Review Detail

This is one of those dream-come-true edits for me. 2001 is one of my favorite films, but 2010: The Year We Make Contact has been a frustration and a disappointment. Peter Hyams wrote, directed and shot the film. He clearly loved 2001 too. But he released a sequel that, in so many ways, rejected the aesthetic and intellectual values of the original. What was the point?

However, I suspected there was a better version hidden in there. What if the voice over was removed? What if the chattering dialogue was cut down? What if the space scenes were silent? What if actual classical pieces were used to provide music? The visual design was actually not too far off from the original. Could the rest be brought into better alignment? I hoped I'd get around to finding out one day.

That day has come. The answer is a resounding YES!

Whatever clever ideas I had for doing this have been far out-done by the extra-mile that subjectzero brought to the effort here. There is an OVERTURE. There is a beautiful opening that perfectly sets us up to confront the situations and mysteries of what comes next. The sure-handed style of Stanley Kubrick is beyond anyone's reach, but this fanedit of the sequel is really what Peter Hyams set out to do. It is an in-spirit Kubrick-style adaptation of the 2010 novel and it WORKS. The tragic emotional journey of getting to the bottom of who and what H.A.L. really is brings deep feelings to the bigger grand mystery of what's happening on Jupiter. Real suspense is generated throughout and real majesty is reached for (and often achieved) in the musical/space sequences.

I just couldn't have asked for much more. I wish everyone involved in this disappointing release could see this fan-edit and enjoy a better presentation of their work. It's so much more worthy now and I'm so grateful this fan edit exists.