Searching for intelligent extraterrestrial life, the "Jupiter mission" comes to a sudden end and, subsequent to dysfunctions, becomes the object of an original confrontation between, on one side, astronaut David Bowman and, on the other, the onboard computer HAL 9000, in a duel to the death.
This motif is presented from the first shots where we discover Frank Poole, a fellow crew member, shadow boxing: a succession of framing changes comes to question the identity of the invisible adversary on the receiving end of the fictitious blows. In the following shot, HAL appears for the first time.
Following a disturbing error in detecting a breakdown, the two astronauts decide to disconnect the computer to prevent it from endangering their mission. Madness or pure survival instinct? As in the game of chess that it plays with Frank, HAL strategically deals its blows and eliminates the crew members one by one.
The last survivor, Dave enters the memory room and proceeds to 'kill' the computer in spite of its supplications and frightening humanity.
A play of reflections in the machine's hypnotic "eye" and the human face, redrawn by the lights of the innumerable monitor screens, the minimalist acting and the suave voice of the computer, this mirror effect between the humanisation of the machine and the mechanisation of the man demonstrates one of the central issues in 2001: the duality of technology, both the ideal of civilisation and potential for the species' self-destruction.
This paradox of progress, stated as of the beginning of the film in "The Dawn of Man" with the discovery of the tool that is immediately turned into a weapon, is taken to a new stage of evolution in this showdown with artificial intelligence.