It’s a slightly click-baity title, but as we’re still generating more content for our magazines, this one included, why not?
My Sci-fi unpopular opinion is that 2001: A Space Odyssey is nothing but pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. I’ve tried watching it multiple times and each time I have absolutely no patience for the pointless little scenes which contain little to no depth or meaningful plot, all coalescing towards that 15 minute “journey” through space and series of hallucinations or whatever that are supposed to be deep, shake you to your foundations, and make you re-think the whole human condition.
But it doesn’t. Because it’s just pretentious, LSD fueled nonsense. Planet of the Apes was released in the same year and is, on every level, a better Sci-fi movie. It offers mystery, a consistent and engaging plot, relatable characters you actually care about, and asks a lot more questions about the world and our place in it.
It’s pretty interesting as a Star Trek show, since I think that it is also one of the few that actually pushed its boundaries. It might not have been well-received, but it also tried to do something new, like Deep Space 9, and the original Star Trek, and stuck to that something new, despite having to find its footing under a myriad of production issues.
Although I would say that it wasn’t a direct adaptation in and of itself. It seemed to be following the lead of the 2009 films in that sense, seemingly leaning on some of their groundwork to try and “modernise” Trek. They didn’t quite succeed, but the attempt is at least commendable.
Personally, though, I’m more of a TOS fan, just because the world building seemed much more expansive on the older show, but TNG is also quite good.