Rating: 
Summary: The definitive sci fi
Review: I was 18 when 2001 was released. It was showing in London in full wrap around Cinerama. My friends and I took the plunge and booked the best seats available right at the centre of curvature of the screen. It was an experience I shall remember for the rest of my life: totally absorbing, awe inspiring, terrifying. Nothing can compare with that viewing and the small screen can never compare with high quality Cinerama production.Here.s hoping that next year, 2001 will bring some theatre productions in IMAX or Cinerama. I'll be first in the line to book. Incidentally, some reviewers gloat over what they term a wonderful AMERICAN film. 2001 was conceived by an englishman Arthur C Clarke, and made entirely in the UK with British set makers, film crews and effects specialists. It is an anglo-american film!
Rating:
Summary: SCIENCE FICTION AT ITS BEST
Review: Stanley Kubrick's visionary masterpiece remains fascinating and compelling even today. Though as one reviewer stated the plot and symbolism are purposely subtle, this only compounds my interest in the film. I love the fact that it creates a feeling, a mood and a universe of possibilities way, way before its time -- every detail is surprising, and you best take nothing for granted. As a child, the monoliths terrified me -- today, those big black sheets of metal remain ominous but also astound me and leave me in awe. I think this Kubrick's best movie, because it envisioned a world that had never existed before. The opening sequence with the dawn of man still confounds me -- how many of them were real apes, because that is the best darn ape makeup I have ever seen. And the use of classical music throughout was a stroke of brilliance -- the images match the music beat for beat, not just in terms of choreography, but in terms of their visionary quality, timeless and sublime.
Rating:
Summary: 2001 Explained
Review: OK, this is for all those folks who don't "get" 2001 and therefore hate it: * The monolith in the ape sequence is a teaching machine. The aliens who left it are accelerating the growth of human intelligence. * The spacecraft shown in the beginning after the bone-throwing scene are orbiting nuclear weapons. * The monolith on the moon is a beacon, alerting the aliens to the fact that man has achieved space travel and is ready for the next step. * The floating monolith at Jupiter is a stargate, which transports Bowman to a place the aliens have prepared where he can live out his lifespan before embarking on his subsequent job as Earth's guardian (the starchild). In the book, he returns to Earth and detonates the nuclear devices seen near the beginning. The book's for sale here; it explains all this and more. Read it and then see the movie again; there's really no understanding one without the other.
Rating: 
Summary: Somewhere beetween hypnotic and immensly boring
Review: Now this film is like Opera and Ballet. No one really really likes it but a whole bunch of people say they do to be cultural. This film is the Opera of the film world. 2 hours of pure boredom, Unfathomable symbolism. Fine it may have special effects but come one. Where's the excitement. Where's anything for that matter. Tripe and unless you want to impress someone very intelectual don't get it.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Movie Ever Made
Review: I saw this movie when I was 4 years old and it remains my favorite movie of all time. Few other science fiction movies ever had greater respect for the audience- portrays the wonders of space without assuming you have the attention span of a gerbal. If you want action, this may not be the movie for you. If you have a strong sense of wonder then you will probably find this is one of the best movies ever made. All other space (or science fiction) movies are just a shadow of this one. And who has ever filmed a more impressive opening 20 minutes or a more stunning and wonderous conclusion? Perfect!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Movie, Weak DVD
Review: First, I have to say that I have always liked this movie--definitely one of the best I have ever seen. However, this DVD leaves a lot to be desired. For one, it's not anamorphic and looks pretty terrible when expanded on a 16x9 screen. In addition, I noticed a considerable number of artifacts in the image such as ghosting and "lines" due to what is probably poor DVD mastering. If you have to get this DVD now, it's probably worth it, but I'm definitely looking forward to a better release of this one.
Rating:
Summary: 2001:A Space Odyssey
Review: This is the kind of movie DVD was invented for. It's therefore a big dissappointment to find that the transfer is letterbox and not anamorphic, especially considering that it's an NTSC disc with the lower definition inherent in that system. Just think how good this classic movie would look with the improved definition of an anamorphic transfer. A missed opportunity.
Rating:
Summary: 2001: A Space Ordeal
Review: I couldn't wait to get this fine example of self-indulgence off my hands. This is precisely why directors shouldn't be given too much control over a movie. The movie can be summarised thus: Apes, Docking Sequences, Light Shows. Most of the scenes are long, dull, and pointless. Even Kubrick himself said he wanted the film to be "enigmatic" (I think it's in the DVD liner notes). Which to me means he wasn't trying to say anything with the movie, and was hoping some people would regard it as a work of art, and hopefully, elevate it to "great movie" status. I'll admit to being influenced by by Roger Ebert's review when I decided to buy the DVD; he thinks it is one of the "great movies". Curse you Roger Ebert! May you spend the rest of your days watching docking sequences and stupid light shows! If you've never seen this movie before, don't buy the DVD right off; rent it or borrow it from someone first so you know what you're getting into. I figured I couldn't go wrong by buying the DVD because "everyone" seems to say it's a great movie, classic, gotta be watched, etc... Don't repeat my mistake.
Rating:
Summary: Technically Perfect
Review: This is technically the greatest movie ever made. Consider this - it was made before there was even a man on the moon. Years ahead of its time, and in fact nearly a decade before Star Wars. Yes the plot is tedious at times, but Kubrick often sacrafices entertainment for effect. It must have been spectacular in its day, when nobody had a foggy clue about space travel.
Rating:
Summary: intelligent but not for the general public
Review: Kubrick's masterpiece about human evolution is smart and though provoking, but it is indecipherable by the common man. The average joe enjoys the strange and fascinating scenes but he doesn't generally get anything from them. He just says" Wow that was wild! I wonder what it was about." The fact that there was less than 40 minutes of dialogue in the 139 minutes of the film, and that three-fourths of the film was composed entirely of shots of slow moving spaceships was probably the cause of this general stupor among the public. But the public was able to gleen enough out of the film to enjoy it. But not everyone can handle alternative forms of cinematography.
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