2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)

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We have arrived.  The future is here.

When 2001: A Space Odyssey appeared in theaters in 1968, it left audiences wonderstruck.  They wondered in its majesty; wondered in its beauty; wondered in its imagery. And for some, it left them wondering, "What the hell was that?"  It would take another more conventional film to explain the eccentricities and enigmas of the first.  That film was 2010.

Nine years have passed since the infamous Discovery One mission.  The spacecraft that was sent to Jupiter to investigate a mysterious black monolith is now a derelict in orbit around the Jovian moon Io.  Its crew has vanished; the last transmission of the last man aboard, Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea), enigmatically said, "My God...it's full of stars!"  National Council of Aeronautics director Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider) is now a university chancellor, having been made a scapegoat for the mission's failings.  Floyd is visited by a Russian ambassador (Dana Elcar).  The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union is heating up in Central America.  Both countries are also planning return missions to investigate the Discovery.  Although the Russians will launch first, the Americans have the technical knowledge to bring the ship, and it schizophrenic computer HAL 9000, online.  The Ambassador proposes a bold cooperative mission despite the political climate, with the Americans piggybacking aboard the Russian spacecraft Alexei Leonov.  While the Russians stand to gain a propaganda victory from the mission, Floyd concludes it is also America's only option when he realizes Discovery will crash into Io before the American spacecraft arrives.

Several months later, Floyd is awoken aboard the Alexei Leonov from cryogenic sleep.  The situation in Central America has continued to deteriorate; the Russians, lead by Cosmonaut Tanya Kirbuk (Helen Mirren), are barely on speaking terms with Floyd.  Floyd is told the Russians have found evidence on organic life on the Jovian moon Europa.  When they attempt to invesitage with a probe, an energy vortext appears from the surface and vaporizes their probe. 

The spacecraft arrives at Jupiter and links with Discovery, bringing aboard Dr. Walter Curnow (John Lithgow) to handle the technical resotration, and Dr. R. Chandra (Bob Balaban) to manage the reawakening of HAL 9000.  Not long into their mission it appears that the United States and the Soviet Union are about to go to war.  Both crews are separated, with the Americans taking up residence aboard Discovery, and a month-long wait ensues until an appropriate launch window opens for both spacecraft to return to Earth.  Then Floyd is paid a visit by Dave Bowman, who has a maessage: in two days everyone must leave the Jovian system.  If they do not leave, they will all be destoryed.  But if they do leave, something wonderful will happen.

We are now presented with a singular opportunity. In 1968, the year 2001 was 33 years away; in 1984, the year 2010 was 26 years hence.  The year 2010 was distant enough to imagine how the world might evolve according to the first movie's predictions, yet still retaining enough plausibility that such developments might occur within the time period allotted.  But here we are in 2010, finally able to weigh this world of tomorrow according to what is now the present.

Most of the film occurs in space. The space scenes have the standard fare of fantastic spaceships controlled by racks of computers, brightly lit push buttons, and CRT monitors.  We might as well be comparing the future as envisaged by Star Wars for all the difference it makes (and indeed, some of the technical crew came direct from the original trilogy).  Actually, "Star Wars" is a rather adept comparison since it appears Regan's Strategic Defense Initiative has been realized in the form of laser-spewing satellites.  But let us instead take a look at Earth in 2010.  This is difficult because we are afforded few glimpses of Earth society at large, and much of the evidence is sketchy and halfway.  In these respects they resemble the predecessor.  2001 provided little in the way of depicting Earth and much for depicting space travel.  The difference in this case is that in 2010, there actually are some scenes which take place on "future" Earth.

For one thing, we know the Cold War is still going on between the United States and the Soviet Union.  The Honduras incident that provides the potential trigger for World War III seems awfully alike the Cuban Missal Crisis.  The President is Caucasian (as depicted on a Time magazine cover).  An early conversation between Floyd and his superior on a park bench outside the White House (that wino on the left side of the screen: Arthur C. Clarke!) replaces the noise of passing cars with the sounds of either electric or jet engines.  Another early scene in the film presents Floyd using his portable computer while relaxing on the beach.  In 1984, such a concept was impossible to conceive; now it is a given.  However, a smile instantly spreads to our faces once we realize the good doctor's "portable" computer has enough bulk to match a suitcase.  Other computer monitors look like obese Commodore PETs, and all monitors are of course CRTs.  Memory is apparently stored on "cassettes"; no mention is made of disks, and certainly none of flash. 

In other words, the world of 2010 is an exaggeration of the world of 1984.  Even technologies that would have been new in that day like the Compact Disc are absent.  Like all futuristic productions, the film underestimated some things and overestimated others   While not on par with the original Battlestar Galactica's anachronisms, these predictions nevertheless fail to match the sheer breath of 2001, which still looks accurate to a degree despite having been technologically usurped. 

Speaking of 2001, if you had no idea what was going on in that film, then this is the sequel for you.  Much of the artistic license that was present in 2001 has been replaced with more conventional filmmaking.  The endless stretches of classical music and heavy breaking are largely absent and replaced with dialogue.  Much of that dialogue provides the exposition necessary to understand critical questions in 2001.  For one thing, why did HAL 9000 wig out and turn on the crew?  Thankfully, not all of Kubrick's fingerprints have been wiped clean.  The effects remain spectacular, and some of the directorial touches show inspired Kubrick-esque camera angles.  In that respect, 2010 truly is the son of 2001.  It does not precisely mirror the father; but the parentage is not completely unrecognizable.

The cast is also composed of heavier hitters than those of 2001, and for some this movie was their first taste of bigger things.  The picture is anchored by Roy Schneider, whom while not exactly remembered as A-list nevertheless demonstrates the world lost a fine actor in 2008.  Oddly enough, Floyd owns two dolphins, calling to mind Schneider's future tour of duty on SeaQuest.  Helen Mirren, long before she became The Queen, convincingly adopts a Russian accent and steely tone.  John Lithgow, whose career was mid-takeoff, had an especially good year in 1984, with a supporting turn in the cult classic Footloose.  Bob Balaban later became one of Christopher Guest's players.  Even Dana Elcar, who was in between gigs at WKRP in Cincinnati and MacGyver, pops up.