2010:The Year We Made Contact

Since it's 2010 what better time than now to recommend this film?

2010 is the sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey and it is an adequate sequel in my opinion. But the differences between them, among storytelling and vision, is what really sets these two films apart. 2010 was written, directed, produced, and photographed by Peter Hyams, the director of such films: Capricorn One and Stay Tuned. And this was all done with the blessing of Stanley Kubrick.

This science fiction tale takes place nine years after the first movie. Dr. Heywood Floyd, played by Roy Scheider (the man who was originally in charge of the Discovery mission), joins a crew made up of Russian scientists. Leading the Russian crew is Tanya Kirbuk, played by Helen Mirren. Their mission is to find out what happened aboard the Discovery in 2001, and to further investigate the Monolith and its mysterious origins. One of their main objectives is to reactivate Hal 9000, even though "he" was one of the main problems in 2001 . During this mission, on planet earth, tensions are raised between the United States and Soviet Russia and this is where the movie is a tad bit dated, but still an entertaining film.

The special effects are pretty good for it's time. And since Stanely Kubrick destroyed the models after the production of his movie, this ultimately challenged the crew to make new ones resulting in reconstructing the Discovery. But it was Stanely Kubrick, so why complain?

As I said before, this is a whole different film than Kubrick's vision of the future. 2010 seems to have a different pacing allowing for a clearer story and different tone altogether. Although 2010 seems to be set in the future, it feels to much like the past. For example, the Cold War influence. When 2001 was more of a prophecy of the future some would say. For example, the video phone. Hyams created a great science fiction movie that seems to be lost underneath its predecessor and I believe it should be recognized as a movie of its own.

Fun Trivia: There are a few cameos to look for in the film. Arthur C. Clarke, the author of the novel, makes two apperences and Kubrick makes a very ingenious one. I'll let you figure them out.

"My God, it's full of Stars"

-Ryan