not a common type

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 2004)

I watched this movie three times in the last two days. The first time I watched it I didn't have many favourable thoughts about Mr Kubrick. Later I kind of understood why this movie is considered "one of the best films in the history". If you're looking for a story line, drama, humour or other components that we see in mainstream movies, don't waste your time with "2001: A Space Odyssey". If you are after cinematography, good directorship and vision you HAVE TO see this one. What makes this film special is the fact that it was made in 1968. One has to admire Mr Kubrick's vision of the future at the time. It is also a horribly slow movie. I mean really slow. The scene HAL kills hibernating crew takes 1 minute 22 seconds. One third of this period one hears an annoying "beep". The second one-third is more annoying beep. The last period is silence. The movie is full of such scenes, and quite frankly it is rather irritating. That's when you'll really appreciate the fast forward option of your DVD player. Sorry, but I don't get this artistic technique. Mr Kubrick did the same in "Eyes Wide Shut", and I left the theatre. All in all, IMHO, this is an important piece in the history of film making. Yet, I'd call this movie "one of the best" among its own kind only. It's not prudent comparing this film with mainstream ones.