[sethammons]

Maybe I should try the book. I like me some good sci-fi (the Hyperion series is probably my favorite read-wise). I've never gotten through the 2001 movie. Several goes at it. I literally pass out asleep. Maybe I need to try a morning viewing. I think of movies as entertainment. Trying to watch this one has become a chore.

[KineticLensman]

The book is essentially the same story but has a lot more description of what is going on. It'll certainly make sense, even if it isn't a page-turner suspense.

More generally, literary critics distinguish between 'show' (reader has to figure things out) and 'tell' (author makes things very obvious) modes of writing [0]. Show and Tell styles also appear in film making. Obviously the film and the book are in different media, but I think it's fair to say that the film 2001 is totally at the 'show' end of the spectrum while the book is mostly 'tell' (in common with a lot of Clarke's writing).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Show,_don%27t_tell

[shrikant]

I'm in a somewhat similar boat to you -- I find the movie a bit too tedious. I've seen it thrice, and enjoy specific sections of it, but it just doesn't do anything for me. I think it may be because I left it until too late to watch it, and by then I'd already encountered a LOT of 2001-influenced sci-fi. By which time, very few of the concepts or examinations within the movie struck a chord inside of me.

Having said that, I REALLY liked the book, and would recommend that you give it go!

(p.s.: it's BS that you got downvoted for stating a contrary opinion in a measured, reasonable manner -- hopefully my upvote cancels out the haters!)

[pjc50]

This will annoy a lot of people, but: turn on the subtitles and turn up the speed. Large sections of it can be zoomed through at 4x or 8x speed, returning to normal once people are talking.

Large ares of it are basically "wow factor" shots which looked really impressive in 1968 and lack a lot of that to present-day viewers. Sometimes it feels more like an agonisingly slow pan across the concept art.

[brlewis]

For the last part of the movie, sure, speed through.

In the early part, the slow pace of the journey into space heightens the sense of isolation. It's something a modern movie couldn't get away with, and is a unique part of 2001 that you should really experience.

[vict00ms]

I'm in my late-30s but I think I'm simply to young to appreciate the impact of the space imagery in '2001' because I grew up post-Voyager and came of age in the post-Hubble world. I'm a huge fan of Kubrick and I'm highly tolerant of slow pacing but '2001' just never really grabbed me.

[Udik]

I was enraged at Gravity's rendering of space, which at the opposite extreme of 2001's: a crowded backyard playground, with plenty of traffic and people wandering around and having a great time.

I believe space is black, silent, and immobile- though this might be just the lasting imprinting of 2001. I doubt you'd see anything resembling Hubble images up there.

[brlewis]

I actually enjoyed Gravity. But it was also the first example I thought of where something like 2001's long journey could have enhanced the feeling of how far they were from rescue.

[zerocrates]

To be fair to Gravity, low Earth orbit isn't exactly a great comparison to the interplanetary travel taking place in 2001.

[Udik]

Is it actually any different, if you don't look in the direction of Earth?

[copperx]

> I think of movies as entertainment.

This way of thinking is common, but you're missing out. There is an entire world out there where movies are art and they can be as perspective-changing as a good book.

[infradig]

You should only watch 2001 on wide screen in the cinema. I recently took my 12 and 16 yro kids to see it and it literally blew their minds.

[dec0dedab0de]

I never saw the film, but the book is great. A neat fact is that Arthur C Clark, and Stanley Kubrick wrote the book and the film at the same time. There are actually 4 or 5 books, and they're all pretty good.

[Kye]

I had to learn a little about what went on behind the scenes to appreciate it. Once I saw the making of the ship models, watching the camera pan across one for an hour wasn't as boring.