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Summary: Zzzzzz!
Review: oh boy i'm tired. containing about 200 words, 2001 is boring, but is extremely remarkable in itself. no computers and still good fx. but damn is it boring.
Rating: 
Summary: A sheer classic
Review: This film is one of those rare, indescibable gems. I loved it! So many emotions ran through me in this movie, at times I was frightened, other times intense...wow. This film was incredible. Kubrick made this film a masterpiece. Today we see all these stupid sci fi "thrillers" with the cheesiest dialogue one might ever possibly hear; but this! Kubrick held back on dialogue probably to allow the viewer to take everything in, all the sights and sounds, and emotions. It's bizarre but it makes one think, and that's what I appreciate about this movie. Now, I'm just ready to piece the puzzle all together.
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Summary: Boring, watch #2
Review: This movie id just about the slowest thing I've ever seen in my life. The movie really doesn't make any sense. It is a little scary, but that doesn't lower the high level of bordom. Watch the first one and then the second one and then you'll like both together as a complete story.
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Summary: I fell asleep!
Review: Man, was this movie boring! I fell asleep at least 3 or 4 times. Stanley...take my advice...make some action movies, please!
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Summary: 2001: A GENRE-MAKING MASTERPIECE
Review: AS AN ASPIRING YOUNG SCREENWRITER AND AVID SCI-FI FAN, I PERSONALLY HOLD THIS FILM AS ONE OF THE MOST VISUALLY STUNNING, AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING FILMS IN CINEMATIC HISTORY. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY SUCCEEDS IN JUST ONE FACET OF FILMMAKING WHERE 99.9% OF US FILMS FAIL HORRIBLY AT: USING SYMBOLS, IMAGES, AND PICTURES TO TELL STORIES. KUBRICK REFRAINED FROM USING STUPID, POORLY THOUGHT-OUT DIALOGUE-- (THE FEW LINES OF DIALOGUE IN THE FILM ARE POIGNANT, AND DRENCHED IN SUB-TEXT) THE NEXT TIME YOUR'RE HOME ALONE JUST CLOSE YOUR EYES, TURN OFF THE LIGHTS, AND IMAGINE THE COLD, ROBOTIC VOICE OF HAL 9000 RINGING IN YOUR HEAD...SPOOKY! KUBRICK GENIOUSLY USED VISUAL EFFECTS AND SUBLTE SYMBOLISM BETTER THAN ANY(AMERICAN) DIRECTOR HAS IN ANY FILM BEFORE OR SINCE. DURING THE DAWN OF MAN SEQUENCE, THE APE TOSSES THE BONE INTO THE AIR AS IT FADES AND MORPHS INTO THE SPACE STATION. AS THE APE DID THIS DIDN'T YOU SENSE SOME SORT OF GLEE AND PRIDE FROM THAT APE? HUMAN EMOTION? WAS THE MONOLITH A CATYLYST, AFFECTING THE BEHAVIOR OF THE APES? OR WAS IT JUST AN OBSERVER, EXAMINING AND VIEWING LIKE A LAB SCIENTIST DOES WITH A MOUSE IN A MAZE? KUBRICK WANTED THE AUDIENCE TO PICK UP ON THESE NUANCES AND QUESTION THEM, LIKE A PAINTER STIVES TO STIR UP QUESTIONS AND PONDERING FROM THE VIEWER. THIS FILM IS FILLED WITH SO MANY DEEP QUESTIONS I SIMPLY DON'T HAVE THE TIME TO EXPOUND...SIMPLY PUT, IF YOU'RE A FAN OF CINEMA...INTELLECTUALLY STIMULATING CINEMA, PICK THIS FILM UP, IMMEDIATELY, I'M GLAD I DID...
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Summary: My 2 Cents - Another take on HAL
Review: First off - Great Movie! Not everyone likes Brahms, Beethoven, or Stravinsky but the genius is clear.HAL's lineage streaches back to the bone. The bone being man's first machine and HAL being the last. HAL is so human-like that it adopts a survival strategy when it realizes that it is about to become obsolete. Simply put, Man is about to leap into an existence that does not require machines and HAL is unhappy that it cannot come along for the ride. HAL must be left behind because at the core, it's perfection, memory, artificial intelligence, and circuits are only extentions of the bone/weapon utilized by the ape-people. HAL's mistake (predicting the replacement part failure) becomes a trigger for a "breakdown" which mimics human emotional turmoil. HAL's rationale of not "jeapardizing the mission" forces a final confrontation between machine and Man. Watch carefully for the aboriginal masks of light that play over the face of the astronaut after the command "Open the pod bay doors HAL". This is one of the most visually cinematic sequences in film history. It is as if Kubrik is saying; Man in his most primitive form is still light years more advanced than even the most evolved computer. Man the astronaut or the primitive will prevail. The machine must at last, be reigned in and destroyed before man can evolve. There is every evidence from watching the movie that there is a sense of revenge and enjoyment while HAL's memory is being shutdown. The greal HAL in the end resorts to bargaining, wimpering, and finally becoming the fool while singing "Daisy". The machine will not be allowed to become a "real boy". Man, right or wrong, is set for the next adventure. The next evolutionary step belongs to Man. IBM, MAC, and Bill Gates ultimately become as quaint as an ancient prehistoric bone. Thanks for reading.
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Summary: A major disappointment
Review: 2001 is a brilliant movie, and deserves far more respect than it has been given with this awful DVD version. The image quality is dreadful; the star fields ripple with artefacts, and the whole thing looks like it was hastily transferred from a VHS tape. If you already own this on video tape, don't bother buying it on DVD, and hope for a better release in the future.
Rating:
Summary: A very good film
Review: I first saw 2001 in the late 60's when it was released. I was overwhelmed then and for many years I wondered what this film was all about. Last week, I was awake with jet lag in Chicago and I watched it on late night TV...the first time in at least 20 years. This movie has lost none of its power and has aged very well (perhaps matching up with my aged soul?). The end sequence brought me to tears. The acting is so different from what is the norm today -- flat people with flat emotions. This just adds to the magnitude of the films reach. When I buy my DVD this will be one of my first purchases and I'll set aside an entire night, with my boys, to soak it all in.
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Summary: 2001, 2010, 2061, 3001 The whole picture.
Review: Okay, so maybe the method that was used for the transfer of this movie wasn't the best you can get, maybe the original print wasn't the best they could use . . . I don't know what happened, but the movie is still good. But the DVD version is still a must see and the book must be read, and the other three books (which explains a lot) should be read. I think everybody's missing the fact that 2001, 2010, 2061 & 3001 (even though the books are not direct sequels of each other) are linked together, and give the entire picture.
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Summary: A Classic Solely In Its Unbridled Artistry
Review: 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably the most triumphant film ever made. It also happens to be the late Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece. This, of course, means that all action lies within a beautifully timed synchrony, that nearly every frame is perfectly symmetrical, and that the final product will near (or achieve) perfection. In a Kubrick movie, acting, plot, and dialogue all lie subservient to the much more dominant image on the screen. The methodical flow of all of his films is so consistent that one lies identical to the next. 2001 is inarguably the best of them. 2001 is a rare experience where the director created an Ozu-like time of his own. Those that allow themselves to be swallowed by the artistry of the movie do not feel the actual length of it. The sets and special effects are fantastic, even for today, and it comes off more realistically than any modern computer-generated effects. The story is cleanly delivered, and it is in itself very original. It is the rare case that a film can be defended by such a lazy dodge as the one I am about to employ. There is always a minority of people that do not like a film, and the attack usually made by the blind defenders of it is that 'those that did not like it simply do not understand it'. In all actuality, this is never the case, but in this film, the only argument made against it is that the film is not understandable. Respectful critics of the era blasted Kubrick for his lack of communication with the audience. (I myself read the Arthur C. Clarke novel some years before settling down to the movie.) Even today, as people are slowly killing the messy and often inferior Eyes Wide Shut, most attacks are based on a hidden frustration with the film's lack of clarity. Kubrick fans themselves were, for the most part, disappointed that the film set itself up as no more than a thriller. 2001 deals with something on a much grander scale, and, unlike Eyes Wide Shut, it elevates itself as something Far above the genre it is borne into. PS. Kubrick films his movies with the television formatting in mind: No more bitching about the 'waiting for letterbox'. --Mark
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