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Summary: Stanley Kubrick's best film!!
Review: With the death of Stanley Kubrick and the coming of that fateful year, 2001, now is as good a time as any to check out Kubrick's best film, "2001: A Space Odyssey".The movie opens with "The Dawn of Man" and early, plant-eating, man is running the risk of becoming extinct as they fall prey to the more vicious meat-eating animals. Then, one day, early man stumbles upon a mysterious black monolith. Shortly after, man discovers it's first tool, a bone which can be used to kill other animals. The human races' ability to use it's intellect allows it to prosper. Thousands of years later, man has reached the pinacle of it's technical achievements. Man has progressed from using a bone to defend itself and gather food to building massive technologicaly wonderful spacecrafts that dance about the galaxies. The viewer witnesses this wonderful utopia while dismayed by 21'st century man's inability to apreciate the wonder of what they have constructed. We see scientist, Dr. Heywood Floyd, sleeping away as he floats through space and makes uninteresting phone conversations to Earth while a beautiful scene of the moon orbiting around him is seen in the window beside him. Dr. Floyd and a research team discover another black monolith this time, on Earth's moon. They gather around the monolith taking photographs like silly tourists, once again unable to apreciate the magnitude of what hey see. Eighteen months later, a ship is journeying toward Jupiter to make contact after a signal was sent by the monolith on the moon. By this point, technology is so advanced that human beings no longer have any useful purpose. The ship's computer, HAL, makes no mistakes and runs the entire ship. The ship's crew are all in hibernation except for two astronauts, Dave Bowman and Frank Poole; these two characters are little more than maintenance men for the computer. With the human race becoming inferior to the machines they have constructed, HAL, murders all the crew-members except Dave Bowman. Like Early Man, the human race must once again must defend itself in order to move forward, Dave manges to de-program the computer. As he does so, HAL is reduceed to it's basics, as it sings a childish tune, ("Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true...). This ultimate computer has regressed back to a child-like state as if it has regressed back to the womb. With humanity gaining the upper hand, this human, David Bowman, is ALLOWED to journey towards Jupiter where David is re-born as a star child heading towards Earth.
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Summary: the movie that set the standard in sci fi
Review: in 68,this movie was the best sci fi film ever.in it there is this force referred to as the monolith.it shows up at different points in time.finaly,a space crew goes to check it out.it is too intellectual for children.stanley kubrik directs so you know-since hes the greatest directer ever and all-that this movie is a classic!it is better than the sequel.thinkers will like it.in 68 there wasnt a computer paranoia like today.in this film,kubrik explores what would happen if the computer decided to just take the hell over.an idea not toyed with for years to come.he was a visionary.the music in it is very good too.for you wrestling fans,ric flairs theme song begins it.an abselute must for sci fi fans.
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Summary: A Giant Rorshach Test that is still a classic
Review: As actor Keir Dullea described the late Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic science fiction art film, "It is a giant Rorschach Test." After thirty years since its release, the meanig of the film is still in debate. And it continues to inspire and awe its audience members. The special effects are a quantum leap ahead of its time, and one of the main characters, the HAL 9000 computer, continues to remind us of a future that should have become a reality. And the mysterious black monolith reminds us that we are not alone in the universe. Definately a film that is eeriely and hauntingly beautiful, if not memeorable. The movie that set the standards for science fiction films for years to come. You may not understand it at first, but the more you see 2001 and listen to its classical musical soundtrack, the more you will see in it. Ever since I saw it on NBC's Sunday Night at the movies in 1977, I'm still amazed at how the film has affected the fans of the science fiction genre. Check it out. Just be prepared to ask a lot of questions and get very little in answers.
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Summary: One of the greatest sci-fi movies ever made.
Review: This was a brilliant movie. It never ceased to make interesting theories concerning life other than ours, whether or not we should be in space, and how exploration of the ether will affect our lives. The film opens up with pre-historic man. They are shaggy, ape-like creatures who fight in loud blasts of sound, calls, etc. But at one point, they discover an immense slab of rock that is so finely crafted, they conclude it was made by "something." And with that, they discover they can use left-over bones as weapons, furthering their standing on the planet. That is the not only the opening for the film itself, but also for its mood and thesis. It makes the case that knowledge of greater beings will propel us into greatness ourselves, using advanced artifacts as motivation and example. But the movie will eventually take a darker turn you'll have to explore for yourselves. If I went into any of the symbolism, I would be writing an essay, not a review, and could potentially ruin your experience. As a film, it is not traditional by any means. I've heard of people walking out at the premier muttering furiously about how there was no story, or that they had no idea what Kubrick was trying to say and that his obsession with imagery and perfection led to the demise of what could have been a masterpiece. But to those who stayed and to those who see it now, it is apparent Kubrick meant to be challenging and intelligent: this is not for the light-hearted or the impatient. For instance, many of the sequences are realistically slow, such as an early docking sequence. But the images are so engrossing, I doubt you'll turn away. And to top off Kubrick's obvious genius, there is an unforgettable soundtrack of famous classical music that complements the imagery so well, Kubrick left it in over an underscore that was being prepared. It often conveys the mood very well, expressing wonderment, curiosity and fright with incredible power. If you can't take the movie, if you can't take its themes and its slow-moving plot, if you can't take the sparse dialog (this is essentially a silent movie), at least sit back, close your eyes and watch the film through the tones and moods the music evokes: it matches Kubrick's imagination with every moment from the opening shot of an orb to the end shot of a star-child floating among the nebular and the giant.
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Summary: The Greatest Science Fiction Film of the 1960's
Review: No science fiction film has been more successful in portraying mankind's potential space-borne future than "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is still among the most realistic portrayals of how human exploration of the Solar System may unfold. Sadly, that exploration has not kept the pace envisioned by Stanley Kubrick and his collaborator, noted science fiction writer and visionary Arthur C. Clarke. The film is based on Clarke's early short story "The Sentinel", a science fiction literary classic. Those who pay heed to negative comments by previous reviewers will miss a genuine cinematic masterpiece replete with vivid imagery and great special effects. Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood give credible performances as the American astronauts aboard the USS Discovery, though the finest performance is by the actor who is the voice of HAL (HAL 9000, the Discovery's computer.). Incidentally, "Star Trek" fans will remember Gary Lockwood for his portrayal of Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell, the ill fated first officer of the Starship Enterprise and friend of her captain, James T. Kirk, in the series' second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before". "2001: A Space Odyssey" broke ground for the great space films that followed, including the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" series, yet none of these have depicted space travel as realistically as this seminal work of science fiction cinema.
Rating: 
Summary: The Emperor's New Clothes...
Review: Sure, some of the "art" shots of this film were great eye-candy. Wonderful. Now what? Let's pretend that this self-indulgent piece of "art" is a masterpiece. Why? Because no one could make sense of it. INCLUDING THE ARTIST HIMSELF!
(So much for the sycophant/"psycho"phant who claimed "You're stupid if you don't understand this movie.") That's right, Chester, there WAS nothing to understand.
Kubrick himself said that the meaning of this film was for each individual to determine. "You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film.
S. Kubrick" Well, Stan, if you had nothing to say, why did it take over two hours to say it?
Art is not good because people don't understand it. Art is good because people DO understand it.
Effete pseudo-intellectuals, who pretend otherwise, do not fool the rest of us who see the Emperor au naturel.
P.S. to those who gave this movie 5 stars... I typed this review in an extremely esoteric manner. The method I used I will not divulge here. Feel free to devote copious time discussing what it might be! (I just created "art" by your definition.)
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Summary: The Great Masterpiece. A legacy
Review: I have been reading science fiction books for as long as my existence. When I read book by Arthur C. Clark, I was simply amazed, intreged, and very confused. I wondered how this book could be put into a movie. I thought it would be impossible, even for the great director Stanley Kubrick, to put it into a movie. But he did it, and very well. It is the great masterpiece of the last millenia. Unlike most movies, I never gets borring. You will watch it over and over again. The fun is in understanding the true genius and complexity of this piece. You will continue to discover new things about this movie. I would suggest this movie for anyone with the passion for discovery.
Thank you
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Summary: What the Heck!?
Review: Rented this one just to laugh at how moviemakers in the 50's and 60's thought the world was going to look in the year 2001. I figured we would see ridiculous flying cars, jet packs, meal in a pill, talking robots, etc. Then I figured I was gonna write a review here talking about how wrong they were (since the year 2001 has already happened and it was nothing like that)and reccomend it just for a laugh. Here's how it really went. I popped it in the player and to my surprise it just looked like a fake documentary about monkeys with a couple of guys in really fake looking monkey costumes. Kind of like Planet of the Apes. 5 minutes in: Still monkeys (no narraration or anything either). 10 minutes in I asked myself "How are they going to stretch this out for a whole stupid movie?!" I will never know. Because when a monkey threw a bone up in the air so high that it went into space and morphed into a rocket-ship I was done with this garbage. Who on earth would predict the year 2001 would be like that!? I returned it shortly after that and rented Mortal Kombat 2 which was way more realistic with better fighting. In conclusion, you would be much better off renting a documentary about apes, or even Gorillas in the mist, or maybe Planet of the Apes which this movie is trying to be. AVOID!! Later.
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Summary: IT INSPIRES ME SO MUCH
Review: this is the best movie I have ever seen, it shows excellent photography and lighting, its amazing how kubrick did it at that time.
the story, well, its arthurs clarkes best
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Summary: Amazing visual effects for 1968
Review: So much has already been said about "2001-A Space Odyssey," so many interesting reviews, that I really don't have much to add to the discussion, except to comment on the movie's amazing visual effects-more amazing considering that it was all done back in 1968. The whole movie is a visual treat for the eyes, and the "Beyond the Infinite" sequence toward the end of the film is not to be missed-the effects of which were made possible by the slit-scan, a visual effects device that was invented by the visual effects supervisors, during the making of the movie. Because he didn't want the movie's spacecraft to appear in any future movies, Kubrick had all the studio models destroyed when the movie was complete. I'm glad I still have my model of the Pan Am space shuttle from the movie (that I built from a kit several years ago), to have a souvenir from this great sci-fi film.
I have the "Stanley Kubrick Collection" DVD of the film, which only has a theatrical trailer for the special features, but it does have the movie in widescreen, to preserve Kubrick's full vision for the film.
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