Astonishing-Remarkable-Iconic-Profound-pick your adjective

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2008)

In the dozen or so comments I've submitted I have steered away from the superlative "greatest film..." "greatest comedy," as these proclamations of "fact" are merely matters of opinion, and will change from time to time.
But so impressed and in awe do I remain with 2001: A Space Odyssey, that the words are difficult to suppress. I struggle against saying, "Yes, this is the greatest film ever made." I struggle. In vain.
What Stanley Kubrick has achieved here is, in my opinion, the summit of the creative act-- the perfect synthesis of image, plot,(or story)music, dialogue, etc, etc, in short, of all the things that comprise film and film making. Where to begin? I must say I am truly disappointed with the number of reviews that rate the film high and yet have no idea what the film is about. Kubrick, shouts to us from the very beginning (the opening fanfare) what the film is about: the evolution of man and his predicament in the Universe (Uh.. kind of a Universal theme) retold through allusions to Nietszche's "Thus Spake Zarathustra," the philosophical treatise that the music was written to portray, by that greatest of all composers of "Tone Poems," Richard Strauss. Man, forced to confront the mystery of his own existence, will never solve it, even throughout time, even though he may conquer time and space, technology, and his own shortcomings. No, the "riddle theme" is present at his evolutionary jump to the Super-man, just as it was when he first stood upright.
(Beware of those who, on this review forum, have written, "bored," or, "boring." I am forced to make the comparison to those who wrote the same things about Beethoven's 5th after it's premier, or those who chased Igor Stravinksy out of the theater after the premier of the "Rite of Spring" -- "You just don't get it." But it's not your fault. Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Kubrick have created works that are quantum leaps in the aesthetics of their respective art, so it stands to reason that many will say, "It's boring," or, "It's just noise," and the like. Not that I have any great gift of insight. It took a good deal of work and contemplation to achieve the epiphany of truth that these works present.)
Of course, everything that happens in the film, surrounds these points. The acting, the dialogue and the choices of the characters. I'll not delineate them here, but leave it to you to discover these on your own. And do yourself a favor: if the film is ever playing anywhere on the big screen, run, fly, hire a plane, bush-wack a stagecoach, or transport yourself astrally, but GET THERE. The experience will be...