#6 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick) at the Egyptian Theatre

 

Seeing this seminal piece of science fiction in a theater, especially with booming Dolby Atmos sound on a pristine 70mm print, is nothing like streaming it at home. And I don't care how good your home theater is.

I had forgotten that the film begins with an overture. About three minutes of atmospheric music plays over a black screen before any images appear. As the lights dim and the curtains remain closed, the music feels ceremonial and unnerving. At home, it’s easy to overlook. But in the theater, it signals that the audience is entering something.

Then the first thunderous blast of Strauss’s “Also sprach Zarathustra” hits. The brass and timpani explode as the sun rises over the earth and moon and the title of the film appears. It’s not background music. It’s an announcement.

Strauss's “The Blue Danube” turns a jump cut from bone tossed into the air to spacecraft floating in the galaxy into one of the most famous edits in film history. The docking sequence turns into a ballet. The Pan Am spacecraft and the Space Station glide in perfect sync to a waltz, and suddenly this cold machinery feels graceful.

Kubrick uses Ligeti’s choral “Requiem” to create that buzzing, piercing, almost inhuman sound that feels like it’s cutting through the air. The high frequencies were so overwhelming that many audience members covered their ears. At home, it registers as eerie. But in a theatre, it’s a weapon.

Silence is used just as boldly. The space sequences are often nearly silent. The absence of sound makes every mechanical hum, every breath, feel amplified. 

On streaming, it’s impressive. But on 70mm with a powerful sound system, it’s monumental.

2001: A Space Odyssey on Letterboxd