The best science fiction film ever made.

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2002)

Yes, it is! (Even James Cameron said so - don't ask me for the reference, I just saw him interviewed on the TV.)
It may not be the most exciting SF film ever made, but it is definitely the closest thing ever filmed to future reality. This is because the reality level in this film is extremely high - just a few blunders (see the "goofs" page http://us.imdb.com/Goofs?0062622 and look at the "factual errors" entries). There are none of the ridiculous explosions, such as those in the "Star Wars" series, or "The Fifth Element", or the "Star Trek" films (don't get me wrong - these films are high up on my favourite movies list), audible through vacuum. (But remember the "Alien" tag-line: "In Space no one can hear you scream"!) I know it sounds good and adds to the occasion and lets the subwoofers rip - BUT IT'S WRONG! Also, there's none of the exploding-eyes-in-a-vacuum rubbish such as in "Total Recall" and "Outland". (Although Bowman's lungs should have burst when he held his breath while awaiting the explosive bolts to blow. Breathe out next time, Dave!)
The reality level is not, however, "2001"'s winning factor.
It is the scope of the film that transcends all other SF movies - "The Dawn of Man" to his ultimate incarnation. That is what the movie is about - no mystical mumbo-jumbo. Plain, simple Charles Darwin evolution - a theme that Arthur C Clarke has touched upon in other of his novels and short storys - that of the consciousness developing to the point where it can leave biology (body) and machine (cybernetic extensions) behind and become pure thought; pure logic. (Has "Trek's" Spock been reading ACC?)
That is not a foetus floating in orbit around Earth at the end - it is a representation of the rebirth of man. (Okay, so there is a little symbolic mumbo-jumbo!)
The fact that this film was made *before* man landed on the moon is also another of its great achievements.
The greatest achievement?
That Stanley Kubrick pulled it off with such scintillating visual prowess.