2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Adriel L

  
  Wondrous movie that leaves with a sense of awe, and something emotionally profound cannot be described with words. It is a realization of our place in the universe, our trivial existence and of what lies out there that is unfathomable to the limits of the human mind, or at least just… More
  Wondrous movie that leaves with a sense of awe, and something emotionally profound cannot be described with words. It is a realization of our place in the universe, our trivial existence and of what lies out there that is unfathomable to the limits of the human mind, or at least just one interpretation of this phenomenally contemplative experience. A masterpiece of film making at its highest form; art.

• Directors C

  
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the greatest cinematic ahievements in history, outstanding entertainment, with it's use of enthralling imagery and mesmerising music it completely… More
  [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is one of the greatest cinematic ahievements in history, outstanding entertainment, with it's use of enthralling imagery and mesmerising music it completely deserves to take pride in it's simplicity and lack of plot. It was way ahead of it's time upon release, you could easily mistake it for a film released yesterday day but it's ideas are nostalgic and will always be thought provoking as they are mind boggling and mysterious. In my opinion, the point being made is that life is an ascent through material means, the ultimate goal being, essentially, godhood. The aliens themselves never appear because they've evolved beyond the point of requiring any physical manifestation whatsoever (the monoliths are just machines to progress humans through out the evolutionary stage). It's about the advancement of man, evolution, and man's tools. The ending is a resurrection, a new stage in human development, beyond the use of technology.

• Phil H

  
  Probably the greatest sci-fi (and maybe) actual movie ever made, this movie was the first movie to break the mould with effects and style in sci-fi that everybody else followed. Kubrick's vision is perfect and his movie making a true art and skill, every angle is perfection and… More
  Probably the greatest sci-fi (and maybe) actual movie ever made, this movie was the first movie to break the mould with effects and style in sci-fi that everybody else followed. Kubrick's vision is perfect and his movie making a true art and skill, every angle is perfection and made to work beautifully from the lighting to the details on the costumes...its lavish. Almost an actual silent movie for the first 30mins, Kubrick has the nerve to not include any dialog making it truely unique, its just visual art accompanied by classical music, almost an intergalactic space age opera or ballet for the senses. The plot is also very good yet kinda minimalistic. Adapted from the Arthur C. Clarke novel, with his input, assistance and help from NASA this really put the film into the realms of pure reality and technological advancement to which no other films have bettered to this day. It takes a good few viewings to catch everything and understand the plot fully, as you do the film grows on you emotionally. Many don't understand the story and find it boring thus not enjoying the experience which is a shame, the same happened when it was first released, all I can say is read the book, read about the film, watch and learn. Epic in scope and unbeatable in most every department even to this day, the effects are tremendous despite being viewed in total silence for the most part. Add to that one of the greatest scores ever devised and you really can understand how this rates so high. What dissapoints me is we are now beyond this date and not up to the technology shown, even 2010 has been and gone and we're nowhere near Europa :( oh well.

• Matthew R

  
  Not that I need to say much on the works of Stanley Kubrick, but this film is the visual manifestation of a magnificent space opera in which it flows like the score, changing with each note. Supplying some of the greatest practical effects ever put on film, a vast range of… More
  Not that I need to say much on the works of Stanley Kubrick, but this film is the visual manifestation of a magnificent space opera in which it flows like the score, changing with each note. Supplying some of the greatest practical effects ever put on film, a vast range of interpretations, and a viewing experience that can hardly be equaled, it makes us look into ourselves as well as the future of our species in equal measure. In addition to all of the landmarks that this film breaks in the realms of sic-fi, fantasy, character study, and filmmaking as a whole, it creates one of the greatest and most iconic film villains ever to grace the screen, HAL 9000. Not only serving as the film's antagonist, but also as a commentary on what humanity is racing toward, technological perfection, logical superiority and supersession by what we have created. Science fiction films after 1968 owe much of what they are to "2001", and to the film master Stanley Kubrick.

• xGary X

  
  2001 is a film that does not concern anything so trite as human relationships. 2001 is a film of a scale so epic as to never have been conceived before. Up until 1968, sci-fi was all about flying saucers, death rays and theramins. Kubrick set about making a film themed around the… More
  2001 is a film that does not concern anything so trite as human relationships. 2001 is a film of a scale so epic as to never have been conceived before. Up until 1968, sci-fi was all about flying saucers, death rays and theramins. Kubrick set about making a film themed around the history of the human species, from the dawn of man through to space exploration and beyond. The first thing that strikes you about this film is its sheer visual spectacle; Kubrick's juxtaposition of classical music with the elegance of space travel shows technology not as clunky and ugly, but a thing of beauty. His use of colour is breathtaking, from the cold blues of outer space, to the vivid reds of the ship's systems and the stunning pure whites and primary colours of the still brilliant looking retro future styling of the space station's interiors. He takes pains to show the logistics of space travel, mixing the mundane with the surreal images of an existence without the influence of gravity. But it is the stargate sequence that is the truly jaw dropping part of this film, and it is still one of the most visually stunning scenes ever committed to celluloid. The main criticism levelled at this film is its infamous obtuseness, Kubrick deliberately leaving the implications of the themes he is exploring for the viewer to conclude for themselves. I would seriously suggest to anyone having trouble coming to grips with it to read the book, as it does explain all. Kubrick was an artist, and this is his masterpiece; only he could even have attempted to sum up the entire history of humanity in a single cut. Amazing.

• Jay H

  
  Visually stunning, emotionally powerful, and scary as hell, 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely considered to be the best science fiction film ever made. But does it even belong in that category? Well, it's certainly not comparable to other famed science fiction films such as Star… More
  Visually stunning, emotionally powerful, and scary as hell, 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely considered to be the best science fiction film ever made. But does it even belong in that category? Well, it's certainly not comparable to other famed science fiction films such as Star Wars and Blade Runner. No, 2001 is in a class of its own. Yeah, its premise fits into the genre, but unlike its possible peers, 2001 isn't made to entertain. It's a work of art more than anything, a true example of film's potential. Its sole downfall, if it could even be considered a negative, is its ambiguity. I can't even begin to speculate on what Kubrick meant in creating this film. I guess its meaning is up to the individual viewer, which isn't a bad thing. It just means the first viewing is necessarily unsatisfying in this regard, needing additional understanding in order to appreciate the film. Nevertheless, one does not need to see the film multiple times to appreciate the superb visual effects present in 2001. Though it's old enough that its premiere occurred during my father's first month of life, its visual effects, which won an Oscar so long ago, would still undoubtedly be nominated for and possibly win the award if it were released in this modern day. It's pretty impressive. Not hard to see why this is a classic of American cinema.

• Tyler K

  
  Incredible. This masterpiece of a motion picture is astonishing from the Dawn of Man to the End of the Universe. Remember able Special effects litter this Stanley Kubrick classic. Incredible acting and use of sound is also a very nice touch to this masterpiece. Based of the book with… More
  Incredible. This masterpiece of a motion picture is astonishing from the Dawn of Man to the End of the Universe. Remember able Special effects litter this Stanley Kubrick classic. Incredible acting and use of sound is also a very nice touch to this masterpiece. Based of the book with the same name by Arthur C. Clark, only in the book everything is viewed from a different perspective. The book; clear. The movie; mind blowing. This very bizarre piece of work is just what I wanted.

• paul o

  
  Sci-fi genius! This film has inspired science and culture with its mystic and ambiguous plot; in other words, its a classic!

• Graham J

  
  This may be the most grand movie experience ever created. Beautiful, hypnotic and horrifying.

• Christopher H

  
  This is my favorite movie of all time. The visuals look just as stunning now as they did in 1968. The music is iconic and epically beautiful. The story is deep and very complex, dealing themes from man's place in the universe, how far human's have come and how far we need… More
  This is my favorite movie of all time. The visuals look just as stunning now as they did in 1968. The music is iconic and epically beautiful. The story is deep and very complex, dealing themes from man's place in the universe, how far human's have come and how far we need to go. Although the movie is science fiction, it is also a big budget art house film. The movie holds something new to discover with each viewing, making the re-watch value very high. Stanley Kubrick crafted a masterpiece that has endured even past the year 2001, and will continue to endure for many years to come.

• Brad W

  
  2001: A Space Odyssey is the most incredible achievment in the history of filmmaking, and is (tied with Star wars V as) the greatest Science Fiction film ever. The plot is one of the most incredible adventures that I have ever seen, it starts off millions of years in the past, and… More
  2001: A Space Odyssey is the most incredible achievment in the history of filmmaking, and is (tied with Star wars V as) the greatest Science Fiction film ever. The plot is one of the most incredible adventures that I have ever seen, it starts off millions of years in the past, and ends with one of the most spectacular and thrilling moments I have ever seen in a movie, the adventure of the dawn of man, the journey to Jupiter, the malfunction of the HAL 9000, and the final mysterious and incredible endings ever put to film. The cast is great as well, Keir Dullea's final moments in the film was truly great, and Douglas Rain was perfect for the voice of the HAL 900. The special effect of the film were the greatest breakthrough in cinema ever, I have tried over and over to describe how to incredible these effects are, and they last 30 minutes of the film are too amazing for anyone to describe, this just proves that Stanley Kubrick the most influential director of all time and true genius. The score of the film gives it a sense of horror and tension and it was truly beautiful. 2001: A Space Odyssey is not only Kubricks second best film (A Clockwork Orange I think is his best), it is the most influential sci fi film ever and all people who plan on making a science fiction movie need to take lesson from this one film and Star Wars, a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.

• Bently L

  
  Welcome to Movie Monster's 300th Review! 2001: A Space Odyssey. Woah. Wow. Those words came out of my mouth as I watching this brilliant piece of film. This is the first Stanley Kubrick film I've seen and I can easily see why so many people on RT look up to him. The… More
  Welcome to Movie Monster's 300th Review! 2001: A Space Odyssey. Woah. Wow. Those words came out of my mouth as I watching this brilliant piece of film. This is the first Stanley Kubrick film I've seen and I can easily see why so many people on RT look up to him. The direction is fantastic, the editing is awesome, and the tone is haunting. It puts the "science" in "science fiction". This is one you don't want to miss out on. The film was released in 1968. No kidding. This came out in 19 FREAKIN' 68! This is a film way ahead of it's time. The film depicts an alternate and advanced look at space travel during 2001. Similar to Fantasia and Pulp Fiction, the film is told in segments. The first is "The Dawn of Man" which shows the early humans AKA apes finding a strange and extraterrestrial object. This segment features no dialogue and starts off the film excellently. It's cool to see how the prehistoric era and the future is envisioned in the film. The last two segments feature thrilling space exploration involving a discovery on the moon and two astronauts who face their ship's uncooperative computer, HAL 9000, on their way to Jupiter. This may sound like an exciting film. It actually is but it is also very creepy. Space is depicted as a mysterious and spooky place. The movie informs it's audience to not ever go there. The film is exciting, thought provoking, and undoubtedly creepy. Two scenes in this film kept me up at night. What's scarier is that they were so quiet. This film can perfectly balance it's thrilling sense with it's mysterious one. The writing is also very good too despite the lack of dialogue. My favorite aspect of the film is the storytelling. It is brilliant. I love the use of classical music during the scene where they're headed toward the Moon. Music plays a big part in the film. The score is epic and haunting. Very haunting. During the creepy scenes, a group of demonic opera singers (That's what it sounds like to me.) back it up. Sometimes it feels overdone but it adds a lot. Kubrick tells the audience that you don't need dialogue to tell a story. The classical music does that for us. The visuals, production design, and props are also fantastic and are way ahead of it's time. 19 FREAKIN' 68! I can't believe it! I can't imagine all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the production. 2001: A Space Odyssey has become one of my new favorite films. Because of it's storytelling format, the film is flawless and the visuals, music, and performances are fantastic. It probably won't serve well to casual moviegoers (I'm talking to Cody-Fairless-Lee, Kadeem S., and Sean C. ~The One Coz~.) and many have you have already seen it by now. Those who haven't need to. It is truly an experience. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a dazzling piece of cinema. Thank you for reading my 300th review. "Unfortunately that sounds a little like famous last words."

• Melvin W

  
  HAL: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. "The Ultimate Trip." 2001: A Space Odyssey is one the most influential and challenging films ever made. It's a movie that succeeds solely because… More
  HAL: I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do. "The Ultimate Trip." 2001: A Space Odyssey is one the most influential and challenging films ever made. It's a movie that succeeds solely because of a director that doesn't take any liberties with his film. Kubrick crafts a movie that is unlike any other, a movie that only he could make and it is a masterpiece. It's extremely deep and there's no possible way you can get everything out of it because there is so much. It's thought provoking beyond anything that I have ever seen. I'll admit that the first time I watched, I didn't really care for it. But I ended up starting the movie over again almost immediately. That second viewing was much more enjoyable, even though I still hadn't the faintest clue exactly what was going on. I've seen it a few more times since and with every viewing you pick up on more and more. The film just continues to get better and better with each additional viewing. There's too much going for just one viewing.  Obviously Kubrick didn't tie himself down with formula and easy to digest and distinguish plot. Most of the important aspects of the film aren't even talked about. He shows them through a variety of methods that doesn't really include talking about them. It's weird that when seemingly nothing is going on, Kubrick is still progressing the ideas of the movie. He gives us long, drawn out scenes where all that we see is a spaceship moving through space. It seems like he just wants us to think about what we just watched and decipher what exactly happened.  2001 isn't really a movie for the casual film fan. So if that's what you are, stick to Fast and Furious and whatever else Vin Diesel is putting out because I can tell you this isn't a movie for you. It's extremely slow and Kubrick doesn't go out of his way to entertain. It turns some people off because of this slowness and the fact that they go into it thinking it's going to be like Star Wars. This isn't an action sci-fi. But it is more exciting then most action films. It isn't meant to be merely watched, but studied. Every detail must be accounted for because nothing Kubrick put in the film is done without a reason for it.  2001 is widely considered not only one of the best science fiction films, but one of the best films period. The movies ending just begs you to watch it again. Every time I watch it I have the compulsion to just watch it again. From beginning to end I am totally hypnotized by every detail of 2001. I will say this to those who haven't seen it. If you do watch it and are not sold on it after the first monolith scene, you might as well just stop watching because the movie is not going to get much better for you.  This is the ultimate sci-fi film in my opinion and is probably, technically put, Kubrick's best film; even though it's not my favorite from him. It's more of an experience than anything else and for all you stoners out there, this is a film to watch high. Dr Floyd: Don't suppose you have any idea what the damn thing is, huh? 

• Alexander D

  
  2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a difficult film to understand, but, as Stanley Kubrick famously said, "If you understood 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered." The film, more than anything, was a science fiction… More
  2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a difficult film to understand, but, as Stanley Kubrick famously said, "If you understood 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered." The film, more than anything, was a science fiction experiment, and as that, it still today blows minds. If it were anything other than a mere experiment, it would still somewhat be mind-blowing, but it certainly would not be as brilliant of an idea.

• c0up  

  
  1968. 43 years on, and I'm blown away on my first viewing. If this isn't ground-breaking cinema, I don't know what is. This nearly 2.5 hour epic from Kubrick is daring in its vision, tackling evolution, artificial intelligence and alien life-forms, leaving you thinking… More
  1968. 43 years on, and I'm blown away on my first viewing. If this isn't ground-breaking cinema, I don't know what is. This nearly 2.5 hour epic from Kubrick is daring in its vision, tackling evolution, artificial intelligence and alien life-forms, leaving you thinking and interpreting what you've witnessed long after the credits have rolled. The accompanying art / set direction, visuals and aesthetics hold up beautifully even now. They don't make 'em like they used to.

• Drew S

  
  I was so wrong about this movie. It feels really great to be able to revisit something I had completely failed to understand and get the chance to truly grapple with something immensely more complex and ambitious than I could ever have given it credit for. Such is the power of film:… More
  I was so wrong about this movie. It feels really great to be able to revisit something I had completely failed to understand and get the chance to truly grapple with something immensely more complex and ambitious than I could ever have given it credit for. Such is the power of film: as we change, so too do our reactions to it. I am keeping my thoughts on the film when I saw it in 2007, four years ago, just to humble myself: An unashamed Kubrick vanity project. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by virtue of a little bit of "deeper meaning" and a massive amount of luck and good timing, has managed to become some sort of philosophical titan in the cinema world. Its ascension eludes me completely. What's the really, really great thing about this film? The visuals. Even after forty years, 2001 is possibly the most remarkable-looking film I've ever seen. Every single shot is like poetry. Elaborately lavish and intricate set design, unbelievable cinematography and an overall aesthetic feel that does wonders for the tone of the movie keeps 2001 from becoming an utter disaster of a film. In fact, it's the visual presentation that cobbles this poorly-written affair together. I can only imagine what the screenplay for this movie looks like. 28 pages of nothing but describing the actions of monkeys? An overlong description of a rock formation? When it takes 25 minutes for a film to get to its first line of dialogue, there is a fundamental problem. Of course, the first few minutes of the movie with the beautiful scenery, and the overlay of the satellites flying through space to the Blue Danube, are interesting for a while, but the point is reached far too soon. Yes, I get it! Monkeys hitting each other with bones! A shuttle amidst the infinite blackness! Get on with the fucking movie! It violates every single rule of screenwriting with not a care in the world, trying desperately to establish its own groove and generally failing. For what it's worth, this film feels more like a ridiculously dry documentary than an actual piece of legitimate cinema. I am sorely tempted to say that you could cut down the 150-minute running time to about 100, but that would compromise the aim of the film. No one would have given a shit about this movie if it wasn't so full of itself. 2001 has such unabashed confidence in its own pretentiousness, and that is why it has gained such a hardcore elitist fanbase. This movie enables them. It makes them feel SMART. What I find to be SMART in a movie is strong writing, strong characters, and a strong sense of style to go with it. 2001 gets a 1 out of 3 in this case. At its root, the plot is interesting. This is probably the first truly momentous manifestation of the man vs. machine conflict in movies. Unfortunately, that completely and utterly falls through because the movie spends far too much of its already-bloated running time on showing off the visuals. (It's like a really gorgeous retarded peacock, one that knows enough to show what it has in order to hide what it doesn't.) The whole HAL plot is so woefully underutilized and poorly-developed that what could have been a really great story turns into one that sideswipes you out of nowhere. The conflict is far too easily resolved. There's no sense of urgency, no danger. The story is a total fucking mess. And then there's the Monolith. Okay, great, symbolism. This whole movie is full of symbols! We don't need another! Clearly it's an excuse to throw around more really flashy visuals, because it sure as hell doesn't figure into the plot at large. Though it proves to be the impetus for whatever storyline there is in this movie, it's been dropped completely by the end. Not that there was any investment on the part of the viewer in the first place. The film lacks a human face, a main character. You could argue that Astronaut Bowman is the main character, but you don't see hide nor hair of him until an hour has elapsed. Plus, he doesn't get an ounce of character development. The other vaguely important character in the film gets killed off at one point (big surprise) but it's really hard to care when he has maybe 10 lines of dialogue in the entire movie and no defining personality whatsoever. Not to mention that the acting absolutely stinks. This is easily one of the most overrated "classics" of all time. It has simply earned its position because it allows those with overinflated opinions of themselves and their taste to shove their supposed intelligence on others in the cinema arena. There is not an ounce of substance to this film, merely pound upon pound of visual panache and misplaced wonder. This only goes to show how easy it is to overread something, especially when the source material lends itself to that, for the sake of trying to have something to say. You're totally fucking reaching if you see more than the basest of plot elements and a few underdeveloped isolationist themes in 2001. That said, I'm not changing anyone's mind through this, but I hope I can encourage at least one person to cut through the veneer of pretentious bullshit that people have created for this film. The Shining is light years ahead of this shit. That is a TRUE testament to Kubrick's talent. This is a really bombastic fart in the wind.

• Spencer S

  
  Kubrick is a fully fledged, artistically consistent, and virtually unprecedented director, so the fact that this is lauded as the best sci-fi, or even just best, film of all time was unsurprising to all. It seems that this film places people in two categories: love it for all its… More
  Kubrick is a fully fledged, artistically consistent, and virtually unprecedented director, so the fact that this is lauded as the best sci-fi, or even just best, film of all time was unsurprising to all. It seems that this film places people in two categories: love it for all its worth, or detest the living snot out of it. For some reason I'm middle ground, with leanings towards hatred. Yes, we're talking about a film that supplies exceptional beauty and a flawless technique, but much like Full Metal Jacket (a later film) the pacing is unbearably slow and there's only one decent and watchable part. I will have to break this film down into the three parts everyone knows about: the first twenty minutes, the middle, and the last twenty minutes. The first part features the early dawn of man (more accurately ape man) from a dark and musical score in the prelude of the film, up until man started walking upright and used tools. Somehow this ties into the discovery of an alien monolith, which is suggested in part to the evolution of man. We fast forward thousands of years to 2001, where another alien monolith is found, this time on the moon. After its tracked to Jupiter, a mission of five men are sent there with the direction of a computer named HAL. This is the most recognizable part of the film, and the only interesting part as well. This sequence contains the most dialogue (which is few and far between and when used is underwhelming) a battle raging against the domineering machine and the crew members, who are convinced that HAL is off his rocker and want to disassemble him. This leads to a multiple theories on whether HAL is a villain, or only trying to stop the crew from destroying him, the first two laws of robotics switched. Then there's the last twenty minutes, which I can only describe as a mindf**k. There is no other singular compound word that can describe an acid trip of colors, and then a sequence which is either supposed to suggest that everything was a dream, or the aliens are furthering human evolution, or that humanity is one of the alien's special science projects. What is the monolith? Why does the singular human character transform before our eyes (fetus)? Kubrick never gave the film's message away, or meaning for that matter, so we could determine for ourselves what that was. This is why I detest this movie in a small way. Sometimes it's nice to be led by the nose to the answer, and when I'm left with the last twenty minutes, it feels like Kubrick is playing some sick joke on me. Between the very long, drawn out scenes of complete silence, or at least classical music, and the inaction in every sense of the word, I was quite bored out of my skull. It's a beautiful film, and I'm sure one day I'll craft together my own sense of what this film was, but for now, I just want to get the hell away from it and never think about it again lest my head explode.

• Liam G

  
  I'm almost speechless at the moment. Up until my first viewing of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, I considered Kubrick a genius from the films of his that I'd seen. Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining etc. I sat down to watch this 1968 film… More
  I'm almost speechless at the moment. Up until my first viewing of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, I considered Kubrick a genius from the films of his that I'd seen. Full Metal Jacket, Dr. Strangelove, The Shining etc. I sat down to watch this 1968 film expecting to go on a trip of some sort. What I witnessed was something quite extraordinary. 2001 is without a shadow of a doubt, a technological masterpiece. In my view, it is the best film visually ever made. This was 1968 and Kubrick had around a $10 million budget, and if I saw these effects today, my jaw would drop. But knowing this was made in the 60s and had a nowadays considered low budget, I was in astonishment. The music is iconic and at some points in the film, the sound takes over everything you're seeing on the screen and has your attention more than anything else. However, is this a masterpiece all round? Is it what critics call mind blowing in all aspects or just a beautifully looking bore? Well, let me say, 2001 might be the best science fiction film ever made. Some perceive the film to be a religious experience and the ending especially has had different interpretations from various people, with some seeing it as an allegory for conception even. But what I think comes down to what Kubrick said right from the moment people started asking him what it's about. He said it's a film open to interpretation. And that's how I see it....a mystery. We can ask all the questions we want about 2001, we can come up with our own theories about what the ending means or what the meaning of the monolith is. But the film was made to be this way, this is the way 2001: A Space Odyssey is meant to be experienced and thought of as in my view. I believe it's Kubrick's masterpiece and one of the most influential and perhaps best films ever made.

• Sergio G

  
  Ahh! It's so unffair this movie goes dow to #23. It's incredible. Incredible visual effects in those times with an incredible score that makes this movie a piece of art in movement. I have several theories about the ending, I'am sure you'll have the best. HAL9000… More
  Ahh! It's so unffair this movie goes dow to #23. It's incredible. Incredible visual effects in those times with an incredible score that makes this movie a piece of art in movement. I have several theories about the ending, I'am sure you'll have the best. HAL9000 is definatelly the best character, and again the neverending paradox. Beautiful.

• Jameson W

  
  I would not say this was a disppointing film, it was just not the classic I was expecting. I'm split the down the middle on this film; I love many things, but I also really don't like parts of it. I was expecting a Sci-Fi film full of action, aliens, the usual, but this film… More
  I would not say this was a disppointing film, it was just not the classic I was expecting. I'm split the down the middle on this film; I love many things, but I also really don't like parts of it. I was expecting a Sci-Fi film full of action, aliens, the usual, but this film almost has none of those things, which is not a bad thing by any means. It's more of an exploration of the human mind, which I liked, but it was executed differently than anticipated. This film also wasn't as entertaining as I would expect from a film regarded as one of the best. It took almost an hour for me to start liking what I was seeing. Eventually, after almost losing hope in the film, the story begins to shape itself more clearly. All the while, even though I didn't really like the film, I see it's influence on the Sci-Fi genre. Many of the shots looked exactly like Star Wars, which many regard as being among the best of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre, so 2001 definitely contributed to that. The Visual Effects, too, were stunning. It's hard to believe this film came out in 1968. I can qualify this film as a "classic" in it's impact on the film genre, but quite frankly, it's not that entertaining. As an artistic exploration of the mind it succeeds, but I prefer that the movies I watch be entertaining AND serve justice to the art of film. This review may seem harsh, but really, I'm neutral towards this film. Parts I loved, parts I hated. If this is your favorite movie, I could see why. If you despise this film, I see how. This film just doesn't do much for me. Stunning visuals, an interesting take on technology, the mind, space, and knowledge, but just a unique film. Perhaps a second viewing will change my mind, but I'll need a break before viewing this again.

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