James Cameron Doesn’t Like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Because It Lacks ‘Emotional Balls’

James Cameron loves “2001: A Space Odyssey,” but he doesn’t like it. He explains the difference in an interview with the Star, saying that Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi masterpiece “had an enormous, enormous impact” on him at a certain point in his life but that he now feels it’s too “sterile” to fully get immersed in.

“It’s not a film that I like; it’s a film that I love,” he says. “When I say I don’t like it, it’s that I don’t like the feel of the film. I don’t like its sterility. I like a film with a little more emotional balls, just as a movie, to get involved in. But as a work of art, I love (2001). It had an had an enormous, enormous impact on me, at a certain point.”

An unrestored 70mm print of “2001” is set to screen at Cannes next month, with Christopher Nolan introducing the special presentation; the film will then receive a limited theatrical re-release.

Cameron still has fondness for the movie, especially when recalling his first experience with it. “It was probably five days after it opened, the summer of ’68,” he says. “I watched (2001) from front row centre in the balcony, which put me dead in line to the Star Gate (Jupiter trip sequence), right on the axis, so I felt like I was falling down through the Star Gate.” Read his full interview here.