Customer Reviews

SLEEP INDUCING - By: Brendan O. Clarke, 09 Jul 2008
This slow, boring at times, movie is a classic. It gets played on my dvd player during bouts of insomnia or drunkeness or when i smokeweed. It has a Terrence Malick feel to itin my opinion; it is a visual tone poem much like Malick movies eg Days of Heaven where there is little dialogue. 2001: A Space Odyssey has barely 40 minutes of dialoguein a 145-minute film.


Regarding the plot, we move across centuries, from the birth of man with apes fighting it out to sociopathic Computer Hal taking a crew to Jupiterin a quest to understand a mysterious black monolith that may hold the key to God. Phew.


It also follows the adventures of a few astronautsin space & their motivations to mature & reflect on the situationin which they find themselves. The anti-hero is the malfunctioning super computer HAL900 ("I'm afraid, Dave. Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it.), but ultimately this movie is about Keir Dullea's Bowman who is rebornin a strange but comforting home environmet after enduring a hypnotic, if not hallucinogenic kaleidoscope of images on his journey to Jupiter. The definitive Kubrick movie is his best work & is also the high point of science fiction cinema. This is simply one of the greatest movies ever made.
Dr BeeClarke 10/10.

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In space no one can hear you... - By: Frank, 27 May 2008
I saw this when it came out. In Cinerama I believe. I was 8. Even today the special effects have not been bettered. The technology predictions are only now coming true eg small camcorders & flat screen TVs. Oh, & it is still the only space film that respects the laws of physics. There is no airin space. No air = no noise. No whoosh, no bang, no nothing. Brilliant. It is a Space Opera. Beautiful on a big, big screen.

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A Milestone for Cinema - By: Georginetto, 06 Apr 2008
One needs reminding him/herself that this movie was filmed prior to the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing. Thers is the Orbital station, the lunar station & spaceshifts ( with IBM computer navigation screens with 3D graphics, the AI system HAL ( named after one letter prior to I.B.M.) , playing chess, watching, thinking, killing & ultimately begging for its existence, the Alien's Monolith & the absolutley visually stunning trip inside it & the last few minutes ( Dave's rebirth ) making this (in my opinion ) a true masterpiece & a milestone for cinema.

Not that far off from the Lost Worlds of 2001 book, the idea of an Alien intelligence guiding our evolution is without doubt breathtaking & surely has references to religion & philoshophy & is portrayedin the movie. On the other hand the evolution of technology & the birth of AI & logial probable consequences are also portrayedin a chilling fashion. Cryogenic sleep/space travel, telephones with handsfree & live video are also portrayed making this surely a rather ' way ahead of its time ' moviein 1968. The Blue Ray version does justice to the stunning visual effects & its a movie/ BR disc worth having

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A Short Story Overstretched - By: Di Le Bec, 05 Apr 2008
This film was made before men had walked on the moon & for its time the special effects were (forgive the pun) out of this world. Post Star Wars & CGI they remain good but not enough to carry the film - at least not on a TV screen. After that the story line's pretty thin but very drawn out, with an ending that leaves most people baffled.

I suspect that the film's original success was based on the combination of ground breaking visuals & music - on a cinema sized screen with six channel sound (still new & unusualin those days), plus a couple of novel ideas. Now that the novelty's worn off there's not enough left for the small screen to make the DVD a good investment. Wait for it to come round on television.

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Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do. - By: Geoffrey McCarthy, 09 Mar 2008
2001: A Space Odyssey is an amazing film & one that commands a great amount of respect from thosein the the film industry today. One of the documentaries on disc 2 is testament to that, interviews with many of the most influential of today's filmakers.

It's also a film,in my experience, people either love or hate. There's not a lot of dialogue, it's long & to some it can drag on immensely with many long, slow moving shots of spaceships.

However, to me & many others it is beautiful, being an incredibly visual experience. It is also a landmark filmin several ways. It changed the face of cinematic science fiction & also raised the barin the special visual effects industry. It also raises many questions, what's it about?, what happens at the end? being two that are commonly asked. But you can make of it what you want. There are no right or wrong answers, everybody can have a different opinion on what it all means. This I think is a real strength of this film which is seldom seenin many others.

Finally it also is another film which should be seen on the big screen. I never have done myself but I know people that have & they say it should been seen on the biggest screen possible!!!!!!! Bring it on!