2010 (1984)

 

2010, sometimes referred to as 2010: The Year We Make Contact, is a sequel to that enigmatic masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. The second film features a team of American and Soviet (what we now call Russian) astronauts heading back to Jupiter and its moon Europa to discover what happened and to restart the HAL 9000 computer that caused all of the chaos nine years earlier. (That certainly seems like a bad idea given how the original film ended.) 2010, being a product of the 1980s, is filled with almost stereotypical Cold War fears and concerns. The Soviet Union and the United States are on the brink of war while the mission is underway, and there’s a palpable sense of tension and distrust between the U.S. and Soviet astronauts. The dialog in Russian is neither translated into subtitles or dubbed, which only adds to the sense of distance between the representatives of the two countries. The film features good performances from a cast that includes such talented actors as Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, and Helen Mirren (as a leader of the Soviet astronauts). Bob Balaban, always a reliable and welcome presence in the movies, plays the scientist who revives HAL and learns that the computer was being forced to keep a secret about the ubiquitous monoliths that our government had tried to cover up. He gets along well with HAL, and their conversations are intriguing when compared to what happened in the first film, but I feel like 2010 spends just a bit too much time inside that red glow-bathed control room. HAL’s red “eye” isn’t as mind-blowing this time around either. The sequel is rather stylish if slow-moving at times. It owes a clear debt to the first Alien film with the sharp contrast between the dark Soviet spaceship and the brightly lit American ship. The filmmakers also recreated some of the props and costumes from the 1968 film, which begs the question of just how original this Oscar-nominated costume design really is, particularly since the costumes of the original were not nominated. The film asks a lot of questions for viewers to ponder: Will the U.S. and the Soviet Union astronauts work together to get everyone back to Earth? Will HAL interfere again once it/he realizes the purpose of this mission? Will we ever learn what the monoliths are and why they appear when and where they do? What is Keir Dullea, so memorable as David Bowman in 2001, doing in this film? Is he a ghost or an apparition, and what is he trying to accomplish? I’m not certain that we care enough, truly, about the answers to these questions, but fans of 2001: A Space Odyssey might want to know more than I felt I wanted to know. To me, 2010 is almost as bewildering at times as that earlier film; it’s just not as powerful or awe-inspiring.

Oscar Nominations: Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects, and Best Makeup