In Space, Everyone can see You Dream

Rating: 10/10 (21 November 2005)

There are many movies out there so full of energy and self-conscious visionary bravado (films like "Goodfellas" or "City of God") that they perpetuate the myth of the greatest film of all time. Then, there are movies like Stanley Kubrick's "2001" that created the myth, and simply are.
"2001" is the prime example of why Stanley Kubrick is the greatest director of all time. He was able to traverse many different genres throughout his career, and in doing so created the mythic templates by which all other latter films in those genres would attempt to emulate. Prior to this film, he made the greatest satire ever in "Dr. Strangelove." Following this film, he made the greatest costumed period piece in "Barry Lyndon" and the greatest "modern" horror film in "The Shining." Throw in films like "Clockwork Orange" (another biting satire) and "Full Metal Jacket" (the best "grunts-eye-view" of war ever made) and you have the greatest director of all time.
Here's why "2001" is the greatest science fiction movie ever made. The amazing visual effects and the set designs with their painstaking attention to detail still hold up to today's harshest scrutinies. I dare you to find a movie from any period that looks this good. It makes today's CGI laden films look like visual puke. It also presents us with a prophetic and realistic look at what might happen to our society as it continues to evolve and become more dependent on technology, and the quandaries of creating Artificial Intelligence. HAL, the super computer, is without a doubt the coldest and most profoundly dangerous villain ever to grace the silver screen.
On its most simplistic level, "2001" is the most arresting combination of visuals and sound ever captured on celluloid. What make the film so transcendent are its philosophical and spiritual posturings on man's place in the universe and just how "alien" our first contact with outside intelligent life may be. The overture and opening credits send shivers down my spine every time, and the ending gives me enough energy to fuel a thousand dreams. No other film in my mind is this innately powerful.