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Movies / On DVD / 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey

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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

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Reviews Counted:50

Fresh:48

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: One of the most influential of all sci-fi films -- and one of the most controversial -- Stanley Kubrick's 2001 is a delicate, poetic meditation on the ingenuity -- and folly -- of mankind.

Runtime: 2 hrs 39 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government (while hiding the situation from the public) sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission. Eighteen... A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government (while hiding the situation from the public) sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission. Eighteen months later, another team is sent to Jupiter in a ship controlled by the perfect HAL 9000 computer to further investigate the giant object--but on this trip something goes terribly wrong. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Director and (with Arthur C. Clarke) co-screenwriter 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, with stunning sets and a brilliant, overwhelming soundtrack. Long dialogue-free scenes sparkle with indelible images backed by powerful orchestral music, culminating in an unforgettable, inscrutable tale of birth and rebirth, human evolution and artificial intelligence, the past and the future. [More]

Starring: Keir Dullea, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Daniel Richter

Starring: Keir Dullea, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Robert Beatty, Douglas Rain

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke

[See More Credits]

Reviews for 2001: A Space Odyssey

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21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
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Those who love it as passionately as I do realize this film is about more than dialogue, plot, or space ships. Its uniqueness permits it to transcend the ordinary, becoming a movie not about one human but the entire human species.

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
03/05/03
Steven Snyder
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/23/02
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If I were pressed to come up with the best film from my favorite director, it could well be this one.

Full Review Source: Movie Habit | comment Comment
08/21/02
Marty Mapes
Marty Mapes
Movie Habit

One of the most mysterious, talked about, and intellectually stimulating films of all time.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
07/30/02
Derek Smith
Derek Smith
Apollo Guide

It is an extraordinary, obsessive, beautiful work of art.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment 1 Comment
07/20/02
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune

If you can surrender to it, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is a mind-shaper.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
07/12/02
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

It expresses the hope that we'll soon be done with being idiotic ape creatures and can look forward to superior incarnations.

Full Review Source: eye WEEKLY | comment Comment
07/11/02
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson
eye WEEKLY

In this science fiction masterpiece, Stanley Kubrick tracks the odyssey of mankind, from the dawn of man four million years ago to the exploration of deep space.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
05/11/02
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Works best if viewed as a symphony.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

2001 will doubtless retain its mythic resonance -- an optimistic prediction of first contact with other, presumably wiser, life forms -- long after we've stopped scribbling that cluster of numbers in our checkbooks.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
11/26/01
Joe Leydon
Joe Leydon
San Francisco Examiner

If you ask me, Kubrick's effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey, which were made by human hands, are still unsurpassed.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
11/26/01
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Yup, you guessed it -- a religious experience.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment 1 Comment
11/21/01
Glenn Lovell
Glenn Lovell
San Jose Mercury News

A celestial alignment of man, medium, and material.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
11/19/01
Tom Block
Tom Block
culturevulture.net

Now, seen in the actual 2001, it's less a visionary masterpiece than a crackpot Looney Tune, pretentious, abysmally slow, amateurishly acted and, above all, wrong.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment 61 Comments
11/02/01
Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter
Washington Post

[Retains] its artistic magnificence after more than 30 years.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
11/02/01
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

It still makes a spectacular impression today, and we can easily see how it influenced future films...

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
06/04/01
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

Few works in cinema can prudently and soberly be described as religious experiences: 2001 A Space Odyssey is one of them.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
03/22/01
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

2001 compares with, but does not best, previous efforts at science fiction.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment 14 Comments
02/13/01
Robert B. Frederick
Robert B. Frederick
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It delivers in every area.

Full Review Source: Mike Bracken's Horror Films | comment Comment
02/13/01
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken
Mike Bracken's Horror Films

Its intelligent attempt at exploring human development is as relevant today - long after the date the movie's climactic events are set - as when it was released in 1968.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/01/00
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
 
 
21 - 40 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 >> >|
all

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