Actually, the whole sequence is puzzling. We see Frank -- wearing full suit, helmet, and backpack and breathing through his air supply -- as he trudges up the passageway leading to the pod bay. But why? The suits are normally kept in the pod bay, so he obviously had to go into the pod bay, take his suit back into the ship, put it on, then walk back, using up his precious air supply in an environment where it wasn't needed. We see the astronauts in the pod bay several times in the film without helmets. Still, his muffled voice inside the helmet makes for a great sound effect.

Dave apparently suits up inside Discovery while Frank is working outside -- perhaps in case there is an accident while the pod bay doors are open or to be ready to exit the ship on a rescue mission -- as indeed he must a few minutes later. Yet if this is a standard procedure, why is all the required equipment not arranged to be put on rapidly and efficiently? It seems to me that the space agency needs to launch a full-fledged investigation of this problem to determine just where the fault lies. In the absence of further information, I cannot judge. It seems, however, like a clearcut case of plot before credibility.

It's interesting that Clarke does not use this situation in the book. There, David doesn't chase after Frank but attempts to revive the hibernating crew. HAL then thwarts him by opening the pod bay doors and emptying the ship of air. After this, events follow the story line of the movie. Human error, therefore, seems necessary only in the interest of the film's plot. Too bad. It's most unreal.


Summary

The movie 2001 impressively depicts life in some future time when space travel is taken for granted. It underestimates, for some parts of technology, the amount of time it would take to develop the infrastructure for extensive space travel and exploration and to overcome the difficulties of building intelligent machines. Some actual technologies are not anticipated at all, especially the rapid miniaturization of computers through integrated circuits and the growth of powerful graphical displays. Other important factors, such as the social requirements, are ignored in the film. Still, the movie hit the main point squarely on the head. The space scenes are realistic; they feel real, and they convey exactly the right atmosphere. Overall, it's a job well done.

To critique the film, I had to view it with incredible care, sometimes frame by frame. The fact that it holds up well under this scrutiny speaks to the tremendous fidelity with which the film recreates the spirit of space travel. Its major flaws are to be too optimistic about technology's ability to produce an artificial intelligence but not nearly optimistic or inventive enough to predict advances in graphical displays and miniaturization of computation. There are no handheld computers and too many big devices. And no computer games. Shame!