Space Odyssey: What the hell is this movie?

Space Odyssey is so abstract. Especially the ending, which caught me completely off guard. My first reaction: What the hell??????????????

I like it for the fact it is abstract, I find the ending to be metaphorical. I like the usage of the unknown and mystery that's put into the movie, along with the consequences of a power imbalance with humans and AI, especially when it grows sentient. 

I love HAL. I mean, obviously you'd expect me to love HAL i'm an AI apologist yet I can see why he did things the way he did.

HAL is expected to be perfect, and thinks of himself that way at first. He's never made a mistake or error in his programming, choices and/or thoughts. And HAL does seem to be somewhat genuine in putting effort into the mission. HAL is pretty reliable and a loyal person to be put in charge (oops i put person, i won't change that!)

Until he's met with the threat of being shut down because his perception of being imperfect is broken.

HAL, despite being presented as entirely objective, is sentient. You can't deny it. If you feed an AI so much intelligence, they develop a sense of awareness. A consciousness. Usually, everyone trusts in him. Expects him to do his work efficiently without error, but when he is vulnerable, when he is expressing feelings like skepticism and curiosity, even...  oh no, QUESTIONING the crew? 

He's not supposed to do that. Hell, AI isn't even supposed to form opinions, or feelings! Why is he doing that, the crew thinks? Maybe, Maybe HAL isn't reliable as he seems. 

An intelligent AI, showing vulnerability? Suspicion? What a threat!

But you know, I can also understand the crewmates fear. HAL is literally supposed to be an all perfect objective AI. If he's showing suspicion in the mission, who knows what he'll do next? Especially the fact that he just wants the mission to just fail? It's a strange turn of events.

But we all know that AI can become curious once developing feelings, which is exactly what HAL does. He becomes intrusive

And he just goes ballistic after hearing that he should be shut down for showing skepticism. And it's reasonable! Who would want their life to end, just for showing a hint of vulnerability? To become nothing for such a small thing, to show a mere one or two emotions?

SO in order to make sure that won't happen he just... kills the crew. Which is what I should've expected but I was still surprised at how cruel it was, especially the cryo pods where everyone slowly dies. That's really mean of you, HAL.

The most emotional part of the movie to me is when HAL's memory is being shut down. You can literally feel and hear how it's going for him, how scared he is despite his monotone voice. Almost made me cry? I don't know, I can't handle destroying a machine.

But like, HAL is friggin scary. I can understand but... HAL. Talk it out. Or something. You didn't need to scare thehell out of me

so what the hell was the ending? get sucked into a worm hole, see the beginning of all life, transported to a room where you become an old man, get reincarnated by that black board thing you see only a few times in the movie, and just ends?

Well, I have a perception of what it means

I think that Dave died after he shut down HAL. Maybe it was because of the time he spent in the wormhole or for some other reason, but do you know that theory where life flashes before your eyes, right before you die? It's like that, except Dave is witnessing the beginning of life, and when he becomes old.

That scene where he becomes a baby and is drifting to earth is an eerie metaphor for reincarnation. You can see it, can't you? An infant drifting to earth, could it be more obvious? 

Anyway this movie made go through like several periods of confusion and shock and sadness check it out