What's your Sci-Fi unpopular opinion?
What's your Sci-Fi unpopular opinion?
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.
You're viewing a single thread.
I went to film school, and had to watch 2001 like five times in classes, breaking down every little element of it. And you know what? I also think it's boring and pretentious AF. The fx and production design are incredible, and parts of it are good enough, but other than that it's just Kubrick demonstrating how much smarter he thought he was than everyone else (I am not a fan of his films, if that wasn't clear enough).
I did enjoy the book a lot, though! If you haven't read it I think you'll be surprised how it tells the same story, just better.
Another film school refugee! My brother/sister/other in arms!
It truly was like being on another planet. Not only did I obtain a functionally worthless degree (I'm grateful for the media literacy I learned, but holy crap), but I also got to spend three years feeling like a stranger in a strange land, because almost any time something popular came out in the theaters my peers immediately labeled it Absolute Garbage and moved on.
Yeah? Well screw you, Mike! I liked The Matrix! I saw it in theaters twice!
It was fighting words to say Kubrick was overrated in film school-- people would get really mad about it! (I admit, I do really like the Killing, but that's about it).
And I saw the Matrix multiple times as well! It's okay to like action movies, and sometimes they even have real value too!
My dude, you and I would have gotten along well in film school.
For you it was 2001. While I never had to watch that one, I somehow found myself watching Citizen Kane in class something like 5 times during my undergrad and grad school years.
It was 4 times too many.