2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT is purportedly a sequel to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Certainly, there are connections between the two. Dr. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider in this film incarnation) and a team of American and Russian colleagues go to the space station Discovery, abandoned by her crew nine years earlier, to figure out just what caused Hal to do the computer equivalent of going insane. In the process, the crew gets more than it bargains for when it runs into the Star Child at the end. There are also challenges stemming from cold-war incidents, forcing the Americans and Soviets to leave each other's ships and go back to a 1950s mentality of suspicion toward one another.

One can hardly avoid talking about 2001 when one discusses 2010. It is safe to say, however, that comparing these movies would be precisely equivalent to comparing apples and oranges. 2010 has a totally different purpose and set of motivations for what goes on; the Cold War between the then-USSR and the USA is still going on at this point in the real world, and people were finally starting to deal with its implications honestly (rather than hiding behind rhetoric). Therfore, it would almost be a travesty not to deal with this honestly in the context of a movie like 2010.

We must also consider the undeniable fact that audiences demand something different from a movie nowadays. In order for a movie to score big at the box office - and I believe that this is what Peter Hyams (who directed 2010) and his producers wanted to do - one has to be much more careful to have a well-defined plot and a conclusion that most viewers can easily draw after the first viewing. In this, 2010 succeeds admirably, placing itself solidly in the spectrum of the tautly written and directed sci-fi thriller which had become popular by then.

Since everything leads up to the appearance of Dave Bowman (Kier Dullea in a reprise of his 2001 role) as the Star Child, it is difficult for me to go into much detail without spilling the beans about the whole plot. Suffice it to say, however, that there seems to be less wonder surrounding this appearance, a deliberate editorial decision on the part of Peter Hyams and the producers. I felt strongly that there didn't need to be all that "gee-whiz" wonderment surrounding something viewers (and, by extension, readers of the book) already would have been familiar with.

I happen to agree with Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert about 2010: The Year We Make Contact. It is a different film from the one it is supposed to be a sequel to; therefore, it should be compared to the standards of filmmaking prevalent in popular movies of its own day, rather than to 2001: A Space Odyssey. To compare the two films directly would indeed be to compare apples and oranges, as I said earlier. 2010 is most suitable for those who might like a mildly action-oriented film, which has a fairly clearly-defined plot, and some excellent special effects. It is not for the art-oriented crowd who seem to me to have made 2001 so popular.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12