound can exist. Just people, hardware, music and an invitation to use our imaginations..

Not a big surprise that 2001 was just mercilessly panned by a lot of critics upon it's release. Within the paragraphs of the reviews you could find questions and statements like: "How come the characters don't talk? The audience needs dialog to understand the story." and "The ending is far too confusing". The problem with 2001 was, it was not fed to the audience (or more precisely the critics,) with a spoon. To enjoy the movie you actually had to take the time to think about it and read between the lines. Sad fact of the matter is, there were a lot of moviegoers then, as there are now that just can't be bothered. Their loss.

Dispite it's departure from the accepted formulas for movie making, or perhaps because of it, the movie has served as a benchmark for all space based science fiction to follow. Some of what followed is ok, some bad and some real bad. The motion picture 2001: A Space Odyssey has never seen it's equal. It's sequel "2010" failed completely.

With the approach of New Years day 2001 it seemed like there was an inordinate number of magazines and newspapers running articles about all the things Kubrick and Clark got wrong in the movie. There are no computers like HAL (well at least none that we know about). No massive space stations orbiting the planet. No shuttles ferrying passengers back and forth and no colonies on the moon. Some things never change. Somehow the mass media keeps right on missing the point. I suppose there is something to be said for consistency. Kubrick and Clark were not talking about a 'date', they were talking about the new millennium. Perhaps if they had called their movie "The Next Millennium:A Space Odyssey" that would have helped some of the thought impaired writers who had so much to say about something they never understood in the first place.

If it has been any length of time since you viewed 2001 or if you never have seen it, now is the time. The new year brought a DVD version and remastered videos to the market. The movie is a phenomena. It works as well today on every level as it did the day it was released 33 years ago.

As far as understanding every nuance of the film I defer to what it's creator Stanley Kubrick had to say in a 1968 interview for Playboy Magazine:

"You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophy and allegorical meaning of the film -- and such speculation is indication that it has succeeded in gripping the audience at a deep level -- but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will fell obligated to pursue or else fear he's missed the point."

Personally I would be happy to know once and for all if it was just coincidental that the letters that make up the name of the notorious computer HAL just happens to follow the letters IBM in the alphabet.

Happy New Year 2001!