Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on January 06, 2007 at 13:44:40

In Reply to: You'd feel differently if you saw 2001 in the format it was meant for. Some posted by tinear on January 6, 2007 at 10:40:05:

But I have seen it that way, years ago. Likewise for Solaris which I also saw in the theatre years ago. I've seen them both in the theatre and I've now seen both of them again recently on DVD. The playing field is as level as it could be, given that there's always going to be a time gap between viewings of different films one is comparing.

I agree that 2001 is an extremely compelling visual experience. If you re-read my original comments you will see that I said "I still think 2001 is spellbinding visually and it's superbly put together". I don't question your view on that.

For me, however, the visual spectacle of 2001—or of any film—is not the sole criteria that determines my overall opinion of the film. There are other aspects of a movie which receive our critical assessment: plot, acting, pacing, music, technical execution, and no doubt many others.

My assessment is that Solaris is the better film and the things that make the difference for me in this case relate largely to plot and acting. Bear in mind that I'm giving my personal assessment of which film I prefer and I'm not saying that those factors will always outweigh visual effects for me. I'm simply saying that, for these 2 films, on balance I assess Solaris more highly than I do 2001. I also said "Everyone's mileage is definitely going to vary here" and it obviously does. We are different people with different tastes and interests. I'm not surprised that others feel differently about this matter.

And I haven't said that 2001 was a bad film. I actually think it's quite a good film, one I have enjoyed each time I saw it, but I don't think it is a great film. That's my personal opinion. I think Solaris is a great film. That's another of my personal opinions. Feel free to disagree, that's OK. We don't all like the same things to the same degree and it's good that we don't. Variety in what people like is probably the only thing that guarantees that we're going to get variety in what filmmakers/composers/musicians/artists offer and we'd all be poorer without that variety.

David Aiken