27.10.11

2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)

It's time to go into space, with another classic 80's movie, 2010: The Year We Make Contact. An attempt to follow in the footsteps of one of the greatest science fiction movies ever made. The movie is written, produced and directed by Peter Hyams, based on a novel by Arthur C. Clarke.

On this track we cover:

- The differences between the book and the film
- 2001 vs. 2010
- Visual effects
- The demise of Boss Film studios
- Design and the look of space
- And Dennis attempts to pronouce Sivasubramanian Chandrasegarampillai

DOWNLOAD

Download the mp3 file here. Link.

Subscribe to the commentary podcast in iTunes. Link.

STATS

Participants: David Bjerre and Dennis Rosenfeld.
Day of recording: October 27th, 2011.
Version: Bluray version, or NTSC DVD.
Movie runtime: 1:55:54.

SCREENSHOTS

The VLA.

Slobby Chandra. Clarke wouldn't approve.

Epic effect shot from EEG aka Boss Film.

You may leave the lavatory if...

It's so big! That's why they call it space.

Are you dead? Or can I open my helmet too?

Fire torpedos captain!

The ships are two different sized models, the starfield is paint on paper,
the monolith is a matte painting, Jupiter is a digital effect, and Richard Edlund is God.

The original pod-bay from 2001, recreated for this film.

Another gorgeous effect shot.

LITERATURE

2010: Odyssey Two, novel by Arthur C. Clarke.
The Odyssey File, novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Peter Hyams.

Cinefex No. 20 (January 1985), article by Adam Eisenberg and Don Shay.
2010: The Official Movie Magazine.
Fantastic Films #43, article by Jessie Horsting.
Cinefantastique Vol. 15 - No. 1, article by Kyle Counts and Charlotte Wolter.
American Cinematographer (January 1985), articles by Nora Lee & Bob Fisher.
Starlog No. 80 (April 1985), article by Richard Hollis.
Cinefex No. 73 (April 1998), article by Mark Cotta Vaz.
Cinefatastique, Vol. 28 - No. 9, article by Ben Herndon.

AUDIO/VIDEO

Watch a trailer for this commentary. Link.

Extended Making Of featurette. Part 1. Part 2.

Arthur C. Clarke says goodbye. Link.

Boss Film's United Airlines commercial. Link.

Dennis can in fact pronounce Chandra's name. Link.

LINKS

Richard Edlund interview. Link.

Peter Hyams interview. Link.

Cinefex. Link.

IMDb. Link.

Wikipedia. Link.

CORRECTIONS

The measurements of the monolith would be 0.5:4:9, not 1.5:4:9, like David accidentally says.

The medical show with Candice Bergen, which Dennis can't remember is Murphy Brown, where she plays a journalist.

There are 300+ effect shots in Star Wars, Empire has about 600 and Jedi 900+.