Stanley Kubrick's 1968 masterpiece is currently being re-released in spectacular 70 MM and every effort should be made to see it on the biggest screen cinema fans can find. Although the excellence of this film is undiminished by the medium, the full potential is truly realized only in this format. The difference between what is seen and heard in standard 35 mm and 70mm is remarkable.
This standard of science fiction filmmaking-- endlessly discussed, frequently written about and consistently debated over-- works on so many levels that it is a project just to list them all. Like other indisputably great cinema such as Citizen Kane, The African Queen, or The Godfather, one never tires of watching 2001. It continues to fascinate and unfold its nuances no matter how many times one has seen it.
The story is about a black obelisk that (possibly) first appears on earth in the prehistoric beginning of man, then again is found buried on the moon at the start of the 21st century. The naïve earthly reactions to the obelisk, whether by the simian antecedents of man or the rather more advanced ones of modern people of science, are the framework that Kubrick and screenwriter Arthur Clarke use to unfold their odyssey.
The splendid visuals take precedence over the dialogue or characters' relationships and take the audience on a journey from prehistory through the present and into the future of Clarke and Kubrick's imagination. The film unfolds in four distinct segments, " The Dawn of Man", " The Lunar Journey in the Year 2000", "The Jupiter Mission 18 Months Later", and " Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite".
It is interesting to note now how many things they got right: PC monitors, phone cards, all that black clothing on the people on the space station. Contrast these to some things that seemed just as likely in 1968 but that we now know are still pure fantasy: the advanced state of space travel itself, the sophistication of HAL. These are merely amusing little asides to the almost infinite speculation that arises and the vast scope of the questions pondered in this landmark film. Don't miss this opportunity to experience or experience again 2001, A Space Odyssey.
DVD