It’s a slightly click-baity title, but as we’re still generating more content for our magazines, this one included, why not?
My Sci-fi unpopular opinion is that 2001: A Space Odyssey is nothing but pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. I’ve tried watching it multiple times and each time I have absolutely no patience for the pointless little scenes which contain little to no depth or meaningful plot, all coalescing towards that 15 minute “journey” through space and series of hallucinations or whatever that are supposed to be deep, shake you to your foundations, and make you re-think the whole human condition.
But it doesn’t. Because it’s just pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. Planet of the Apes was released in the same year and is, on every level, a better Sci-fi movie. It offers mystery, a consistent and engaging plot, relatable characters you actually care about, and asks a lot more questions about the world and our place in it.
I read the entire space odyssey series before watching any of the movies and I really liked the books, they’re pretty much what got me into sci-fi. But the movie was absolute garbage, I agree. And I say this as someone who’s done LSD a bunch of times.
I remember watching it when I was 16. As a huge cinema nerd, I was really excited for it, so you can probably imagine how disappointed I was. I think I made it to the third 4 minute long static shot of rocks before I burst out laughing, and it really only gets worse from there… I’ve never gotten around to reading the book, but always had a feeling it would be better!