Succeeds on a cinematic level like no other film.

Rating: 10/10 (25 May 2001)

Stanley Kubrick knew exactly what he wanted when he made this film. It is a use of cinematic language that requires no real storyline and very little dialogue. This is the classic "a picture is worth a thousand words." It is almost imperative to have the experience in a theater and I originally saw it at the Hollywood Cinerama Dome. The first sequence with the primates is deftly handled as the primates do actually seem as human as they are ape (noted that many miss the point that they are not meant to appear to be like modern apes). The marvelous symbology showing the first use of tools and the brief instant the bone is tossed in the air to become a space vehicle is one of the most stunning in all of cinematic history. There is a conscious effort of the director to communicate the emptiness of space as a metaphor for the emptiness of life. We don't know where we are going and we really don't care as a race. That brings us into the concept of HAL as the villain of the piece, our technology which is suppose to make everything right suddenly makes everything wrong. The final sequence? Again, a cinematic voyage into a profound and portentous future that await us all. This isn't a pretentious or boring subject to me and the way in which Kubrick left us to interpret the meaning of the film is it's prime success. Read the original book and you still will get more than what Clarke could communicate with the written word from this filmed version. I can see why there is are prejudices against this film by viewers and critics alike, but I personally don't understand the dissension.