I thought Lucas was the first to do a lot of things--seems I was wrong.

DVDs:


	• 2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood Warner Home Video, 2007 average customer review:based on 909 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The First Truly Great Science Fiction Movie!

There are few movies that have hooked me as much as this one. It's such a classic that for some reason that I cannot pin down I keep returning to it at least once each year without fail. I feel strangely drawn to it from the eerie opening overture music and pure black screen meant to signify the dawn of creation on earth to the first bars of Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" to the early humans seque-ing brilliantly to man in space, the trip to Jupiter and the super computer gone mad to the final mysterious ending signifying the wonders of the undiscovered and the awesomeness of it which would leave our jaws dropped just as this film does for me each time I watch it.

If you are an intelligent film lover who looks beyond the quick thrill quick fix movie ala "The Mummy" and its countless sequels but look instead at good storytelling and character development as well as innovative, inspired directing so that the whole becomes a work of art to be admired and to stand the test of time, there are really not that many films in existence; this film happens to be one of those that stand the test of time to remain a work of film art to inspire and to entertain serious movie-goers for decades to come.

Directors of note since the film's release such as Spielberg, Lucas among many others have already heralded the genius of this film and copied elements for their own work but you don't have to be a student of film to see just how brilliant this work of art is. You don't simply watch this you experience it and I know each time I do, I take away something new from it and I always look forward to the next installment each year.

Some have claimed that there is no clear story in this film but that is clearly false; there is one constant theme of the monolith and how it affected the various stages of human development suggesting it was the catalyst that got our civilisation going along the path it finally took. There are a few different mini-stories such as the early man, sickness and discovery of the monolith on the moon, the technology gone mad HAL story on the way to Jupiter and the final quest for the still unknown mysteries of space and hence the future of man i.e. the Starchild story at the end. A few mini-stories but all connected by the central theme of the monolith. What is the monolith? The religious among us may suggest that it is an analogy for God, for the atheists maybe some alien force that has an invisible hand in our species' growth and development; for George Lucas, it is The Force and I'm sure many others can substitute their own theories for this as well.

Why are so many younger people so upset at this film? Because in the old days of film, a good film like any good classic book or work of art doesn't tell you what to think but inspires and encourages you to find the meaning to make yourself better than you are by getting you to actually look into yourself and to find out how much potential you have to improve. Films in the last couple of decades don't do this as they tell you what to think and simply give you what you want effectively dumbing down things so that you don't have the chance to improve yourself; the quick sugar fix that dies soon after the 2 or so hours are over.

Some of you may say so what and still think "The David Letterman Show" is the epitome of great television; for you please give this and other films that are artforms such as "Lawrence of Arabia" a miss because you just won't get it. For those who see film as art and the great potential it has to educate and to encourage you to use your full God-given potential to think and grow, this film certainly ranks among the top-10 ever of greats of filmdom.

This dvd is also a real treat for fans as it has been restored very well with the Dolby 5.1 Digital Surround although the picture quality is quite good there are still some imperfections that can be improved upon. I can only imagine just how breathtaking the improved Blu-ray version must be. The Special Features also include excellent footage of the late great Arthur C. Clarke giving a speech and Q&A session at the opening of the film. By the way, widescreen is the only way to view this film and do any justice to it.

Not only is this the best Sci-Fi movie I've ever seen, it is also among the Top-10 works of film art ever made. I cannot recommend this film highly enough and this dvd version is also of good quality although I'm sure the Blu-ray version would have removed the picture quality imperfections.

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I thought Lucas was the first to do a lot of things--seems I was wrong.

OK, I have lived in a cave. I thought I had viewed 2001: A Space Odyssey before but after I received the Blu-ray movie in the mail and put it into my PS3 to watch it I was like a 17 year old getting "lucky" for the first time. A virgin viewer to this more mature and experienced opus and realizing I had been dating the "butter-face" younger girl ala 2010, I finally had my visual-auditory cherry popped.
The film and music are legendary. The movie takes its time in telling a story- mainly visually and musically with minimal dialogue and this is the main deterrent as to why people do not like it. In my opinion the movies goal is to force the viewer to ask questions about our existence and intelligence in general. What is intelligence? Is intelligence a precursor to evolution or the other way around? Ect... I could go on and on... This movie cannot force the viewer to ask these questions unless it has open possibilities and unresolved arcs. This to me is the very strength of the movie.
To the point of my review: Those who like the typical Hollywood blockbuster with all questions answered and wrapped up in a pretty present may not like this movie. Those who don't mind pondering the unanswered should seriously take a gander.
As the credits rolled I realized how naïve I was-- in my mind I was fighting the obvious--Lucas stole almost 90% of the visual trickery that all of the people involved in 2001: A Space Odyssey gave birth to.
Kubrick's 2001 aimed really close to realism with deeper meaning. The only thing Lucas did different from Kubrick was borrow (Kubrick's) ideas and give the public a fantasy movie and what they wanted - a story tied up with a pretty bow.
Also- side note from IMDB: Much like The Wizard of Oz (1939) and "Dark Side of the Moon", it is said that the Pink Floyd song "Echoes" from the album "Meddle" can be perfectly synchronized with the "Jupiter & Beyond the Infinite" segment of the film.

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Still a fascinating masterpiece!

Here is a film which has sparked very little indifference since its release forty years ago. "The critics loved it / The critics hated it" became a familiar tag line to any review or conversation of Stanley Kubrick's innovative science fiction epic. "2001" was either a mind-blowing trip beyond the stars, or a mind-numbing trip to slumberland...depending on each individual moviegoer's point of view.

When I first saw this film in 1968, I experienced the conflicting feelings of fascination and utter confusion. I was, after all, only 14 years old. Later I read Arthur C. Clarke's novel, which seemed to clarify much (but not all) of the film's virtually subliminal narrative. Undaunted, I went to see the film again. Then again. And again and again...

To date, I have probably viewed "2001: A Space Odyssey" at least fifty times, and I continue to discover new details and perceptions not considered before. Supported by magnificent special effects, and an esoteric but highly effective classical music track (all due respects to Alex North and his unused dramatic score), the film continues to evoke wonder, confusion, debate, argument, hope---in other words, all of the best elements which move viewers so profoundly in so many different ways, combining to make what we call "great"---truly great!!!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.

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