Comments on: A Spacefest Odyssey

By: Stone Age Scientist

Stone Age Scientist — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:29:27 +0000

Hi John @ #24,

Sad that Sir Arthur C. Clarke passed away last year. There should have been 4010. Sigh* I wish I was as well-read as you are.

By: Moe Norman

Moe Norman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 20:03:44 +0000

Keir Dullea looks great for his age and looks as fit as an astronaut. It would be cool if they made sequels to the two last books and got him to play old Dave Bowman.

By: Another Eric

Another Eric — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:20:56 +0000

Two more sequels after 2010:

2061: Odyssey Three

3001 The Final Odyssey

The reviews for these two books are rather mixed, and most people feeling disappointed. I haven’t read them myself, but I am suddenly feeling intrigued……..

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:14:45 +0000

SAS: RE: Sequels

And there were novels as sequels, I think the third was 3001 (but not a sign of Fry or Leela)

J/P=?

By: Hal in Howell MI

Hal in Howell MI — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:37:37 +0000

Too bad the audio is mashed (there was a second mic left open that picked up all the crowd noise.) 2001 is an all time favorite saw it in Cinerama in Detroit in 1968 and have seen it countless times projected since then. Still an impressive piece of work after all these years. Can’t say enough good things about the film.

By: Stone Age Scientist

Stone Age Scientist — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:27:24 +0000

2001: A Space Odyssey had a sequel, titled 2010, which starred Dame Helen Mirren and Roy Schreider as two scientists from both sides of the Iron Curtain looking for answers as to what happened to Discovery One. The astronaut being dragged by the spaceship, as he was trying to pull himself into the hatch via a rope that could snap anytime, was to me a frightening sequence.

2001: A Space Odyssey is considered by many critics and people alike as one of the Movie Greats. Now that was a Duh! statement I’ve just made.

By: Autumn

Autumn — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:25:49 +0000

I like the comparison to Moby Dick, if only because the ambiguity of the end of 2001 has been presented to me as a weakness. I call it a bold literary choice, and one which causes folks to think even today.
A stunning success, I would say.

By: Bad Albert

Bad Albert — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:40:14 +0000

I chuckled when Lockwood mentioned he hated it when Frank Poole lost the chess game with HAL. Perhaps he didn’t read the novel which said HAL was programmed to lose on occasion to boost the moral of the human crew. Hence, any win for Poole would be a hollow victory since obviously HAL would have thrown the game.

By: IMForeman

IMForeman — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:09:59 +0000

One thing about 2010: Despite the films being made 16 years apart, Dullea looks exactly the same in 2010 as he did in 2001. He didn’t age at all! He has since then, apparently, but it’s still odd.

By: T.E.L.

T.E.L. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:31:23 +0000

Kevpod,

I completely agree.

John Paradox,

I was never able to see it in Cinerama (my older brothers did; they were about as impressed as you seem). It came out originally when I was about ten years old; I got to see it once in my town’s indoor theater, and once at the local drive-in. However, I did at least get to see it under very good conditions later, in my late teens, at a theater a couple of towns away. The theater at that time was enormous, with I estimated about 1,200 seats (jet-black ultra-cushioned rockers, the likes of which I’ve never seen since), a screen as large as any in downtown Chicago (the theater was in South Bend, IN), and a brand-new 35mm print of 2001. It was a midnight showing, and the lateness only helped elevate the experience. The intense redness of the HAL brain room scene belongs on a LARGE screen. The whole thing was awesome.

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:08:07 +0000

I remember seeing this film in Cinerama at a theater in St. Louis.

One of those “I’ll never forget THIS” moments.

J/P=?

By: Kevpod

Kevpod — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:15:39 +0000

Points taken. And part of what Kubrick did was successfully communicate the essence of Clarke’s story, along with all the other dimensions he added in the film.

By: T.E.L.

T.E.L. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:48:29 +0000

Kevpod:

Clarke’s stories have pointed indications of literal intervention; but keep in mind that this is Clarke’s style. 2001, the movie, isn’t Clarke’s work. It’s derivative of Clarke, but Kubrick reworks it to tell a multi-level story of his own design. There are two stories called 2001: A Space Odyssey. One is by Clarke, the other by Kubrick. Clarke is a great writer, but Kubrick is just as great a filmmaker, and as a filmmaker he wanted to create objects which were characteristically open to interpretation. This wasn’t a cheat or a dodge. He was disinterested in instructing his audience in what and how to think. He was more interested in letting them feast upon food for thought.

By: Kevpod

Kevpod — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 20:38:46 +0000

I was surprised at their endorsement of fuzzy interpretations of the film, as though it has no specific meaning or is just a textural exploration.

The Sentinel, and then the book 2001 draw a very clear plot involving alien intervention.

By: Naked Bunny with a Whip

Naked Bunny with a Whip — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:17:24 +0000

Kitten With A Whip

Hmmm!

By: Sarcastro

Sarcastro — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:45:50 +0000

He also had a starring role (as David Seville) in Earth II... And he was in two episodes of MST3k! As the lead in The Magic Sword and as an uncredited extra in Kitten With A Whip.

By: Sean

Sean — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Keir Dullea is well preserved for a man of 72. Microgravity has been kind to his body.

-Sean

By: T.E.L.

T.E.L. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:42:30 +0000

A good friend of mine talked at-length with Lockwood at a sci-fi convention about ten years or so ago. Lockwood told my chum some pretty wild stories about himself, a wad of cash, a Vegas hotel suite, and several companions-for-hire.

By: T.E.L.

T.E.L. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:39:50 +0000

Brett McCoy Said:

“A lot of people may not remember that Gary Lockwood was also in the second Star Trek pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before””

He also had a starring role (as David Seville) in Earth II, a 1971 TV movie about an independent nation housed in an enormous space station. It was to have been the pilot for a series; but it fell flat, partially due to anachronisms having to do with Red China.

By: Brock

Brock — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:37:16 +0000

@Tony: I was thinking he’s looking a whole lot like the “old Dave Bowman” at the end of 2001. That’s some good movie magic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1IPrx-zC1Y

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:11:43 +0000

I had always heard Lockwood was a little full of himself. Also, how close does Dullea look like the older version of his character in 2010?

By: Savino

Savino — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:02:43 +0000

Great movie… but the book is far much better, as usual!

By: Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum

Richard Drumm The Astronomy Bum — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:01:27 +0000

This is why I use a shotgun mic at tradeshows. They cut out a good deal of the surrounding chatter.
Great interview, even so!

By: Chris A.

Chris A. — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:54:05 +0000

Just as long as Lockwood’s eyes didn’t start glowing and his voice get all massive-reverb-y. “You’d better be good to me, Phil!” Then it’s time for the phaser rifle.

By: Tim G

Tim G — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:53:21 +0000

Hey, the year of the sequel is almost here. I’ll turn 90 during the year of the third book. Hopefully, we’ll have crewed missions to the outer solar system by 2061.

I would love to see a movie based on Rendezvous with Rama to come out. Allegedly Morgan Freeman was interested in such a project but abandoned the idea partially due to funding.