Beautiful, but put a pot of coffee on...

Rating: Null/10 (6 September 2002)

...because you're gonna need it.
This film is too visually stunning to dismiss, but only the most devoted Kubrick fans (and psychedelic aficionados) will want to watch it again.
First off, the photography, as in almost every Kubrick film, is stunning. The most talked about moments occur in the final half hour, with its imaginary vistas and color tinted close ups (inspired, seemingly, by Hitchcock's far superior "Vertigo"). But check out the middle scenes, with its austere set peices of perfect circles and quietly menacing machinery. And the opening segment, with the man-apes existing in a desolate, prehistoric world that is the opposite of 'noble' nature.
If only that Kubrick could have seen fit to fill these lovely backgrounds with any kind of human warmth. The theme is a vague sort of Neitschean evolution of man into superman, but getting there is torturous and slow. (Arthur C. Clarke's concurrently written novel fleshes out the theme much more, and, since he and Kubrick collaborated on the story, anyone wanting an explanation of the story would be well advised to read the novel.) Early moments, played against the background of "Thus Sprach Zarathustra", have a monumental, symphonic feel, but most of the film is largely silent except for a rather annoying buzzing sound. In fact, since the dialogue is ultra minimal and fairly inconsequential (aside from the final moments of the computer HAL's "life"), you might want to watch it with the sound turned down and appropriate music (say, the Orb's "Orbus Terrarum") playing in the background.
One gets the feeling that Kubrick has a genuine distaste for the humans in his story, as well as for the average viewer. This makes the film that much more distasteful. Those looking for a similar, though oppositely themed and more watchable, film experience should check out Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's "Solaris" (soon to be available on DVD) In the meantime, Kubrick has made better films, particularly the masterful and darkly hilarious "Dr. Strangelove."