Happy Birthday HAL !

[rprosperi]

(01-13-2020 04:11 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  

(01-13-2020 04:02 PM)Valentin Albillo Wrote:  On the other hand I think this is one of the best scenes in a movie choke-full of them, and also one of the most memorables scenes in any movie, period.

I couldn't agree more! This movie blew me away when I first saw it back in 1976, and I still come back to it today. For me, no other movie has stood the test of time as well as this one.

Of course it does help that I generally prefer slower-paced movies over faster ones.

1 +

I too felt this scene was pivotal both in terms of its beauty, but also in explaining the issues and sequence involved with docking. At the time, I was watching Gemini missions on TV do these exact same things and did not understand the explanations from Chet Huntley and Walter Cronkite about how complicated it was to dock with the Agena stage. As a kid, it seemed it should be easy but the 'explanations' made it seem more complicated than I thought.

It was not until years later (mid 70's, like Thomas) that I saw 2001 and was immediately taken back to those missions and suddenly had a new appreciation of what guys like Neil Armstrong had accomplished, now that I understood the complexities of the docking process. (understood in an observer way, not in an astronaut way).

And it's always easy to judge after the fact, but the musical choice is perfect for the scene. Can anyone commenting hear "The Blue Danube" and not immediately be drawn into this scene. Perfect.

Beautiful film in many, many ways, full of one incredible scene after another. And I agree with both Valentin and Thomas that this movie has aged incredibly well. While the social references have aged a bit, the technology and space scenes are still first class today. (video phones, not so much).