Fascinating, Mind Blowing, Exceptional, Unprecedented, Quirky Masterpiece of Cinema..One of the most important films of all time

Rating: 10/10 (24 April 2008)

After recently watching this for the second time, my opinion of it has wildly changed. My first impression was mediocrity and that it was just a random orchestration of wild images. Yet after watching it again with closer convictions, I've epiphanised that not only is this much higher than mediocrity, this is one of the most influential and important films ever made.
The Film starts with the dawn of man in which a group of primates are shown surviving in the wilderness of early earth. Then the monolith mystically appears, this enigma causes awe by the primates. This sense of extraordinary awe is increased by Kubricks exceptional choice of music. Shortly after, the first act of weaponry is discovered through a primate picking up a bone and using it violently...this is the birth of human intelligence.
Then the story of astronaut Bowman is ensued which involves the iconic figure of HAL. I would try to expand on the story line but it's simply a film you need to watch yourself.
These monoliths that appeared in the dawn of man appear three times throughout the film, Kubrick stated that these monoliths symbolise a method of alien intelligence observing the development of human kind, yet it should be stressed that interpretation is PURELY subjective.
This is a very visual film hence why it won the 1968 Oscar for visual effects. The effects are simply awe-inspiring and dazzling. The first 25 minutes of the film have no dialogue and the last 23 minutes also have no dialogue. With the beginning and end included, there is 88 minutes of non-dialogue in the whole film!. Is this lack of dialogue a thing to be criticised with?. No, these beautiful scenes of melded imagery and sound make this a groundbreaking accomplishment of epic proportions.
Why is this considered as one of the greatest films of all time?. Well its an original insight into the existence of earth and also about the life outside of earth. This film will make you wonder and think, it throws more questions at you than answers much like the reason for our existence. This is one of the greatest Sci-Fi film ever made (yes as good if not better than star wars) and i believe this is one of Kubrick's very best cinematic achievements.
Bravo Kubrick! 10/10