2001: A Space Odyssey - Hal's Watching

A legendary scene from Stanley Kubrick's science fiction masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968).

Always watching...

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[perparimmedia]

I was a kid back in 1968 when I saw this in the theaters. I remember complete silence while people tried to work out what was going on with the close ups of the mouths and then as people started realizing one by one that HAL was reading their lips you could hear the gasps of shock and the occassional nervous laugh.

[LIQUIDSNAKEz]

God, this movie was ahead of it's time. Just the interior design of the ship and flat-screen control panel alone STILL holds up to this day lmao

[kitsullivan]

R.I.P Douglas Rain, the voice of HAL, who died November 2018.

[powerboatguy]

The actors are really under-rated, you feel like they are really astronauts, these guys went on to have decent careers, but I'm glad they did end up in one most famous films of all time, can't imagine the movie without Lockwood and Dullea.

[flargarbason]

This movie was so masterfully, put together. They made it so eerie without relying on jumpscares and annoying music

[johnfitzpatrick]

Any other director would have underscored HAL reading their lips with ominous music. Not Kubrick.

[ForceMaximus]

06:32 I can imagine everyone in the theaters in 1968 going, “Oh, shit!” when they saw that.

[dugclrk]

If only Dave hadn't rotated the pod back around giving HAL a window to see thru. They might have had a chance.

[mxkep]

One of the best AI scenes ever made, with HAL being the most awesome character of all time in my opinion.

[fancyclown]

Kubrick's a master composer. The way he had all three character's in the pod was perfect.

[Subvisual]

I love how HAL attributing things to "human error" seems so chilling to we the viewers, but it's not an indication that HAL is psychotic, it is in fact a completely factual statement. HAL is a computer, not a person. HAL does exactly what it is programmed to do by humans. Any problems that HAL manifests are caused by human error (in this case HAL's programmers giving it secret conflicting objectives).

[velveetaslingshot]

I met these two actors today at orlando megacon. They are hilarious and had some really fascinating stories to tell about the making of this movie.

[tmrezzek]

2:21 - Love that edit. For the first time you get a sense that HAL is really watching them close and getting suspicious.

[CMDR_Verm]

For me the beauty of this sequence is how underplayed it is when it's such an important moment in the film.

[blondewriter]

If Hal can read lips he would have known what they said when they told him to rotate the pod. He didn't. So he also knew why they went in there. Smart computer.

[eleven]

A mate of mine and I saw this at the Leicester Square Odeon, in London, where it premiered. We sat there in awe, but this scene, where you realise Hal is reading their lips, was utterly gripping and shocking and thrilling. It wasn't just us, the whole audience was in complete silence, transfixed. A truly memorable moment.

[kyyy]

It's amazing how you can tell exactly what HAL is thinking when he doesn't even have a face and even when he isn't talking. Just cutting to a shot of his "eye" at the right time, like at 2:21, gives you all the information (in this example, you can tell he's suspicious).

[lefttodiscover]

This movie is not only ahead of its time, is ahead of ours times too.

[LPJack]

RIP Douglas Rain (March 13, 1928 – November 11, 2018), aged 90
You will be remembered as a legend.

[LeftIsBest]

Mission Control: _"We're sorry about this little snag fellas, but we're quite confident he won't try to kill you...."_