Rating: 
Summary: a kubrick sci-fi masterpiece
Review: 100% wonderful. this is the best science fiction movie of all-time hands down. amazing in every respect from writing to directing to acting to cinematography to special effects to production design. i couldn't count the ways in how many rules this broke for the better. people owe kubrick their lives for this movie. well worth owning, especially the new remastered disc.
Rating: 
Summary: Great film, poor DVD
Review: You know the film. I'm reviewing this particular DVD release. Don't expect the world. You're essentially getting the film and the soundtrack for slightly more money than it costs to buy both separately. There's a big silver box and some extra stuff, but none of it's worth anything or particularly interesting - the booklet is hardly 'Filming the Future' and the limited-edition serotype is a small piece of card with a 70mm film frame glued into it. There's a trailer but no other extra bits, and I can only assume all the quotes in the reviews below about how the picture and sound quality are excellent are mistaken, because the picture quality is poor at best. The whole film has been squashed into one layer of a single side of a single DVD, and in places the compression is very bad - space is full of dark compression artifacts which hop about, lights and sunlight have chunky halos around them, and there are lots of flaws in the original negative (the intertitles, for example), which aren't corrected. It's worth mentioning the menu, too - it's garish and looks like a children's cartoon. Should you buy this? If you want 2001 on DVD, you don't have much choice. I have no idea if the other version that's out there is any better.
Rating:
Summary: Oops...
Review: Sorry about my recent comment on this movie- that was for Dr. Strangelove. I had both review windows on simultaneously, and I mixed up.What I meant for this movie though is different. Imagine this: I had watched The Star Wars Trilogy for the umpteemph time the day before. Then I watched this movie and Close Encounters with the 3rd Kind. Imagine what I felt like. All of the above mentioned movies are excellent. It's hard to say which one is better. 2001 is incredible. I never expected something like this. I had heard of HAL singing Daisy, daisy but I had never imagined the final scenes. It's just one of those awesome moments in your life. You try to understand what just happened, and you know instantly that you have just watched something so mind-blowing, that it would be impossible to erase from your mind. What can I say. I jump to fast conclusions in my reviews when saying the best movie ever from this director or that, and that such opinions can change from man to man, but I am certain of one thing: If one movie would have to be spared, then 2001 would be the most common choice. It's universal. It's not like Bertolucci's 1900, where the communinst haters hate it, and the communists love it or something (I love it- I'm not a communist though...) 2001 is about humanity itself, and that is something we all bond in. How sad that Kubrick is dead. How I would love to see more from him. Is it possible NOT to like this movie? Yes. Some people who come around, telling that Armageddon is the greatest movie in the world might not like it, because of it's slow pace. This is a hard movie to make. Almost impossible. No, it is possible- it's been done right here, 1968, before man reached the moon.
Rating:
Summary: "I'm sorry Dave, but I can't do that."
Review: 2001. This is a film, not a movie. It's art, not entertainment. When you are entertained your mind is fed. When you experience art, your mind works. As a piece of art, it is beautiful and inspirational. Beyond speculation on ET's 'sponsoring' us to the next levels of evolution, or AI, the film is flawless in technical detail. 2001 inspired every space-based sci-fi movie that followed it, from Star Wars (With long, slow shots of massive, white starships.) to Aliens (With the android Bishop and his gentle voice, and the lonely classical music as the Sularco traveled through space.) Another great feature about this movie is the lack of explanation. You watch to see what's happening. OK, they are in a rotating chamber. I guess that must simulate gravity. Frank Pool is spinning endlessly into space because there's no force to stop him. Even without dialogue, the acting is great. Just watch the closeup of David Bowman as he realizes that Hal is NOT going to open the pod bay doors. Kubrick's actors must ACT, because his shots are usually so long that nothing will hold the audience's attention except believable acting. Overall, an excellent film that will probably never seem dated. -- JJT
Rating:
Summary: Not a normal science fiction film.
Review: This movie is unconventional for a commercial film. I haven't read the book but the movie is probably unerring from what is written. It's simple but still enormous in scale. Cold but nobely psychedelic. Classical music tastefully fills the gaping silence of outer space.
Rating:
Summary: Collector's DVD is a hit with me!
Review: I was advised against buying the previous DVD issues, although this is one of my favorite films. I heard how the sound was poor and the visuals were cloudy. WEll, I'm used to watching this on a VHS tape that has been played too many times. The sound and images on THIS DVD are first-rate. I would agree that the dvd Collector's Edition could have had more extras. The bottom line is the quality of the visual and auditory presentation. According to Widescreen Review, both are improvements over the previous DVD releases. This movie is not for everyone -- if you read the Amazon reviews you'll see what I mean! If you want to experience this film, this collector's DVd will give you what you are looking for. I found the images crisp and the sound much better than expected. Remember, this is a film made in the late 60's!! The special effects still stand up to anything seen today! I've seen quotes from George Lucas... he agrees! If you can stay through the entire movie, you will be treated to 3, 4, or 5 of the finest sequences in the history of film! On my widescreen TV with full 5.1 surround sound, I'm very impressed with the presentation! The sequence from the ages of man to the Space Baby still gives me chills... and so much more to contemplate!
Rating: 
Summary: Ugh! The most overrated movie ever!
Review: This movie was referred to in pre-production as the "proverbial good science fiction film". However, if you want to see a movie that actually lives up to that description, try Star Wars or Forbidden Planet. Even after reading the book, I still had no idea what was going on. Nothing was explained, and there was basically no plot at all. Plus, it has one of the most ironic things I have ever seen in a movie. The part where the computer goes crazy, by far the most interesting segment, has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the film! I have no idea what the filmakers were thinking when they came up with this idea. I like movies that make you think, but I don't like having to carefully analyze every single scene to get even a vague idea of what I have just seen. If you're looking for a good Kubrick movie, check out Dr. Strangelove and stay away from this garbage at all costs!
Rating: 
Summary: NOTE: Prior error
Review: In a prior review I noted that the two new editions of 2001 contained different bonus material. I seem to have been in error, the new standard release contains ONLY the preview that the Deluxe edition has, the earlier non-restored edition contains an early Arthur C. Clarke interview missing in the two new releases.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious Masterpiece
Review: Perfect. Hilarious. I hate repeating other people's words, so I'll stop. Just great, watch it immediately.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest Achievement in Film History
Review: This review is for the Limited edition set. The DVD transfer IS clearly sharper than the previous DVD releases and the color too is brilliant! Its worth the ... dollars for the picture quality alone. On the film, I think this film will hold up for some time to come. The visual impact is second to no film. The brave stance of Kubrick to construct the film as he did is a lesson to all those would be filmmakers out there. No film I have seen since has ever matched 2001 for its visual daring.
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