One of the best science fiction films ever

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2000)

The art direction/special effects were certainly the best ever at the time it was produced and still stand up very well. The movie was originally shown in Cinerama theaters (the closest thing then to IMAX). The music is perfect. Too bad they don't give Oscars for choreographing film to non-original music. This is a fine example of absolute film making, psychedelic 60s style. The story is told largely through the visuals and the music, with little or no need for dialogue. Actually I think the story as presented this way is a pretty straight forward one of a more advanced "caretaker" civilization nudging mankind along in its evolution. I don't see why some people feel they might need to read the book to understand it. Actually I think the movie is better than the book. Finally there is the matter of the space station. If we had kept the pace of development, as it was at the time this movie was produced, we might have a real space station instead of the "double wide" they're currently building.