The ending of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Your views?

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Permalink Reply by Austin II on July 20, 2009 at 2:30pm

It was trippy........... and epic. Seriously I have no idea what it could mean.

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Permalink Reply by oliver salter on July 22, 2009 at 11:56am

Bright colours, blinking eye, older versions of Dave. Someone pleas make sense of it all.

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Permalink Reply by pookie bear on July 22, 2009 at 12:17pm

i think you should read the book to understand the film

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Permalink Reply by alan on July 22, 2009 at 12:21pm

Of course it's one of the best movies of all time.It,Solaris and Blade Runner and probably The Matrix are the best sci fi movies ever.The special effects still hold up.Of course it's not for everyone,especially the ADD generation.

Anyway I see it as finding God,dying,and being reincarnated.And I don't care about what happens in 2010.

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Permalink Reply by T.R. on July 22, 2009 at 1:00pm

I think it's pretty clear what the ending meant, once man has evolved in a state that he doesn't have any use for the crutches of tools he achieves the ultimate goal of enlightenment and pursuit of knowledge or a great truth, time and space, past, present and future becoming one. And the metaphor of the embryo most probably symbolizes that this man finds himself on a threshold of a new beginning and is open to a brand new universe or perspective.

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Permalink Reply by Austin II on July 22, 2009 at 1:07pm

Exactly. That was my second answer.

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Permalink Reply by Lagomorph on July 22, 2009 at 4:40pm

When you watch the beginning of the movie it's pretty clear that the Monolith somehow changed the apes into becoming actual human beings - and the whole journey this movie depicts is the actual evolution of mankind. First becoming able to think, create, destroy, etc. Then the ability to explore space, land on the moon and finally the "last step": An actual interplanetary voyage and also the creation of own intelligence in the form of HAL.
When the ship reaches the source of the monolith it also reaches the creator(s) of mankind (you could say monolith = god. I guess.) and mankinhumanity is finally ready to evolve into a kind of post-human being.

The embryo isn't just a metaphor, it's the actual birth of a new man. The book really makes it clear - I think in the ending it says something about Space-baby-Dave heading to earth to destroy all weapons and end all wars or something like that.

2001 is actually a quick chronicle of mankind from start to finish ;)

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Permalink Reply by T.R. on July 23, 2009 at 1:23am

I think the embryo works better as a metaphor in the movie, rather than Space-baby-Dave.

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Permalink Reply by Lagomorph on July 23, 2009 at 7:29am

Yeah, you're right, it actually does. It's a good thing Kubrick left the ending open for interpretation - the movie wouldn't have been half as great if it went all the way like the book.
I still like the ending of the book as an explanation for the movie, however.

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Permalink Reply by steven cowie on July 23, 2009 at 7:59am

butters you are officially a towel.

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