The World Tonight: Space Odyssey Events:
Midnights at the Baxter 2001: A Space Odyssey, May 15th, 2010 - Part 2
By Christopher Dalton

Dale arrived immediately after, and took some photos of the poster. I also photographed him next to it. Right after that, the same usher from earlier, took a few pictures of me and Dale standing next to the poster in all of its framed glory.

While in line to purchase our tickets and pick up refreshments, an episode of Futurama was being shown on the lobby's two large flat screen televisions. Appropriately, it was the episode that paid homage to 2001's Jupiter and Beyond The Infinite sequence.

Purchasing our tickets and concession items, both Dale and I made our way to the theater with many others. Some of which were composed of the average youth right up to those who were of my generation. Even a couple from the Baby-Boomer generation were in attendance. By the time we arrived, the previews that had been shown were over(which were the 1980 Stanley Kubrick horror classic The Shining, and the 2002 re-make of Solaris), and the classic scene of the Moon, Earth, and Sun in alignemnt(to the classic tune of Richard Strauss' Thus Spoke Zarathustra)began, followed by the opening credits.

I'm still surprised that the film did not begin with the Overture. Even the Intermission segment was not shown on the print copy. My guess is that these certain portions were edited for the movie's scheduled running time.

I was amazed by the large crowd that was in attendance. Most of them, from what I could tell, were coming from the Wonderfest Science Fiction Convention, that was being held at the nearby Crowne Plaza hotel, while others were science fiction fans from the local neighborhood.

Despite the usual scratches here and there, I was very impressed with the quality and condition that the original 35mm print was in. The color and sound were very crisp, sharp, and clear. Even during the silent moments of the film, it still had the artistic brilliance that Stanley Kubrick tried to relate to the audience, over forty years past.

While some jokingly whispered and giggled during the scenes involving Hal's refusal to open the Pod Bay doors and the memorable Stargate sequence (for which Dale and I were amazed that no one tripped out or toked during the latter), not one member in the audience uttered a word during the film's other classic moments. You could hear a pin drop and no one would pay it any mind. Every member in the audience, be they old and young, were completely mesmerized and entranced by the film on the Cinerama screen.

When the film ended, and The Blue Danube musical piece began playing to the end title credits, everyone clapped and cheered(including Dale and myself). From what Dale and I could tell, everyone was amazed, awe-struck, and astounded by the late Sixties Cinema epic.

I will admit, I almost anticipated someone running to the screen ranting, "It's God! It's God!" However, restraint was definately on the audiences side, after the mind-blowing, mind-bending, astonishingly, spiritual adventure.

After four decades, the greatest science fiction film ever made, still amazes and astounds audiences. Be they the average science fiction fan, classic cinema conisseur, or movie attendee.

Midnights at the Baxter, Part 3

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