frosted Wrote:
One thing people just viewing 2001 now will think: it's incredibly slow, why is it so damned slow? But many of the special effects were brand new when the movie was new and the long shots of languid space "action" were mighty impressive when seen for the first time. Also, the slowness of the film is meant to serve as a sort of space ballet.
Yep on all counts. It's easy for me to say it's my favorite movie of all time, but when people I know who haven't seen it ask about it, I have to preface it with a warning because most people really don't have the patience for a movie like this anymore. It's quiet, it's slow, it doesn't explicitly answer the questions it provokes (in a good way!) and it isn't a special-effects display like people think it is.
I first saw it as a kid who was into sci-fi. I hated the first 20 minutes, and when I taped it off a broadcast, I'd always fast-forward through that long ape section (but I'd read the book cover to cover, so . . . ) But after that I was mesmerized, and I didn't even know why. Many years later I finally sat and watched the ape section and really grasped what was going on. I still find myself as enrapt as I ever was, and actually find more to question in it as I get older.
Yeah I feel this way about the original version of Solaris. My wife says actually travelling to the planet would be faster than watching it, whereas I think it's one of the most challenging and fascinating films ever.
