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"He put forth his will, and the circling megatons flowered in a silent detonation that brought a brief, false dawn to half the sleeping world."

Depending on your mood of the moment, you can read this that Dave, as the star child, stopped all possible war and agression, or that he creamed at least part of the Earth into pot roast and gravy.

Of course, in "Childhood's End," the book that the book 2001 was loosely based on, Karallen watches the destruction of Earth from a safe vantage point outside the solar system.

Then, there is the short story that "Childhood's End" was based on...

Arthur C. Clark has a dark, misogynist, even human hating side.

FWIW, I've always admired Doug Trumbull more than Kubrick for 2001. Trumbull was the one that brought the space station to life, and for my money, the price of admission is repayed in the few seconds of it waltzing across the big screen. The bulk of the film is typical Kubrick excess and schmaltz.

Oddly, Trumbull's film, "Silent Running" has much more of a chance of being prophetic than "2001," and yet it is seen as a weak film. Then again, I invested in the original Showscan and the stock went in the toilet, so whadda I know?

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70mm in Melbourne, Australia just waiting for 2001:

Village City Centre 1 & 3
Village Rivoli Cin 1
Village Coburg Drive-in Field 1 & 2
Village Cranbourne 1 (soon)
Hoyts CC 1 & 2
Hoyts Chadstone 5
Greater Union Russell 1 & 6
Astor St Kilda
Westgarth Northcote

"For those who figured out our last calendar's none-too-subtle clue, and were looking forward to ringing in 2001 with 2201 - all we can say is that when it comes to Kubrick films, delay is a tradition. We llok forward to a grand 70mm restoration next fall."

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Every time it showed again in 70MM, I went back for another viewing. I never miss this opportunity! It's one of my favourite films and each scene is totally unforgettable.

Without a doubt, it's my favourite large format production of any era. (Jacques Tati's 70MM 'Playtime' comes in second.)

An anecdote I can't help but recall at this point: After my parents took me to see 2001, Star Wars was released and my parents were 'curious' to see what 'all the fuss was about'. They took me along and I couldn't stand it (I still can't). It held none of the fascinating beauty of Kubrick's film for me, even as a seven-year-old. This accounts for my taste in art and movies, or perhaps it's a reflection of it...

So each time I've seen 2001, I've seen it in 70MM. I did see a reel of it once in 35MM and that's just not the same thing. Therefore, this work of art MUST be shown in it's original production format, because that's a totally different experience! Therefore I'm compelled to agree with Brad, Mark and Scott on this one.

As far as mag is concerned, it really does sound best, but... Mag is dead...Long live Mag! At $700 or $800 bucks for a mag head that will only last for 2-3 runs (I'm thinking that most of the places that even have 70mm are platter-type) and the cost of a mag-stripe print, I'm sure they will say "forget it." And if they are restoring from the orginal stems, who wants to pay for both a 6-track "Todd-AO" type mix down (that will hardly be used) and a 5.1 mix?

When you eliminate the theaters with 70mm that; a.) are unwilling to take the risk of damaging the print with poorly trained operators; b.) have screens that are considered "too small" to bother with 70mm (some management types actually believe this!); c.) do not have five speakers behind the screen (only three) - I think that (sadly) there is very little point in wasting the money for mag striping, especially if the difference can go to making more 70mm DTS prints.

In the early 1970's Walter Reede theaters built the Zigfeld in New York. About two years later, they went bankrupt, and couldn't get any current product. They must have booked "2001" 1-2 times a year from 1973 to 1977. I must have been there to see it 20 or 25 times. It was a 70mm print, in good shape, but I swear I watched it turn pink over the years.

When we re-released it in 1995, the print this time was brand new (we had it struck) but the print was less than great. Some (a lot) of vertical movement in most reels.

I loved how HAL came out of the surrounds...

the 35mm print was only dolby 'A' and consequently too boring too be of any interest.

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