journey to the center of...

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2005)

First off, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is the single greatest visual experience ever committed to film. If you choose to ignore whatever philosophical or thematic issues are raised, there is enough ocular splendor to make it worth watching.
Secondly, those issues are presented in such a way as to make you a participant of the film, not just an observer, making the experience all the more enriching. It's fitting that Kubrick chose to fill the sci-fi tableaux with classical music. He has the artistry of a symphonic conductor, and time and human civilization seem to dangle from his conductor's wand. The only criticism I can come up with is the lack of specific humanity. The movie's grand themes explore the essence of the universe and the nature of the human being, the universe's greatest invention. "The Power Of Myth," an interview of Joseph Campbell by Bill Moyers, tackles the same themes and is just as stirring, but it consists almost entirely of to old dudes yapping in a living room.