2001 a space odyssey *** WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS ***

[Ispoke]

Just finished watching this after not having seen it for quite a few years and must say that this film is a beautiful visual and sound experience in my opinion even today.

Now for my problem with my recollection on a sequence within the film where there is a problem with the Earth communication system

HAL: “Just a moment, just a moment.” - The most sophisticated computer detects a malfunction in the vital AE35 component in the communications system.

HAL: “I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100 percent failure within seventy-two hours.”

After receiving Mission Control permission to go EVA and replace AE35 unit prior to failure, Bowman leaves the ship and replaces the defective AE35 with a spare before it can fail. He returns with the defective unit to run diagnostic tests on it, but it appears to function perfectly:

Dave: “Well HAL, I'm damned if I can find anything wrong with it.”

HAL: “Yes, it's puzzling. I don't think I've ever seen anything quite like this before.”

HAL is puzzled and then calmly states:

HAL: “I would recommend that we put the unit back in operation and let it fail. It should then be a simple matter to track down the cause. We can certainly afford to be out of communication for the short time it will take to replace it.”

Now the fuzzy bit, my recollection of what happens next is

That the crew do put back the original AE35 ( though we do not see this actually happen in the film) and sure enough after 72 hours the AE35 fails and HAL proudly proclaims that he was in fact correct about his fault prediction.

It’s after this event that mission control announces that the HAL9000 has problems and things go on from there. I am aware that the film was cut by about 20 mins from its original 160 mins after its first screening, but I can find no reference to the sequence I mention. Am I going mad, did I imagine that sequence? It’s so clear in my mind, but obviously not in the film.

Anyone care to comment as it’s really bugging me.