This is not rocket science,....er....brain surgery.

Rating: Null/10 (28 December 2000)

What is 2001 about? Simple....directed panspermia (the
intentional seeding/improvement of life forms on one planet by
another). POSSIBLE SPOILERS......DUH! Think about it, the main character (the monolith(s)) appears in
the first few minutes and is featured throughout the film and its'
purpose is fairly obvious...to jump start homo sapiens
evolutionary development and report their progress to its
creators. As homo sapiens reach critical points where they are
ready to achieve the next level they are helped there by the
creators. When Bowman reaches Jupiter, he is helped through
the star gate (you can see the alien spacecraft escorting him) to
another dimension. There he is kept comfortably until he dies
naturally and the creators can take him to the next step in
evolution, the star child. I admit, directed panspermia is an idea
that does not get much if any serious consideration by most
people although recent years have been an improvement with the
help of the discovery of bacteria in martian meteorites on earth
(non directed panspermia, accidental as opposed to intentional).
There are other themes in the movie and to me, humans frustrating interaction with foolproof machinery (HAL9000) is
perfectly summed up in the scenes beginning with "Hal, open
the pod bay doors, please". hehehe, I think of that every time I
have to reboot my computer. Those that say the film is too long
disappoint me. When I am watching a fine movie I want more,
not less. This was the first DVD I bought.