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2001 - A Space Odyssey
1968
A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission while hiding the truth from the public. Later, another team is sent to Jupiter in a ship controlled by the perfect HAL 9000 computer to further investigate the giant object--but something .. Read more
| Starring | Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter |
|---|---|
| Director | Stanley Kubrick |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
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2001 - A Space Odyssey
A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission while hiding the truth from the public. Later, another team is sent to Jupiter in a ship controlled by the perfect HAL 9000 computer to further investigate the giant object--but something goes terribly wrong. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Director and coscreenwriter (with Arthur C. Clarke) Stanley Kubrick has created a visual and aural spectacle that stands as one of the greatest achievements ever put on celluloid. The film begins with the "Dawn of Man" segment, about the evolution of apes, and then ventures into the future, taking a look at what the world might be like in the first year of the 21st century. Kubrick's film is a triumph of technological storytelling, a marvel of stunning sets and a brilliant soundtrack with the power to overwhelm and mystify. Long dialogue-free scenes sparkle with indelible images and powerful orchestral music, culminating in an unforgettable, inscrutable tale of birth and rebirth, human evolution and artificial intelligence, the past and the future.
| Starring | Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Robert Beatty, Leonard Rossiter |
|---|---|
| Director | Stanley Kubrick |
| Studio | WARNER HOME VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 16 mins Blu-ray: 2 hrs 16 mins HD DVD: 2 hrs 28 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Collections | 100 must-see movies |
| Genres | Sci-Fi/Fantasy |
| Language | English |
| Dubbed | German |
| Hearing-impaired | English, German |
| Subtitles | Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 01 Sep 2001 Blu-ray: 10 Mar 2008 HD DVD: 24 Mar 2008 Production year: 1968 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (4)
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This seminal sci-fi work from Stanley Kubrick is now considered by many to be less a supreme piece of cinema than an interesting, innovative product of the 1960s. But the memorable celluloid images still strongly resonate, such as the giant, vulnerable foetus floating through space and the tribe of apes painfully putting two and two together. It is Kubrick's haunting, stylised combination of music and visuals that gives 2001 its eerie, mesmerising quality, but even its most devoted disciples are hard pressed to tell you what it's actually about, and, as a slice of philosophy on how we all got started and where we ultimately go, the movie has little credence. However, it's a must-see if you never have, even though its visual impact is seriously hampered by the small screen.
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A lengthy montage of brilliant model work and obscure symbolism, this curiosity slowly gathered commercial momentum and came to be cherished by those who used it as a trip without LSD.
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Most helpful member's review
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31 out of 46 people found this review helpful
The 1984 of films
A fundamental film. The computer HAL (one letter removed from IBM) is the villain, and is masterfully chilling. Very much ahead of its time and one of those films that it is a cultural necessity to see.
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Most recent members' review
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5 out of 5 people found this review helpful
Brilliant and iconic
I first saw 2001 as a child nearly thirty years ago on a big screen at a cinema. I didn’t understand it (tip: read Arthur C. Clarke’s novel if you want to know what it’s about), but the visual effects and the music made a huge impression on me. I’ve seen it a few times over the subsequent decades and I still think it’s brilliant.
Yes, the story is slow, the scenes with the apes at the beginning are impossible to follow (how can you tell which ape is which?) and I think the ‘ultimate trip’ near the end goes on too long. But the images of the monolith, the bone thrown in the air, the space waltz, Hal’s electronic eye and Star Child are visually stunning and have been enormously influential. No other film is as culturally iconic – only Battleship Potemkin and Casablanca come close. The special effects and the futurism of the designs are still striking in 2005. And the confrontation between the astronauts and Hal the computer in the middle part of the film is certainly dramatic. If you’re the sort of person who likes sci-fi films for the cool explosions then you aren’t going to appreciate this film. If you can’t put up with the fact you won’t understand what’s going on at the beginning and the end, read Clarke’s novel first and then (to paraphrase Dr Strangelove) you’ll be able to stop worrying and learn to love 2001. -
News and features
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2001: a space legend
- 14 Sep 2004
The climax of Stanley Kubrick's widely acclaimed film 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which unhinged artificial intelligence computer HAL finally descends into insanity, has been rated as the most important moment in science fiction history by a panel of illustrious experts. The crowning glory of the1968 classic was chosen by a panel of sci-fi experts which included Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson and, less convincingly, a number of UFO investigators. The film beat a long list of significant sci-f Read more
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