2010 (film)


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2010
Directed by Peter Hyams
Produced by Peter Hyams
Written by Arthur C. Clarke (novel)
Peter Hyams (screenplay)
Starring Roy Scheider
John Lithgow
Helen Mirren
Bob Balaban
Keir Dullea
Douglas Rain
Music by David Shire
Cinematography Peter Hyams
Distributed by MGM
Release date(s) December 7, 1984 (USA)
Running time 116 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Preceded by 2001: A Space Odyssey

2010 is a science fiction film released in 1984 directed by Peter Hyams. Its full title is given on posters and DVD releases as 2010: The Year We Make Contact, although the subtitle does not appear in the film itself. It is based on the novel 2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke. The film, like the novel, is a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Contents

Plot

The film is set nine years after the mysterious failure of the Discovery mission to Jupiter, Dr. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider) from 2001 has been made the scapegoat for the original mission, and has left the Government to become a University Chancellor. At this time, there is increased military and political friction between the United States and the Soviet Union. Both the United States and the Soviets are preparing to send missions back to Jupiter to determine what happened. The Soviets have developed an advanced new engine that will beat any American ship to Jupiter, but need American knowledge about how to access the Discovery ship's database, so a joint Soviet-American crew travels to Jupiter on the Soviet spaceship Alexei Leonov. The U.S. government is reluctant to do so due to the current political issues in Central America but must agree due to the recent data that shows the Discovery will eventually crash into Io. The crew includes Heywood Floyd from 2001, Dr. Chandra (Bob Balaban), creator of Discovery's HAL 9000 computer (voiced by Douglas Rain), and Walter Curnow (John Lithgow), an American space engineer and the original designer of Discovery. Their mission is to discover what went wrong with the earlier mission, to investigate the Monolith in orbit around the planet, and to explain the disappearance of David Bowman. They hypothesize that much of this information is locked away on the now-abandoned Discovery craft.

On approach to Jupiter, Dr. Floyd is awakened by the Russian crew and is told that the U.S. government has authorized his reanimation from cryosleep. The crew tells them that they have discovered new information on their approach to one of Jupiter's moons, Europa. As Dr. Floyd examines the reports he can't believe what he sees. The analysis reports the detection of carbon, hydrogen and the presence of chlorophyll which leads them to believe that there is life down on the moon. The Leonov crew send a robotic probe to explore the surface of the icy moon and it reports the same information the spectrum analyses did. Suddenly the probe glimpses what appears to be a large moving life form beneath the ice, but before it can be photographed, the probe is inexplicably destroyed in a burst of light.

By aerobraking, which was described as slingshotting around Jupiter using drag to slow the spacecraft, they plan to rendezvous with the Discovery. The ship is found abandoned in orbit around Jupiter's moon Io, whose constant volcanic activity has covered the ship in orange sulfur dust. The Leonov reaches the Discovery, and after Curnow restores the Discovery to operational condition, the two spacecraft rendezvous with the monolith. Dr. Chandra restarts the HAL 9000 computer to determine whether it has any information about the incidents of 2001.

The Leonov finds Discovery orbiting between Jupiter (above) and Io (below)

The huge black monolith is discovered in the Lagrange point between Jupiter and Io. Remote observations fail to answer their questions, so a cosmonaut, Maxim Brailovsky (Elya Baskin), flies a space pod over it for a close-up look, just as Bowman had done just before he disappeared. As Max approaches the monolith, a huge burst of energy erupts from it and destroys Max and his space pod. The energy burst heads towards Earth.

A sequence of scenes follows the explorations of David Bowman, who has been transformed into an incorporeal entity. The avatar of Bowman travels to Earth, making contact with significant individuals from his human past: he brushes his ailing mother's hair, and he appears on his widow's television screen and has a conversation with her.

After re-activating the HAL-9000, Dr. Chandra reveals to Dr. Floyd why HAL malfunctioned: The Discovery mission to Jupiter was already in advanced planning stages when the first monolith was discovered on the moon and sent its signal toward Jupiter. Without Dr. Floyd's knowledge, the National Security Council decided that Bowman and Poole were not to be informed of the true objective behind the Jupiter mission (the three scientists killed were separately trained). But because HAL could continue running the Discovery systems if the crew were killed, the NSC gave HAL full knowledge of the mission and ordered him not to reveal any information to either Bowman or Poole. The order to keep quiet about the mission was in direct conflict with HAL's design: accurate processing of information without concealment or distortion. The conflict caused HAL to, in essence, become paranoid. Chandra blames Floyd for HAL's malfunction, but Floyd vehemently denies knowing about the NSC directive.

Meanwhile, political tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union escalate. The U.S. astronauts are ordered to leave the Leonov, as it is Soviet territory, and move to the Discovery, which still belongs to the United States.

On the Discovery, an apparition of Bowman appears before Floyd, warning him that they must leave Jupiter within two days. Floyd asks what will happen at that time and Bowman replies, "Something wonderful." Floyd has difficulty convincing Commander Kirbuk (Helen Mirren), but then the huge black monolith suddenly disappears. A dark spot on Jupiter begins to form and starts growing. HAL's telescope observations reveal that the Great Black Spot is in fact a vast population of black monoliths, increasing in number at an exponential rate, shrinking Jupiter's volume and increasing its mass slowly with each passing minute.

Neither ship by itself is capable of reaching Earth if an early departure is factored in, so Floyd and the Leonov's crew devise a plan to use the Discovery as a booster. Unfortunately, HAL and the Discovery will be stranded in Jovian orbit with insufficient fuel to escape. Floyd and Chandra are worried that HAL will develop the same neuroses on discovering that he will be abandoned yet again, and Dr. Chandra must convince HAL that the human crew is in danger. Once HAL understands, he agrees that he must sacrifice himself, if necessary, to save all the humans aboard the Leonov.

The Leonov crew makes a hasty exit from Jupiter's orbit just in time to witness the swarm of monoliths fully engulf Jupiter. The monoliths eventually increase Jupiter's density to the point that the planet achieves the high temperatures and pressures necessary for nuclear fusion, becoming a small star.

As the Leonov leaves Jupiter's orbit, HAL is commanded by Bowman to repeatedly broadcast the message:

"ALL THESE WORLDS
ARE YOURS EXCEPT
EUROPA
ATTEMPT NO
LANDING THERE
USE THEM TOGETHER
USE THEM IN PEACE"

The film concludes with images of famous landmarks on Earth (the Tower Bridge, the Lincoln Memorial, the Eiffel Tower, Moscow's Kremlin, the Great Pyramids of Giza) with two suns in the sky, and Floyd, in voice-over, explains that this miraculous occurrence inspired the leaders of the superpowers to end their standoff.

On Europa, the satellite gradually transforms from an icy wasteland to a humid jungle crawling with plant life (and likely animal life as well, given the primeval sounds emanating from the trees). As the camera pans across the jungle, it settles upon a lagoon... and a Monolith standing upright, implicitly waiting for intelligent life forms to evolve.

Cast

The film stars Roy Scheider as Heywood Floyd. Keir Dullea and Douglas Rain reprise their roles from the original film as David Bowman and the voice of HAL 9000, respectively. The film also stars John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, and Bob Balaban, along with several Russian actors who play cosmonauts. Credited under the name "Olga Mallsnerd", Candice Bergen provided the voice of the SAL 9000 computer at Dr. Chandra's laboratory in the film.[1] Arthur C. Clarke himself makes a cameo appearance in the film as a man on a park bench outside the White House (out of frame in the pan-and-scan version, but visible in the letterboxed version). Pictures of Clarke (as the U.S. President) and 2001 director Stanley Kubrick (as the Soviet Premier) also appear on a Time magazine cover seen in the film.

Full Cast

Production notes

  • Clarke's mail correspondence with Peter Hyams, director of 2010, was published in 1984. Entitled The Odyssey File: The Making of 2010, it illustrates Clarke's fascination with the then-pioneering medium of e-mail and his use of it to communicate with Hyams on an almost daily basis during the planning and production of the film. The book also includes Clarke's list of the top science fiction films ever made. Unfortunately, in order to give the publishers enough lead time to have it available for the release of the movie, the book terminates while the movie is still in preproduction. At the point of the last mail, Clarke had not yet read the script, and Roy Scheider was the only actor who had been cast.
  • Several things have become anachronisms in the years following the film's release. The Soviet Union ceased to exist after 1991. Pan American World Airways folded in 1991. The Houston Astrodome's last pro sports tenant, The Houston Astros, moved to their new home (Enron Field, later renamed Minute Maid Park) after the 1999 season. By 2009, Yankee Stadium will be the name of the New York Yankees' new ball park.
  • In Milson's address to the American crew regarding the beginning of the war, he mentions a United States warship called "U.S.S. Cunningham". At the time of the film's release in 1984, no such ship was currently in service with the U.S. Navy. Given that 1984 was only 9 years removed from the end of the Vietnam War, it could be held that the inspiration for the name of this fictional vessel was U.S. Navy Commander Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a highly decorated Vietnam War fighter pilot. In and after 2010, however, Cunningham may best be remembered by the public as a disgraced United States Congressman.

Music

At one time, Genesis keyboardist Tony Banks was commissioned to do the soundtrack.[citation needed] Ultimately the soundtrack was composed by David Shire and Craig Huxley, and was released on A&M Records.

Police guitarist Andy Summers was featured on the track "2010".

Unlike many soundtracks of the day, the soundtrack for 2010 was composed mainly using digital synthesizers--specifically New England Digital's Synclavier, a Yamaha DX1, and a Roland Jupiter-8. Only two tracks on the album feature a live orchestra. Shire and Huxley were so impressed by the realism of the Synclavier that the album carries a disclaimer in the liner notes: "No resynthesis or sampling was employed on the Synclavier."

Kubrick and 2010

When Arthur C. Clarke published 2010: Odyssey Two in 1982, he phoned Stanley Kubrick, and jokingly said, "Your job is to stop anybody making it so I won't be bothered."[2] MGM made a deal to make the film, but Kubrick had no interest in directing it. Peter Hyams, however, was interested in making 2010 and he approached both Clarke and Kubrick for their blessing:

I had a long conversation with Stanley and told him what was going on. If it met with his approval, I would do the film; and if it didn't, I wouldn't. I certainly would not have thought of doing the film if I had not gotten the blessing of Kubrick. He's one of my idols; simply one of the greatest talents that's ever walked the earth. He more or less said, 'Sure. Go do it. I don't care.' And another time he said, 'Don't be afraid. Just go do your own movie.'[2]

Differences from the novel

  • The film omits the landing of a Chinese spacecraft, Tsien, on Europa before the Leonov's arrival, and its destruction by the life there, and Dave Bowman's exploration of the Jupiter system, where he encounters life forms in Europa's oceans and in Jupiter's atmosphere.
  • The film also removes all the romantic/physical relationships between the astronauts (the novel's version of Tanya Kirbuk is married to navigator Vasili Orlov and is surnamed Orlova; in the novel Walter Curnow is bisexual and has a relationship with Maxim Brailovsky, breaking it off when he learns that Zenia Marchenko is in love with Maxim. At the end of the book we learn that Maxim marries Zenia and Curnow marries Katerina Rudenko.).
  • The film adds subplots not present in the novel. A manned expedition to the monolith is inserted in which Maxim is killed (he does not die in the novel). The film also adds political tension between the USA and the USSR that results in the American astronauts being expelled from Leonov and forced to inhabit Discovery (in the novel, the Cold War is a thing of the past).
  • Some characters are altered. In the novel, Dr. Chandra is of Indian heritage: his full name is Sivasubramanian Chandrasegarampillai. In the film, the character is referred to only as "Dr. Chandra", and he is played by Bob Balaban, whose ancestry is Russian Jewish. In the novel, Dr. Rudenko is a woman named Katerina; in the film, a man named Vladimir. In the novel, a crew member called Irina Yakunina suffers an injury prior to launch and is replaced by Zenia Marchenko; in the film, there is a crew member called Irina Yakunina who has Zenia's character traits. In the novel, the idea of using Discovery as a booster is Curnow's idea, not Floyd's, and Curnow's character is much more expansive and ebullient than in the film.
  • The film simplifies some of the novel's scientific details: Discovery's tumbling motion and its drift toward Io are left unexplained (in the novel these are caused by the inertia of its centrifuge being transferred over time to the ship's superstructure, and by the Jupiter-Io flux tube).
  • In the novel, HAL is commanded to repeatedly broadcast the message "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS - EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDINGS THERE." The movie adds the words "USE THEM TOGETHER. USE THEM IN PEACE."
  • The novel includes a brief epilogue titled "20,001", which details the evolution of the Europans. The film simplifies this to a montage of Europa gradually being transformed into a jungle planet.

Discontinuities between 2001 and 2010

  • The novel of 2001 locates the climax at Saturn, but the film altered this to Jupiter. Both the novel and the film of 2010 follow the film of 2001 and use the Jupiter setting. In his preface to the novel, Clarke explains that his decision was prompted by discoveries from the Voyager probe flybys, specifically the intense volcanic activity of Io, and the possible presence of liquid water under the ice of Europa, both unknown when 2001 was written.
  • In the 2010 film, the blue spacesuit on the Discovery is missing its helmet, even though the blue suit was never used at all in 2001. (In 2001, when Dave enters the Discovery to disable HAL, he is actually wearing a green helmet - part of a green spacesuit stowed in the emergency airlock.) However, it is possible that Bowman changed helmets in between his disconnection of HAL and his voyage to the monolith.
  • In 2001 there are three space pods. Frank Poole's space pod is shown tumbling off into space after striking him, Dave Bowman's first pod is rendered useless when the door is blown off to allow him access back into the ship, and the third is used to fly off into the monolith. Yet, in 2010, there is still one spacepod in Discovery's hangar. (In the novel Bowman retrieves the hatchless pod by remote control and it is eventually refitted by the Leonov crew for use as a probe, but this is not mentioned in the film).
  • In the film of 2010, Dr. Floyd protests that he never authorized anyone to inform HAL of the TMA-1 monolith prior to the Discovery's launch to Jupiter. However, in the film version of 2001, the recorded message of Dr. Floyd played after HAL's disconnection clearly states that only HAL had full knowledge of the TMA-1 monolith.
  • In one respect, the film and book follow the original novel of 2001 instead of the film. In the book, HAL identifies his teacher as Dr. Chandra. Kubrick's film changes the name to Mr. Langley. Both versions of 2010 use Dr. Chandra, without noting that Chandra and Langley are meant to be the same character.
  • The line "My God... it's full of stars!", quoted at the beginning of the film 2010, was not spoken in the film 2001. It only appears in the novel.
  • In 2001 Kubrick had taken the unusual step of rendering explosions in space as silent, as they would be in a vacuum. In 2010, they are rendered inaccurately as producing noise.
  • In 2001 the informational displays on Discovery are flat panels (realised by the set designers by using rear-projection). In 2010 the displays are CRTs (actual CRTs were used in the set design) with a slightly curved face characteristic of most CRTs.
  • In 2001, Floyd states the monolith found on the Moon was located "near the crater Tycho". In his text report at the beginning of 2010, Floyd states that the monolith was discovered at the Moon's Sea of Tranquillity. The two lunar features are hundreds of miles apart.

DVD release

2010 was released on DVD on September 19, 2000. It was presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with the soundtrack remastered in Dolby 5.1 surround sound. A packaging error appears on Warner Home Video's release of the DVD, claiming that the film is presented in anamorphic widescreen when, in reality, it is simply letterboxed, not anamorphic. (The MGM version of the DVD makes no such claim.) A Collector's Edition DVD is rumored to be released in the year 2010 to coincide with the year.

Features (Region 1)
  • Available Subtitles: English, Spanish, French
  • Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Unknown Format)
  • "Making Of" featurette
Features (Region 2)
  • Available Subtitles: English, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Romanian, Bulgarian
  • Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1)

The 2006 Warner Bros. re-release includes the following subtitles: Finnish, English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, Hebrew, Polish, Greek, Czech, Turkish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Croatian, French, Italian, English for hearing-impaired and German for hearing-impaired. The audio tracks are English (Dolby Digital 5.1), German (Dolby Digital 5.1) and Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1).

Features (Region 4)
  • Available Subtitles: English, French, Italian
  • Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1)

References

Notes

  1. ^ Candice Bergen IMDb.com
  2. ^ a b LoBrutto 1997, p. 456.

Bibliography

  • LoBrutto, Vincent. Stanley Kubrick. London: Faber & Faber Limited, 1997.

External links

Wikiquote
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
The Space Odyssey series
Films
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) · 2010 (1984)
Books
Comics
Short stories
"The Sentinel" (written 1948, first published 1951 as "Sentinel of Eternity") · "Encounter in the Dawn" (first published 1953)
Characters
Vehicles
Locations
Cast
Crew/creators
Interpretations
Music
v • d • e
Films directed by Peter Hyams

Busting (1974) • Our Time (1974) • Peeper (1975) • Capricorn One (1978) • Hanover Street (1979) • Outland (1981) • The Star Chamber (1983) • 2010 (1984) • Running Scared (1986) • Presidio (1988) • Narrow Margin (1990) • Stay Tuned (1992) • Timecop (1994) • Sudden Death (1995) • The Relic (1997) • End of Days (1999) • The Musketeer (2001) • A Sound of Thunder (2005)






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