Rating: 
Summary: Deliberately Burried
Review: There have been many releases of 2001 over the years: Several MGM laser Disc and DVD's and the Criterion Laserdiscs. Truthfully the film is important enough to merit the attention. The new MGM transfer comes in two flavors. 1. Standard release 2. Deluxe collectors edition.Both prints are struck off a wonderfull new master and in most respects this is a definitive A/V transfer. Key differences are as follows. The standard version contains the movie, a Bonus supplement and I believe thats it. The Deluxe edition contains the Film, a music CD which is already available elsewhere and many 2001 fans already have a film image and a booklet. The Deluxe edition is a disapointment. While the collector type goodies included are nice they are not what one would call significant or important. 2001 is worthy of a real "special edition" which actually reflects the imporance of the film, not this artifical "product". I admit I could have saved myself frustration if I'd read more closely I however thought that the special edition would include the material on the standard edition -it does not- so ultimately I have only myself to blame but it is still frustrating
Rating: 
Summary: Great Transfer/Print of a landmark in Cinema history
Review: I'm over the moon about this. It does have have some problems but they are few and far between. some of the space shots have tinges of greenish hues around the edge. overall though this is the best I have seen this landmark film. the print is free of dirt and artifacts, the color fidelity is just stunning. For anybody who is a fan of this film, this is a must buy item for collection. For anyone who is curious about it, delve into this experience you will learn so much about the cinema, movie sound design, editing, color composition, internal and external film rythm. One of the 5 most important films of all time. GO GET IT NOWWWW!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Art? maybe. Entertaining? no.
Review: I saw this movie because I had heard from my brother that it was one of the best movies all-time, and was greatly disappointed. Sure this movie might have had awesome special effects back when it was made, but today, they are nothing. The cinematography is good, it's actually all there is to the movie, so yeah, it's a piece of art. It's art, not an entertaining movie. For a normal viewer, who doesn't want to have to analyze every minute of a movie for symbolism etc. in order to understand it, this is not a good pick. If you want to be entertained by a movie, do NOT watch this. 2001 has too much symbolism and what ever to keep a regular movie viewer awake through the whole thing. You could leave for 30 minutes while watching the movie, and when you come back, you haven't missed anything. So as I said, if your looking for art, watch this. If your looking for entertainment, watch any other movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Two DVDs: One good -- one bad?
Review: Some people seem to be complaining about one of the DVD versions of "2001" -- so which one is it? Is it this full-screen version with the Space Wheel on the cover? They claim that one DVD version contains a poor quality film print in which the picture "shakes", the color is faded, and there are the ubiquitious white blips or smears appearing on the print. The other version [letterbox -- Collectors Edition] has an excellent picture, color, no major white blips. So, if you are looking for a good quality DVD version, it might be worth the few extra bucks to get the Collectors Edition -- letterbox -- with Keir Dullea in the space helmet on the cover.
Rating:
Summary: Dismayed
Review: Don't get me wrong - I am an ardent fan of 2001. Saw it in the theatre when it first came out, and have seen the film dozens of times since. I own this film on vhs, laserdisc, DVD, and now this "special edition". The score I have given this disk is for *this* edition, not the movie itself. To start with, there is no extra material on the DVD! The movie trailer is all there is. No audio commentary from anyone, no extra interviews with anyone. The DVD has the same basic menu structure and graphics as the previously released DVD of the movie, but the animation is gone. The video transfer is poor - supposedly made from original film negatives, but someone with some telecine experience should have balanced and corrected each scene - as is the viewer will experience colorshifts, dirty grey blacks, oddly inverted fade-in from blacks, etc. In overall terms, the previously released DVD has superior color and telecine work. The only thing about this DVD version that is "special", technically, is that it is anamorphic widescreen instead of the previous DVD's "as is" widescreen. Otherwise, this presentation is very technically flawed. If you own the previous DVD, and can live without anamorphic widescreen, steer clear of this "special" edition. The other goodies tossed in the box are ok - a re-print of the Rhino version of the Soundtrack album, and a copy of a reproduction of a 70mm film clip. Technically, the best transfer of this film remains the Criterion Edition CAV laserdisc set - flawlessly crisp rendition from original camera negatives, and telecine overseen by Kubrick himself. The laserdisc was also chock full of alternate audio tracks, interviews with Arthur C. Clark and other materials that pertained the production of the film. This DVD is a pale imitation of the real thing, and after seeing the superlative work that had been done on the Se7en special edition DVD, I expected the same kind of treatment would have been done here. The video on this DVD looks shabby by comparison. 2001 deserved a better treatment, and as a customer, I deserved a better product than this, at its premium price. Very dismayed, and disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: "Also Sprach Zara-Kubrick..."
Review: A Primer for the Star Child: Immense have been the preparations for me, ... Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful boatmen, For room to me, stars kept aside in their own rings... They sent influences to look after what was to hold me. ... All forces have been steadily employ'd to complete and delight me, Now on this spot I stand with my robust soul. -- Walt Whitman; "Song of Myself." Take a title, a questing voyage, and a one-eyed computer monster (HAL, rather than Polyphemus) from Homer...superman mytho-poetic musings from Nietzsche...and a mystic, transcendent, poetic- spiritual vision from Whitman...add to them the visual acuity and panoramic consciousness of Kubrick ("I know I have the best of time and space, and was never measured and never will be measured" ...Whitman, again)and you have the beginnings of a primer for how Man might go from grunting, gesticulating hominid fighting over water-hole rights to wide-eyed, embryonic Star Child gazing placidly upon Earth with transcendent blue-eyes... wondering what he might do with the pretty shiny bauble below! And all of this because the hominids were programmed with knowledge from the Black Monolith...about technology...how tools could become weapons...hominids could become meat eaters and territorally aggressive...and in one of the most incredible visual experiences on film watch as that bone-weapon thrown up into the air by the exultant hominid slowly arcs up and up and up...the screen goes dark...into the space of the future...and down comes, not the bone, but a satellite (in the book, we are told that it is a satellite loaded with a nuclear device orbiting above the Earth for possible use in war -- early prophetic vision of an alternate "Star Wars" device). From bone to Bomb! And think of all the centuries in between! But all that has gone before is mere beginning... now another monolith is found buried on the Moon... when Man has "evolved" in knowledge and technology enough to be able to go there and discover it... again Man is treated to a Close Encouter...and we shoot forward to a mission to seek the Source! The visual panorama is what holds the viewer captive...man in the present of the film is not very expressive...talks with bland platitudes... eats packaged space meals...watches vapid soap operas on in-space-flight vehicles...and sleeps while whizzing through space to the Moon. Obviously the Past and the Present aren't where "IT" is at...IT is in the Future! This was one of the few films I ever went back to over and over and over again...and even watched in different theaters and at drive-ins... but this was BEFORE all that we have now...yet the visuals still hold up well...for they were so excellently crafted and shot in detail. The tension and suspense come with the encounters with HAL, the onboard computer of the Jupiter mission vessel. When Dave tries to get back aboard ship with the dead body of his space-flight buddy, HAL has other "thoughts." The deliciously insidious voice..."I'm sorry, Dave...but I can't let you do that." Heh, heh, heh...so Dave has other thoughts, too...and it becomes Mano-a-Techno... one on one...Man vs.Thinking Tool...a race for the memory chips...and the final revelation from Earth. Then on into the Black Monolith...and through galaxies and nebulae and spermatazoid spiral star clusters...to death...and rebirth... and Star Child... waiting, waiting, waiting... Uh, you need a large screen for this one... a REALLY LARGE SCREEN...good luck! It's a great trip...worth every dollar!
Rating:
Summary: MONEY WELL SPENT
Review: This is for obvious reasons, the most impressive video transfer ever done for 2001. Whether or not it will become the definitive 2001 dvd forever is still up in the air. While the video transfer looks pretty damn good, and I understand the reasons why a direct 70mm camera negitive transfer is out of the question. Why couldn't this have been transfered from a 70mm Inter Positive and not a 35mm one? That would have been truly exceptional and it wouldn't have mislead fans like myself who thought this was a direct 70 mm transfer as the ad's read. My silver Limited Edition box came with the silver scratched of on places and with alot of finger prints already on it, I pre ordered this item, so I pretty sure it was sent out of the factory like this. So while there is no question these sets were hand packaged, one has to wonder is that a good thing?
Rating:
Summary: It is what it is.
Review: Inscrutable epic of Man's rise, fall, and rise again. I disagree with the general verdict that it was "extremely influential". (In the margin, I write with red ink "Prove?") How so? Has there ever been another Hollywood film like this since its release? Do keep in mind the critics clobbered this film in 1968; they would clobber it in 2001 as well, on grounds of incomprehensibility. Audiences, also, would give *2001* a wide berth today. Hippies, frying on acid, had enjoyed the movie's trippy visuals during its original run; average Americans merely shook their heads and left early. 1970's stoners made a cult success of it, which beat the path toward iconography. Its "influence" on other movies becomes most apparent in freewheeling space cowboy stories like *Star Wars*, i.e., the spaceship models. Indeed, the models in *2001* are groundbreaking and fanatically detailed, and are probably the triumph of the film. They look better than any computer-generated spaceships in today's sci-fi, and certainly better than George Lucas' 1977-1983 imitations (you can't see the strings in *2001*). The aforementioned and much ballyhooed visuals and "light shows" are distinctly 3rd-rate when compared to what experimental moviemakers were coming up with in the early 1960's, and on a fraction of the budget. Also, the success of Kubrick's critique of technology, as "personified" by HAL the Computer, is certainly open to debate. On the other hand, Kubrick is more imaginative with the subject in this movie than he was in his 2 other films on technocracy: *Dr. Strangelove* and *A Clockwork Orange*. Indeed, he made a masterpiece almost in spite of his own worse instincts: somehow, miraculously, the movie remains unique. The movie remains awesome. It remains unbettered. It is a masterpiece of American film -- who cares what it "means"?
Rating:
Summary: 2001: Here At Last!
Review: Simply put, this stands as the greatest science fiction film ever made. Since 1968, many filmmakers have attempted to duplicate Mr. Kubrick's fluid, languid, sprawling and deliberately slow rhythms, but to no avail. His technique here is so masterful it actually brings tears to my eyes. This film depressed me for weeks the first time I watched it. It seemed so cold, inhumane and insular. Then I realized, that's what I love about it! This widescreen edition puts into proper perspective, exactly what Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick had in mind. A grand, sweeping indictment of man, his evolution from savagery, and his constant obsession with information & technology, and just how wrong things can go when we battle ourselves. We ultimately wind up starting all over again, but are never without a guardian angel (the Starchild) watching over us. This film is such a joyous visual feast, you may find yourself drifting off to sleep at first (the pacing is VERY SLOW, but it works to the film's advantage) and if you do, rewind it, start at the overture, and pay very close attention, you will be richly rewarded for your patience. To call this film a masterpiece is a gross understatement. A work of brilliance and audacious thinking would be more like it. No film library is complete without it.
Rating:
Summary: Not as exciting as anticipated!
Review: Although I love this movie and already owned it on DVD, I wanted to buy it again in Special Edition form. The packaging is great, the score CD is great, the booklet is great, the mini-senitype is great, BUT the special features are... nill! If you own 2001 on dvd already, buy this SE version ONLY if you care about packaging and what-not. I love everything about this DVD, however the menu screen is the EXACT same as the original release. Plus, this version only contains ONE theatrical trailer. No interview, no television spots or anything. The ONLY other plus about this DVD is that if you own the Sony DVP-860 DVD player, it loads with a 2001 Icon and title in the Disc-Explorer Menu. Don't get me wrong, the DVD is good... just not as good as it could have been.
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