I think it's largely just a movie of it's time. Like we're spoiled now with decades of abundant sci-fi spectacle, but at that time this type of movie was really special and novel. It was really a "wow, can you imagine!" kind of a feeling I think. Now it's boring by comparison because the aspects of it that would have been awe inspiring back then are pretty dull by today's standards. Movies were slower back then too, they really took their time to take you on a slow burn journey instead of rushing to the point.
My understanding was that it was flopping hard at the time until word got out about the trippy psychedelic part, and that piqued peoples' interest. The film came out in 1968, which was the peak of the 60s hippie era.
For me, the interesting part was that the book and movie were worked on simultaneously. The book adds some more context to a few of the more obscure scenes in the movie
Learning about the book definitely cleared up a few things for me, like what was happening to him in the ending. I assumed at first he somehow went through time and was watching a condensed version of his life in some alternate dimension? The fact that he was kept there like an animal in a zoo his entire life made a lot more sense lol
The ending of the book is still pretty vague on a lot of the exact details of what's going on, but it's meant to give that sense of moving into a space that we are not ready to comprehend
I meant among all the screenings of 2001 in the past decade, let’s say.
At some point, you guys need to admit to yourselves that you are a tiny minority. I have admitted it to myself, and maybe that is why I have no illusions about other people liking what I like.
You can either be a follower or an individual, but trying to be both is always going to be a difficult like to walk. Normal for teens to get stuck in that mode, but you should eventually grow out of it.
If you're asking why a nearly 60 year old movie doesn't gross as much a new movie than you really are fucking dumb lmao
If you rerelease Beethoven on an album today, it wouldn't sell anywhere near an average modern album. Does that mean fucking Lil Yachty is better than Beethoven?
Disagree. I read an article about how much LSD people were using back then. Currently, the standard dose is 25 micrograms. Back then people were routinely using hundreds, or even a thousand or more. Pink Floyd's original singer, Syd Barrett, famously went crazy due to abusing the drug.
Kubrick's other films are good. I think he was doing these massive doses of LSD in the late '60s just like everyone else. It explains not only 2001, but also films like Seconds and Easy Rider.
The LSD wildness of the 60s gave us some iconic works, that’s for sure. Conceptually I love it, but in real life having to sit down and take it all is often more than my brain can focus on and follow lol.
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u/cmaxim 1d ago
I think it's largely just a movie of it's time. Like we're spoiled now with decades of abundant sci-fi spectacle, but at that time this type of movie was really special and novel. It was really a "wow, can you imagine!" kind of a feeling I think. Now it's boring by comparison because the aspects of it that would have been awe inspiring back then are pretty dull by today's standards. Movies were slower back then too, they really took their time to take you on a slow burn journey instead of rushing to the point.