2010: The Year We Make Contact poster & wallpaper
Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren, Bob Balaban, Keir Dullea ... see more see more... , Douglas Rain , Madolyn Smith Osborne , Dana Elcar , Taliesin Jaffe , James McEachin , Mary Jo Deschanel , Elya Baskin , Savely Kramarov , Oleg Rudnick , Vladimir Skomarovsky , Victor Steinbach , Jan Triska , Herta Ware , Arthur C. Clarke , Candice Bergen , Cheryl Carter , Robert Lesser , Delana Michaels , Ron Recasner , Larry Carroll , Natasha Schneider , Penny Perry Davis

This belated sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is directed by Peter Hyams. Roy Scheider plays the astronaut/skipper of a U.S.-Soviet space mission, sent to find out what happene... read more read more...d to the missing Discovery flight that carried Keir Dullea into the beyond in the original 2001. Scheider's polyglot crew includes Americans John Lithgow and Bob Balaban (the latter a computer whiz, responsible for the notorious HAL 9000) and Russians Helen Mirren, Elya Baskin and Natasha Schneider. The reason for this international mixture is that the world is on the brink of nuclear war, and it is hoped that the space mission will assure east-west solidarity (in this respect, 2010 dates far more than 2001, given the collapse of the Iron Curtain). When the astronauts catch up with Dullea, still in orbit around Jupiter, producer/director/writer Hyams attempts to demystify the enigmatic climax of 2001. Arthur C. Clarke, author of the story upon which 2001 was based, appears in 2010 as a man on a park bench. Incidentally, the voice-over credited to Olga Mallsnerd is actually Candice Bergen. (The name Mallsnerd is a play on the name of one of the characters created by her ventriloquist father Edgar.) ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

58% liked it

23,685 ratings

Critics

63% liked it

32 critics

PG, 1 hr. 54 min.

Directed by: Peter Hyams

Release Date: December 7, 1984

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: August 25, 1998

Get It:

Stats: 1,197 reviews

report incorrect info

Photos

2010: The Year We Make Contact 2010: The Year We Make Contact Dr. Haywood Floyd ( Roy Scheider ) 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2010: The Year We Make Contact 2010: The Year We Make Contact
Upload a Photo | View All 2010: The Year We Make Contact Photos

Your Rating


clear rating

Flixster Reviews (1,197)

  • spielberg00
    August 12, 2011
    spielberg00
    Bad
  • blkbomb
    May 17, 2011
    blkbomb
    This is an interesting and entertaining sequel to 2001. It's nowhere near the masterpiece Kubrick made, but it is good in it's own right. Just didn't have the mystery and pure eeriness of 2001. Great cast, including a good performance by Helen Mirren.
  • gokhale1
    February 16, 2010
    gokhale1
    An ordinary sequel to an extraordinary film:

    "My God..it's full of stars!" The film begins with this awful sounding recording...supposed to be Dave Bowman's last transmitted message before he "disappeared".

    Then there is the typical "recap" from the last movie..in the form ... read moreof a report by Dr. Heywood Floyd, clearly depicting all that happened in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "2001: A Space Odyssey". This is followed by the opening credits with a clearly altered version of the iconic "Also Sprach Zarathustra" theme by Richard Strauss.

    Now, in that film, Bowman doesn't really say anything like "My God..it's full of stars!" We are not really supposed to know how he was feeling then, when he went through what he did.... but he does say these words in Arthur C. Clarke's "2001..." novel.

    Now if only they had been that faithful to Clarke's "2010" novel when making this film, it probably wouldn't have turned out like this. What we get is a very emotional and sentimental "peace message" in the guise of a Sci-fi film...and what's more..it is not just another Sci-fi film..it is a sequel to arguably the greatest Sci-Fi film of them all..

    In 2010, there is growing political tension between the US and the Soviet Union. In such an environment, a joint American-Soviet expeditions is sent towards Jupiter to investigate what went wrong with the Discovery, to try and reactivate HAL 9000 and find out why he malfunctioned and to find out the overall meaning of Bowman's last words!

    "2010" refrains from using anything and everything that made "2001..." a GREAT film. Some of that film's many qualities are the minimal use of dialog, the emphasis on soundtrack, fantastic visuals and the sheer enigma of it all...

    While making this sequel, however, director Peter Hyams throws all those aspects out the window and what we get is a proper "talkie" ordinary sci-fi "thriller" with the whole story explained from time to time in the form of Dr. Floyd's voice-over, some terrible dialog and some comic scenes (Sample this: Curnow: "No sh*t?" Floyd: "No sh*t!"). The effects look dated compared to the original which came out around 16 years before this! There was a reason why Kubrick ordered his sets of "2001.." destroyed!

    Also thrown in are some "tense" scenes very common to such kinds of "expedition" films, which I will leave unmentioned here.

    The film heavily relies on the acting as well..Dr. Floyd's role is played by Roy Scheider and he does a great job. Helen Mirren is great too, as Tanya Kirbuk. Keir Dullea reprises his role as Dave Bowman for a couple of scenes. Douglas Rain lends his voice again for Hal 9000. Then there are others like Bob Balaban and John Lithgow who are fine, really, but then the film itself doesn't make for the kind of magical experience that the original was.

    That said, this is not an entirely bad film. As a stand-alone, it is a decent film and does have its moments that make for a good one-time watch. But that's about it...nothing earth-shattering. As a sequel to "2001.." however, it heavily pales in comparison..

    If only...
  • fb619846742
    October 5, 2009
    fb619846742
    A capable sequel to a bonafide classic. The cast is strong, the storyline is always interesting and arresting, and the mystery is still present. While it doesn't answer many questions that "2001" posed, it's still a visual delight and a fun journey back to what made "2001" so spe... read morecial. Keir Dullea gives a creepy performance as the main character from "2001" who is yanked back into the storyline masterfully.
  • SirPant
    September 7, 2009
    SirPant
    2010 stays true to the book but could never compete with Kubrick's masterpiece. Don't overlook it though as its full of suspense and intrigue and is a brilliant film!
  • sononothing
    September 15, 2008
    sononothing
    You can't start a review of 2010 without referring to Kubrick's masterpiece 2001. What Kubrick created with that film was create an opera with the stars, polishing the story by Arthur Clarke and giving us a film that's a feast for the senses and in typically Kubrick fashion leave... read mores us with more questions than answers when the closing credits roll.

    What 2010 does is try to explain what happened to Discovery in the nine years since HAL seemed to go mad and Dave Bowman disappeared. The world is on the brink of destruction between the United States and the Soviet Union (you have to remember this is 1984), but there is one moment of cooperation between the two countries when there is interest to investigate the monolith and the Discovery by the Soviets. The Soviets can get there faster, but the U.S. knows the systems better. The standard Rocky IV "us vs. them" mentality begins as the crew featuring Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, and Helen Mirren revive HAL and try to discover what happened near Jupiter nine years before.

    The first thing you need to do when watching this film is to distance yourself from Kubrick's vision in 2001. You will be disappointed and feel negative from the opening credits. Look at this film as a sequel to Clarke's story (which Clarke wrote, along with several sequels). The film explains things while leaving others still under a veil of mystery. I've always been an opponent to explaining every aspect of a film with its sequel, but with 2010 it seems less like a crutch than with other films that have done this (I'm looking at you Halloween II).

    2010 is a solid sci-fi tale with some breathtaking effects (even though the dreaded black boxes appear in some shots). It's only crime is that it was a follow up to 2001 and, to be perfectly honest, there is no follow up to that film.
  • shortcartoonist
    September 27, 2007
    shortcartoonist
    Entertainment without intrigue, 2010: The Year We Make Contact is a much more traditional insight into science fiction and a much more basic interpretation of Clarke's novels. Never trying to mimic or outdo the integrity and marvel of '2001: A Space Odyssey', the film makes its o... read morewn claims in it's own rights - it is much more accessible and acts as a decent fanfare from the predecessor. Yet, due to the film's conventionalities, it merely acts as it's own sole interpretation of the endless ambiguities layed by it's father in film.

    While the underlying themes and notions of 2010 seem to merely recapitulate what has been delivered before, it manages to bring it's own weight to the fore through solidifying concepts. The film's lack of open-ended insight strays far from the universe created initially, but the backlash from delusional fans is unjust. 2010 acts as a fitting enough film to continue in this provocative series. It respects it's initiator enough to not intervene with it's status and respects it's source material enough to act as a bridge to the novel.

    ...more soon.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    June 6, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    It explains away many of the mysteries of 2001.
    Good electronic soundtrack by Andy Summers of the Police. Dated with its Russian-American Cold War tensions. Thankfully, the ending is left open for more interpretation and discussion.
  • stuartb1234
    March 2, 2007
    stuartb1234
    A let down
  • sainttom93
    January 14, 2007
    sainttom93
    a very well-done Sequel

View All 2010: The Year We Make Contact Reviews

Critic Reviews

August 3, 2011
TIME Magazine

Flash: There is intelligent life in outer space. More, anyway, than in this amiable footnote of a movie. Full Review

Variety Staff
November 3, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

A hodge-podge of bits and pieces. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

A good-looking, sharp-edged, entertaining, exciting space opera. Full Review

Vincent Canby
August 30, 2004
Vincent Canby, New York Times

A lot of care has gone into it, but it has no satirical substructure to match that of the Kubrick film, and which was eventually responsible for that film's continuing popularity. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Now that enough time has elapsed since the release of 2010 for outraged 2001 fans to calm down, it can be seen that, while there was no decisive creative reason for Hyams' sequel to exist, it's not a ... Full Review

August 3, 2011
TV Guide's Movie Guide

It has all the right plot elements, dramatic tension, and eye-popping special effects. The performances are uniformly good, the space-adventure scenes are excitingly handled, and the reappearance of H... Full Review

August 3, 2011
Film4

It can't hope to compete with Kubrick, but if you can distance Peter Hyams's picture from its formidable forerunner, you'll find a thoughtful and sometimes unforgettable science-fiction fable. Full Review

Tim Brayton
January 4, 2010
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy

A much slicker, studio-friendly job than the first one was, with its much more famous cast, and its easier aesthetic. Full Review

Walter Chaw
June 9, 2009
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

What is 2010 but a conservative Cold War "message" flick. Full Review

John J. Puccio
April 20, 2009
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...a good, well-made, tightly-knit, nicely-acted science-fiction sequel, yet one that clearly lacks the vision and scope of its illustrious predecessor. Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Cast

More Like This

Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey
    2001: A Space Odyssey (82%)
  • Sunshine
    Sunshine (92%)
  • Pandorum
    Pandorum (33%)
  • Star Trek
    Star Trek (61%)

More Movies like 2010: The Year We Make Contact

Facts

No facts approved yet. Be the first

2010: The Year We... : Watch Free on TV

2010: The Year We Make Contact Trivia

  • In the movie '2010- The Year We Make Contact', what is the destined planet?  Answer »
  • Where was HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact) created?  Answer »
  • Who has a cameo sitting on a park bench outside the White House in 2010: The Year We Make Contact?  Answer »
More 2010: The Year We Make Contact Trivia

Movie Quizzes

Create a Quiz |

All Quizzes

Video Clips

Upload a Video |

All 2010: The Year We Make Contact Videos

Meet Other Fans

Add 2010: The Year We Make Contact to favorites

Recent News

No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists

Make a List |

View All Lists

Most Popular Skin

No skins yet. Interested in creating one?