Well that was wierd . . . I forgot how unnerving this film is.
The last time I saw this movie must have been almost 15 years ago - what I find interesting is that in that time, I'd forgotten almost everything about the movie, except for the 3rd section concerning HAL and Dave. Not so coincidentally, this the only part of the movie that feels like a typical "Story" - albeit a simple one.
HAL 9000 and Dr.David Bowman
Problems on "Discovery One" begin with HAL malfunctioning, both Dave and HAL believe the other should be deactivated. HAL attributes all problems to 'Human Error' and tries to save the mission by killing all the humans. Dave survives and manages to deactivate HAL.
Despite containing only the most basic elements of story structure, this conflict with HAL addresses the critical themes of the movie: Human Error and the Advancement of Technology
These themes are thoroughly introduced in the first 2 sections:
The Dawn of Man and TMA-1
The beginning of the movie shows us the dawn of man, and the discovery of tools. Immediately we jump to the future and see the "end result" of inventing tools, technology has reached it's pinnacle, humans travel through space and every aspect of life and communication is controlled, and compartmentalized - even food is rationed and organized. Everything is going as planned.
At this point Humanity is in complete control, every obstacle has been addressed and overcome with the advancement of science and technology. That is, except for one . . .
Human Error
HAL represents the ultimate in human achievement, a perfect machine - it can perform any task, and is incapable of error. HAL's assessment that it's malfunction is due to human error is basically correct, humans determined its programing and are therefore responsible for any malfunction.
With HAL threatening to remove humans from the equation, it represents the final obstacle humans will face as a species. It raises a very important, and dramatic, question:
Will our advanced technology, through human error, cause our own destruction?
Dave answers the question with a resounding "No". By deactivating HAL, he demonstrates that human ingenuity will triumph, and that resolving these errors, not preventing them, is what insures progress.
Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite
In this final segment, Dave (i.e. humanity), having overcome this final obstacle, is taken on a journey through the rest of his existence, and eventually returned to a fetal state - implying that life/existence is cyclical - juxtaposed with the image of earth, we are reminded that Dave's journey represents that of humanity itself.
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