The apex of sci-fi

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2003)

WARNING! SLIGHT SPOILERS!
Most, if not all, of the criticism of this film is leveled at its ambiguity and mystery, and while it is true that it never provides any easy answers and demands a certain level of interpretation, there's still plenty that can be taken at face value. The connection between the ominous black slab and human evolution is ingenious, and perfectly obvious. HAL's campaign of terror against the Discovery crew needs no explanation. Admittedly the borderline-psychedelic dimensional trip above Jupiter may be a bit baffling at first, it, and its climax a bit incongruous, but the investment of a few scraps of gray matter in that direction is richly rewarded.
Perhaps a more legitimate complaint about the film is that Kubrick's contribution is almost matched, if not exceeded by that of the composers whose music imbues the film with so much of its majesty. Would the film have achieved the same level of impact without Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra" booming across the infinities? I think not.
All these concerns aside, anyway, the simple fact remains that 2001 is one of the most visually stunning films ever. I can't think of any movie that's depicted primordial man and its habitat so effectively. The ground-breaking space effects which paved the way for Star Wars retain almost all of their impact today, especially on the big screen. HAL 9000 remains the most terrifying computer ever to deadpan its regret at the necessity of killing its human companions. The "ultimate trip" at the climax is one of the most bizarre, mind-expanding and thought-provoking set-pieces ever (it's a testament to the sequence's impact that Canadian IMAX screens demonstrate the theatre's capabilities before shows with a verbatim recreation of it).
Never mind Lucas, Spielberg, Cameron, or Scott. Stanley Kubrick made himself the ruler of sci-fi with this (and perhaps A Clockwork Orange too).