2001 gives mixed feelings

Rating: Null/10 (30 September 1999)

2001 is complex for me. I am a huge Kubrick fan and I like practically all of his very few movies, except for this one. I can understand why it is a great achievement. At the time of its release it was an unbelievable breakthrough in both idea and in special effects and direction. For those reasons I can understand why it is a classic. But no matter how much I want to like it and see it as a masterpiece like so many others I cant say that I do. Its not that I don't like the movie, but that I actually hate it. I understand that it is tying to go beyond entertainment and make you think and not give you some fake ending that answers all the questions it raises. Instead it is trying to be very broad and give some sort of enlightenment about humans and the universe and creation. But to me it just comes off as very boring and pretentious film making. It put me to sleep. Now, many fans of the movie would just accuse me of ignorance, but I do believe I have quite a large following of people that would have to say they were more then just dozing off now and again while watching it. If you're going to watch this movie and you want to go REALLY deep with it you might as well take the advice of the original MGM tagline that went with it. It was "the ultimate trip" and as me and two friends of mine discovered (along with all the original hippies that saw it repeatedly in '68 who made it the box office hit that it was) its not nearly as dry when you are taking that "trip" while watching it.