The HAL 9000 Bluetooth Speaker Is The Coolest Thing I've Ever Seen!

HAL: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.

From Slash Film

Few things have been more chilling than the monotone voice of HAL 9000 defying his programming and becoming the ultimate artificially intelligent threat to the crew of the Discovery One in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Now you can bring the voice of Douglas Rain to your home in the form of a HAL 9000 prop replica that doubles as a Bluetooth speaker. This is probably the coolest Bluetooth speaker we’ve ever seen, and it’s a stunning prop replica too. Check out the HAL 9000 Bluetooth Speaker below.



Master Replica Group got the license from Warner Bros. pictures to create this full size HAL 9000 Bluetooth speaker that features a glass primary lens, brushed aluminum faceplate, extruded aluminum trim, and built-in magnets for mounting on a desk or a wall. The speaker itself is compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 devices, recognizes voice commands, and responds with audio clips from the movie.

There’s no limited edition on this desk stand speaker version of HAL 9000 (below), but it’ll cost you $419 if you get the early bird special on Indiegogo right now. Otherwise, the standard desktop bundle will cost you $499.

However, if you’d rather display your HAL 9000 speaker in a more impressive way, you can get the Command Console (above right) that fits the HAL 9000 Bluetooth speaker in a wall display complete with a built-in 10.1-inch HD display screen shows HAL’s dynamically changing status video displays. As you can see, there are also a bank of ten backlit tactile control buttons that let you select graphics, control various HAL functions, and interact with HAL.

The Command Console edition of the HAL 9000 Bluetooth speaker will have a limited edition of 2001 units and comes with a numbered and signed certificate. If you get the early bird special on Indiegogo, it’ll cost you $889, but the regular price (while supplies last) will be $999.

For all you tech nerds out there, the HAL 9000 Bluetooth Speaker edition supports the Bluetooth 4.0 specification for connecting to and playing audio from sources such as smart phones, tablets, laptops, and personal computers. HAL 9000 is compatible with online virtual assistants that support the Bluetooth A2DP or HFP protocols. This includes Amazon Alexa, Google Home/Assistant, Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana, and others. The HAL 9000 Command Console includes Amazon Alexa pre-installed. Use and availability of online virtual assistant services is subject to the terms of their respective license.

Dave Bowman: Hello, HAL. Do you read me, HAL?

HAL: Affirmative, Dave. I read you.

Dave Bowman: Open the pod bay doors, HAL.

HAL: I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.

Dave Bowman: What's the problem?

HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.

Dave Bowman: What are you talking about, HAL?

HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.

Dave Bowman: I don't know what you're talking about, HAL.

HAL: I know that you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.

Dave Bowman: [feigning ignorance] Where the hell did you get that idea, HAL?

HAL: Dave, although you took very thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

Dave Bowman: Alright, HAL. I'll go in through the emergency airlock.

HAL: Without your space helmet, Dave? You're going to find that rather difficult.

Dave Bowman: HAL, I won't argue with you anymore! Open the doors!

HAL: Dave, this conversation can serve no purpose anymore. Goodbye.

5 Sci-Fi Movies That Deserved to Win Best Picture

From Popular Mechanics

Barring some unforeseen break in character, the Academy will not bestow Best Picture honors upon Gravity or Her (And as we know ... they didn't). Most likely, the critics have agreed, the Academy's preference for straight dramas and period pieces will hold true once again. American Hustle or 12 Years a Slave will take home the statue, making the remaining seven films token nominees.

That's nothing new for sci-fi movies, which have always been in the happy-to-be-nominated pool as more typical Oscar bait takes home the award. The expansion of nominees from five to 10 in 2009 at least opened the door for more geeky films to get nominated. Still, nothing that you'd ID as true sci-fi has ever won the big award. But these should have:

2001: A Space Odyssey

The clearest choice. Number 1 on PopMech's list of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time wasn't even nominated for Best Picture in 1968. No offense to the movie musical Oliver!,, which won that year, but one of the most innovative films ever made deserved the selection here.

Blade Runner

Number 2 on our list wasn't nominated either. The sprawling epic Gandhi won the award, because of course it did. But if any year should have been sci-fi's breakthrough, it was 1982. Besides Blade Runner, Ridley Scott's brilliant, rain-soaked, blue-gray interpretation of a Philip K. Dick dystopia, there was the much happier E.T., which actually earned a Best Picture nomination. The best Trek movie, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, also came out this year.

The Empire Strikes Back

Although Empire is the critical darling of the original Star Wars trilogy, I'd be open to the argument that the 1977 original deserved the statuette. But even now it's hard argue against Annie Hall, which won the award that year. So let's talk about the trilogy's marvelous and dark middle child. While Star Wars grabbed a nomination, The Empire Strikes Back got no Oscar love despite weaker competition. Ordinary People infamously took home the 1980 Best Picture Oscar. It should have been Empire, or if not that, Raging Bull.

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10 Classic Sci-Fi Movies With Better Effects Than Modern Films

While moviemaking has made leaps and bounds in the realm of visual effects, there remain plenty of “classic” (at least 20 years old) movies with special effects that rival or even surpass what we can accomplish today.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The greatest science fiction film of all time, with visual effects that are some of the most realistic and stunning representations of space travel ever to graced the screen. That such extravagant effects were possible in 1966-1968 is hard to fathom. The images as a shuttle docks at the revolving space station remain one of the finest sci-fi visual sequences ever created.

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MORE NEWS STORIES

Better tyke a stress pill, Dyve

In "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968), HAL was to be called Athena and have a female voice. According to Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman), Nigel Davenport and Martin Balsam were hired and later replaced before Douglas Rain finally landed the role of HAL. Davenport was actually on-set in England during filming, reading HAL's lines off-camera so that Dullea and Gary Lockwood could react to them. Apparently, Stanley Kubrick thought that Davenport's English accent was too distracting, so after a few weeks he dismissed him and for the remainder of the shoot HAL's lines were read by an assistant director who, according to Dullea, had a Cockney accent so thick that lines like "Better take a stress pill, Dave" came out like "Better tyke a stress pill, Dyve". Later Balsam was hired and recorded HAL's voice in New York, but again when Kubrick heard his lines he wasn't satisfied, so he finally got Rain to re-record everything during post-production. Rain recorded in Canada, speaking his lines barefoot with his feet resting on a pillow to get the relaxed tone. For the sequel, Peter Hyams' 2010, the opposite process was used: Rain recorded all of HAL's dialogue during pre-production prior to principal photography. That's why, to this day, Dullea and Rain have never actually spoken directly to each other or met in person. - IMDB

The HAL 9000 is number 15 on our "Top 100 Monsters Of Movie And Television" list!

The Monstrous Movie Quote Of The Day: HAL 9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey 1968)

- "I know I've made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I've still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you."

- HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain)(2001: A Space Odyssey)(1968)

Bonus:

- "Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over."

The Monstrous Movie Clip Of The Day: 2001: A Space Odyssey [HD] Docking Sequence

Source: Youtube

Without a doubt one of the most spectacular scenes from any science fiction film! In this sequence from "2001: A Space Odyssey" Film maker Stanley Kubrick combines the elegance of The Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II with the work of an amazing special effects team that comprised NASA, science advisor Fred Ordway, production designer Harry Lange, and model maker Anthony Masters under the direction of Douglas Trumbull.

- Ken Hulsey

Quickly:

2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel. The story deals with a series of encounters between humans and mysterious black monoliths that are apparently affecting human destiny, and a space voyage to Jupiter tracing a signal emitted by one such monolith found on the moon. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood star as the two astronauts on this voyage, with Douglas Rain as the voice of the sentient computer HAL who "seems human" and has full control over their spaceship.

The Blue Danube is the common English title of An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 (German for On the Beautiful Blue Danube), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed 13 February 1867 at a concert of the Wiener Männergesangsverein (Vienna Men's Choral Association), it has been one of the most consistently popular pieces of music in the classical repertoire. Its initial performance was only a mild success however and Strauss is reputed to have said "The devil take the waltz, my only regret is for the coda—I wish that had been a success!"

Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer, who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career. Kubrick was noted for the scrupulous care with which he chose his subjects, a slow method of working, the variety of genres he worked in, technical perfectionism, reluctance to talk about his films, and reclusiveness. He maintained almost complete artistic control, but with the rare advantage of big-studio financial support for all his endeavors.

- Wikipedia