A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 1999)

I wasn't born when this film was made, but as I was growing up I remember people talking about it and most of the comments were negative, mainly people saying that they couldn't understand what was going on.
Then when I was about 14 I came home one day and this film had just started on BBC2, I was stuck to the spot, I was completely enthralled by the film and found myself saying how the hell did they do that'. Although I never really understood the ending, and maybe I wasn't meant to, but 2 hours of my life had just had a profound affect of the rest of it.
I think that this was the moment that I realised there was real skill and art in film making and by using silences, music and camera angles in the right quantity at the right time can create all the atmosphere you need.
I have since seen this film countless times and it still enthrals me as it more of an event than a film. A realisation of human existence and our relationship to technology. The special effects are still unbelievable and how they did some of the zero gravity' sequences I still don't know. The realism of space is wonderfully realised with the movement of the craft and the silence of space (take note every sci-fi film/series).
It's incredible that when you watch the poorly made 2010, how dated that looks with the poor computer effects, yet when you watch 2001 it still looks accurate and believable.
Film making at it's best 10/10, certainly a classic.