OK, so I could never understand the point of this movie. Perhaps the weakest part is the ending?
From primordial ooze, comes apes… Introduce Monolith #1
After interaction with it by touch, a signal is sent somewhere (I think to the one on the moon) – the apes have learned how to use tools and evolve.
Then we cut to modern day, and uncover another monolith on the moon, which also doesn’t do anything at all until we touch it. At which point it also sends a signal somewhere (to Jupiter ?). Then we find the HUGE one out by Jupiter, and obviously the logical progression is supposed to be now we’ve evolved enough to get to the moon, so now we evolved further enough to find the one near Jupiter and interact with it. This is where I always lose the plot. What is the bit about the MC, Bowman, devolving and being transformed and be born again ????
I find it funny that the author, Arthur C. Clarke, does not understand what Stanley Kubrick was thinking at the end of the movie.
Which then sets up the next book: 2010. The Year We Make Contact.
Any takers?