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Customer Reviews of 2001 - A Space Odyssey

When Words Fail...
"You are free to speculate, as you wish, about the philosophical and allegorical meanings of 2001." <
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>What should film be? What should a good film accomplish? Kubrick challenged our very notion of those concepts in 1968 with perhaps the most brilliant piece of artistic science fiction ever created. 40 years later it's easy to see the polarizing nature of this film. The problem is one of pre-conceived notions about film's purpose. When artists push the envelope of what can be done in their genre, they're almost always met with resistance from the conservative old-school and cries of "genius!" from the forward thinkers. (Look at Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for an example in a completely unrelated genre.) <
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>What makes film unique in the world of art? The ability to tell stories with a rich narrative can be done (better) in literature. The ability to evoke emotions and abstract thoughts can be done (better) by visual arts and music. Film's unique contribution is that of moving pictures. If a picture can say 1000 words, what can a 2 1/2 hour long moving one do? In a way, the "picture is worth" theory is representative of how futile words can be as a means of expression (no offense intended to the great authors and poets). Great films are those that can say something significant, from beginning to end using visuals. Music, sound, and dialogue should only exist to enhance and illuminate the visuals, not overpower and drive them. <
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>Kubrick takes the idea of using moving pictures to state an idea to the extreme. He strips away narrative conventions and uses incredibly dense imagery, meticulously crafted scenes, an immense amount of abstract symbolism and allegory, and only a classical music soundtrack for guidance. Then he allows it all to speak by and for themselves. In a 2.5 hour film there's around 40 minutes of dialogue. That means about 75% or 3/4 of the film is told through its visuals alone. He crafts 3 "acts" (some argue 4) that reiterates a story in an increasingly visual and abstract manner, where every scene says something both singular while enhancing the big picture. <
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>It's fair to say this film has almost no plot. If there is one, it centers around men in the future who are sent on a mission to investigate a strange monolith that is the first evidence of an extra-terrestrial, sentient life form. Is it boring? For those with short attention spans, a need to be spoon-fed an "entertaining story", and be lead by the hand at every step, then yes: by those standards, it is. For those with patience, good attention spans, and receptive minds, then no, it's not. Ultimately, 'boring' is relative. To really "get" 2001, one must be in a calm, meditative, "centered" state where you can receive and process information, without needing it handed to you. While most films put the puzzle together for you, Kubrick merely provided the pieces and leaves it to his audience to do the rest. <
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>One enlightening critique from Nathan493 (IMDb) compares 2001 to Eastern and Western art techniques: "Western technique dictates a canvas to be completely filled with little or no untouched space left, while eastern art there is a strong tendency to leave large stretches of canvas blank, so that the void speaks as loudly to the observer as the subject matter. This is where 2001 is its strongest, the "boring" or "void" areas of the film are often as strong visually as the busy and "filled in" facets of the movie." <
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>Kubrick indeed uses long stretches of "void" to allow the viewer to meditate on all that's being said. Without this void, a complex film would've likely turned into an incomprehensible mess. The extreme amount of time that Kubrick allows us to breath and analyze the scenes are a very large part of WHY this film works at all. <
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>2001 is almost an entirely intellectual film. Art works on two obvious levels: the emotional (through which we connect and feel the implied emotions of a work) and the intellectual (through which we recognize and analyze the intentionally created work). Most want films that move them, not challenge them intellectually, but 2001 does just that. There will always be those who "don't get it" because they watch it with preconceived notions about what film as an artistic medium should be. For those who don't hold these notions, or are willing to let them go, 2001 is a monolithic epochal work of one's artistic vision about man's existence that was aeons ahead of its time. <
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>For those who "don't get it", don't worry. There's more films made for you than there are for us, which is a personal lament and not an insult. "Masterpiece" has largely become trite, but I have to think the word was coined for works like this. For me, 2001 is a profound odyssey of the mind. It speaks volumes on where we've been, and where we might be going, and all the perils that will plague us along the way. It continually challenges the viewer to transcend complacency and evolve into something greater. It touches on almost every major element that pertains to humanity and existence. All the while being the best trip one could ever take while sober.

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A Must-Have for your DVD Library
2001 is a melding of two great minds - director Stanley Kubrick and great sci-fi author Arthur C. Clark. Based on Clark's short story "The Sentinel", the pair were not out to make a guns-blazing, alien-slaying movie like the popular Star Trek series. Instead, they were going in a completely different direction - exploring what makes a human a human, and how what we think and do defines us as intelligent creatures. <
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>The result is a very visual, thought provoking movie that earned itself the #22 spot on the AFI top movies of all time listing. If you're an impatient sort, you'll get bored quickly. The movie is over 2 hours long and less than half of that has people speaking, never mind other more strenuous activity. It is a movie about you - the watcher - reacting and thinking about the situations. They don't tell you what to think or how to feel. You see what is going on, and you draw your own impressions, and come up with your own conclusions. <
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>That's a lot to ask of an audience, and how you react to the movie will have a lot to do with your personality. Some people just aren't interested in this sort of slow going thoughtful exercise. And that's fine - there are plenty of action space movies out there. For those who seek something more intricate, grab a glass of wine, a plate of cheese and fruit, and sit back. You're in for a treat. <
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>It's best if you watch this movie once through without reading a lot about the plot or its multiple layers of meaning - that way you can see it with a fresh mind and draw your own reactions and ideas from what you've seen. Undoubtedly you'll have questions about some areas! At that point, search the web and find the MANY discussions about this movie, unravelling the symbolism. See if you agree or disagree with what's being said, then watch it again. This is the type of movie you can watch again, every year, and learn something new from it. <
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>Highly recommended.

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Simply Outstanding
If you like science fiction then there is no doubt that first, you have probably already seen this. If not, then I can guarantee you that this will captivate you beyond belief. I can find few movies from its time to compare to this masterpiece. <
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>Some have been posting that the quality of this version is not as good as they expected, or not as good as the original. Since I have never seen the original in VHS format, all I can say is that it's totally watch-able. I cannot however note the precision of the transfer of the veteran viewers. <
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>Stanley Kubrick is one of the most ingenious film makers of all time. The cinematography of the film is incredible in the way he uses the limited special effects that were available at the time, and especially sound. The sound is one thing that I find that Stanley Kubrick knew how to use best. The voices that he used in this movie for the monolith gave a tide of mysteriousness, curiosity, and the potential to freak someone out. <
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>He begins the movie displaying evolution and highlights particularly how apes gained intelligence by figuring out how to use bones as weapons. The movie then leaps forward to the space age, where a crew subsequently discovers a large, black, and mysterious object, known as the monolith, on the moon. The only thing the crew knew about this object is that it was buried on the moon 4 million years ago, deliberately. <
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>On a spaceship heading towards Jupiter, the flawless computer known as HAL 9000, makes its first mistake, and begins the worry the crew with its erratic behavior. Afterwards, the mysterious monolith returns, but this time not on the moon. <
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>2001 - A Space Odyssey is one of the best films of all time that I could not recommend more. The captivation will glue your eyes and ears to the screen.