I am watching 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[texanwitch]

It is 2012 and we are not close to the movie in space travel.

Rats.

[Orrex]

1. On the plus side, we aren't asked for our Christian names during voice print identification, either

Win some, lose some.

[texanwitch]

2. I noticed this for the first time, the cost of the video phonecall from the space station to earth.

It was $1.70.

No cellphones.

No personal computers either.

[Bolo Boffin]

19. Back when the movie was made, the $1.70 charge was exorbitant.

It got laughs, it was so high.

Now that gets laughs the other way. So it goes.

[Soylent Brice]

32. this is an example of why we should be allowed to rec replies. n/t

[El Supremo]

3. It can only be attributable to human error.

[texanwitch]

4. There are flat screens in the movie.

I remember reading the book back in junior high.

[Flaxbee]

5. My husband knew AC Clarke well ... and Clarke was kinda bummed that

we hadn't progressed as far as he'd hoped in terms of space travel and exploration. And in terms of free energy, etc...

[Archae]

6. The book (not movie) "2010" was better.

The books went downhill from "2010."

[hrmjustin]

22. I loved 2010 when I was a kid. But the book was better.

[HopeHoops]

7. Try not to fall asleep at the end. It just goes on, and on, and on, and on.

The V-GER (first) Star Trek movie had similar moments.

[pipi_k]

8. It does.

My favorite parts are the beginning with the baboons and the part where HAL9000 gets all evil and Dave Bowman decides to "kill" him.

[HopeHoops]

11. And Hal sings nursery rhymes. It's sad in a way.

[pipi_k]

17. Yep...I always

have very mixed feelings when I see that part.

[Liberal Veteran]

9. Every single time I see V-GER mentioned, I hear the music/sound effect.

Of course, there were good moments in the first movie. I particularly liked the transporter malfunction. "What we got back didn't live long....fortunately."


They did it better in Galaxy Quest.

Jason Nesmith: What? What was that?
Alexander Dane: Uh, nothing.
Jason Nesmith: I heard some squealing or something.
Gwen DeMarco: Oh, no. Everything's fine.
Teb: But the animal is inside out.
Jason Nesmith: I heard that! It turned inside out?
[the pig-lizard explodes]
Teb: And it exploded.
Jason Nesmith: Did I just hear that the animal turned inside out, and then it EXPLODED?

[HopeHoops]

10. "Didn't anyone else see that eye or whatever it was?" - love the movie.

It was what SHOULD have happened to the original Star Trek cast. You have to watch it repeatedly to catch the really subtle but hilarious stuff - "But you live with your mother." - "Wow, the floors are so CLEAN!" - "We're screwed." - and don't fail to watch the outtakes on the DVD. That's the only way to understand how Gwen's uniform got so messed up by the end.

"Hey guys, get a room. WHOA! Oh, THAT's not RIGHT!"

[WhoIsNumberNone]

14. I'll tell you why that is

In the 1970s a second Star Trek TV series was proposed (Almost all the original cast were to return. Except Spock. Go figure.) It never got beyond the embryonic stage. Twelve episodes were outlined for the first season, and several eventually became Next Generation episodes. The pilot, 'In Thy Image' was re-written as the first Star Trek movie. So the reason you have so many long sequences in the V-GER movie is that it was originally a 45 minute script which had to be stretched to two hours.

[MicaelS]

16. Actually 'In Thy Image' was a recycled script from Roddenberry's

Proposed TV series "Genesis II" titled "Robot's Return."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_II_%28film%29

"Robots Return" - The advanced computers and sophisticated machinery left on a moon of Jupiter by a 1992 NASA expedition have evolved into a new form of robot life and visit Earth in search of the "God" which created their life. They meet Dylan Hunt, formerly of NASA and consider him a messiah. This story idea was later developed into the script for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and, shares that work's thematic similarities to The Changeling (Star Trek: The Original Series), written by John Meredyth Lucas.

Roddenberry was obsessed with the "Enterprise meets God" trope. He re-used it again with "Q" in ST:TNG.

[HopeHoops]

29. In the original series, they used magnetic clamps to get it into the transporter.

Then they beamed it out into space to explode.

[hedgehog]

31. I think the first Star Trek movie was almost ruined

when they left so much of the story on the cutting room floor so Robert Wise could imitate Stanley Kubrik.

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. Check out Spider Robinson's book, "Stardance"... which he co-wrote with his wife, Jeanne...

.
.
.
... who was a choreographer/dancer/novelist in her own right.

.
AMAZING book (it's part of a trilogy, but I can't tell you about 2 & 3).
.
.
.
It's about first contact with aliens who are a race composed of pure energy
who comunicate by movement. Earth sends up a dance troupe that trained
in zero-gravity. They chose to meet us near Pluto.
.
Fantastic book.
.
Robinson (probably the Tom Robbins of the science fiction world) is best-known
for his series of novels/short stories about "Callahan's Place" -- the coolest bar
you could ever hope to find. Ever.
.
.
.

[WiffenPoof]

13. "This Conversation Can No Longer Serve A Purpose....Goodbye."

[militant_lib2553]

21. one of the best quotes from that film

[deutsey]

15. Check out the Pink Floyd "Echoes" version of 2001's ending

http://vimeo.com/5255919

[pokerfan]

18. $700B annually for the DoD

vs $17B for NASA. It's not hard to figure out.

[militant_lib2553]

20. sad, isn't it?

[edbermac]

23. Go here if you like film analysis

Guy in England named Rob Ager does some great work. He used to have a lot of stuff on YouTube but is selling DVD's of his analysis now. Some good stuff on Kubrick films, 2001, Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove and The Shining.

http://www.collativelearning.com/

[WiffenPoof]

25. I am a huge....

Kubrick fan. I'm going to the link right now. Thanks for posting.

[Archae]

26. I saw an interview with a couple actors, who did Kubrick movies.

The guy was equal parts genius and asshole.

[WiffenPoof]

30. Well...

A lot of geniuses are assholes. LOL

[Honeycombe8]

24. It seems to be that way in the movies. They always use years that are not far

that are not far enough in the future.

Prometheus, which I just saw, takes place in 2093. It is highly doubtful we'll be flying to different solar systems in 80 years.

OTOH, many things in the movie, like in Orwell's books, came to pass. Cell phones, flat screen TVs, the weird furniture, modernistic style, computers that speak, Skype, and I'm sure some other things I can't think of right now.

[pinboy3niner]

28. I'd love to join you, but...

[Initech]

33. Best theme music ever.