50 Greatest Movie Scenes Ever

by WhatCulture

1. Shutting Down Hal - 2001: A Space Odyssey

2001 A Space Odyssey
Warner Bros.

HAL-9000 is one of cinema's all time greatest villains, which is a pretty amazing thing considering he's essentially just a voice and an ominous red light. It's his "death" scene that cemented the A.I. as such an iconic character though, as the psychopathic computer begs with Dave, an astronaut he's tried to kill, to not deactivate him.

Rushing into the control room, bathed in a devilish red light, Dave begins to remove HAL's chips. Initially unfazed and attempting to divert Dave back to his mission, HAL's sinister, calm voice becomes tinged with panic as he repeats over and over again, "Dave, stop."

Losing more and more of its functions, HAL reminds Dave that he's been programmed with a song, which he's encouraged to sing. As Dave removes the last of the computer's cores, the pitch of HAL's voice drops to a harrowing, inhuman low, sporadically singing lines from 'On A Bicycle Made For Two' in a way that chills you to your core.

The entire sequence is eerie and haunting, soundtracked only by Dave's heavy breathing and the constant drone of the HAL computer, and the worst part is it actually makes you sorry for the murderous A.I.

[JB]

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We love teamwork! Who doesn't? This article is a collaborative effort between WhatCulture, Simon Gallagher, Scott Tailford, Josh Brown, Ewan Paterson, James Hunt, Michael Sidgwick and Ashleigh Millman.
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Articles published under the WhatCulture name denote collective efforts of a number of our writers, both past and present.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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