Home Films/DVD Asylum

Movies from comedy to drama to your favorite Hollyweird Star.

RE: Elaborate on the impressive restoration? ;-) (nt)

I first saw 2001 in its original release as an impressionable young kid. It was at an old time single screen 1000 seat theater that had been retrofitted with all the latest Cinerama stuff including big curvy screen, three projectors and enhanced sound. I left the theater completely awestruck. Overhearing conversations on the way out, it was clear I was not alone. I'd guess about 50% of the audience were in a state of WTF, 25% "got it", and 25% were pretty buzzed. To add a bit of context, this was at a time when the US space program was in its prime and the first manned moon landing was imminent. Considering that the manned space program had progressed from a Cold War challenge to a moon landing in less than a decade, nearly everything portrayed in 2001 seemed plausible and achievable in the next 3 decades or so. It was utterly inspirational and provided a culturally unifying element in a time of great turmoil.

Then reality set in. Going to the moon became routine, the general public lost interest in space (more generally, science and technology to a large extent too) and other more worldly distractions appeared.

Fast forward to now, 17 years after zero date and we find a moribund space program where we (US) rely on Russians to get a man into orbit, a large number of satellite launches get to space using 1960s era Russian rocket technology and no one could get a man to the moon if humanity's very existence depended on it.

Ultimately, that statement was an expression of disappointment resulting from youthful idealism and naivety and adult nostalgia. It's as if the promise was within our grasp and we blew it.






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