The 2014 Restored Version - the quality is there if you can view it properly.

Rating: 8/10 (9 December 2014)

Sadly, I am old enough to remember seeing 2001 when it first came out. I saw it in a London West End cinema in it's full 70mm glory on a huge screen. The sound was amazing - huge full-range speakers. A mind blowing experience. Then I heard that a newly restored version was coming to cinemas. So, last night I went to the Picturehouse Harbour Lights cinema in Southampton UK to regain the wonder of this film. I've seen quite a few restored/remastered films and have been amazed by the way some very skilled people have made them better than new. By scanning from the camera negatives, all the losses we used to get from inter-negs and release prints disappear and we are left with amazing clarity and colour fidelity. And, sound restoration can produce stunning sound. So, you can imagine the anticipation as I joined the audience - positioning myself in the best viewing seats.
The disappointment set in at the very beginning as the thunderous Also Sprach Zarathustra welled-up. What I actually heard was a harsh muddy sound almost as though it had come from the ceiling speakers you get in department stored. The opening of the film is a "blank" screen but the blank screen had a small but worrying orange blur on each side of the screen. Once we got into the guts of the film, it became apparent to me that we were not looking at a painstakingly re-mastered digital version from the 65mm camera negative so lovingly shot by Geoffrey Unsworth but at what looked like a 35mm inter-negative or even a print. Definition was poor, colours were blotchy and uneven, and there was even a side-to-side wobble on the live action scenes - and that is unforgivable.
At this point, I should say that I was professionally involved in some film restoration a couple of years ago, so you could say I was being over-critical, but I don't think so. I carried on watching the film finding myself becoming more and more disappointed. 2001 is an amazing film, but watching it in such poor image and sound quality was a great disappointment. Perhaps you need to see it on a huge screen with a huge sound system, but until it is properly restored, I would not risk it.
I left at the interval.
Added after re-viewing...........
Having been very negative about the restored version of 2001 that I saw at a local cinema, I now want to add something to that review. As I write this, I am now watching the restored version on a professionally set-up high quality plasma screen and my own high quality sound system and I have to say that my opinion of this restored version has changed considerably.
I have to put the problems detailed above down to the cinema rather than this restoration of 2001.
Firstly the sound quality is extremely good. The sound field is well defined there is virtually no distortion, although unfortunately some fierce limiting and compression on Also Sprach Zarathustra.
The quality of the images is actually quite stunning - gorgeous rich blacks, superb skin tones and glowing whiteness - in fact it is hard to imagine a better grading then this. The only the very minor issue that remains is the slight horizontal wobble on a lot of the shots which is normally attributable to either warn or distorted sprocket holes or issues with the original camera . This may well have been due to the use of multiple runs of the negative through the cameras. It is normally relatively easy to correct this type of wobble but if different images on the frame are wobbling differently then probably it is best left alone! This is a very minor point - it is barely noticeable, and I only noticed it because I have worked on some restoration of old 16 millimetre films and seen this effect and worked on the correction of it.
My conclusion is that in fact the 2001 restored version is superb and should be watched by anyone who enjoys the genius of Kubrick at his best. If you can view it on a very high quality television with extremely good quality sound then I think that may be better than relying on a cinema.
Oh, and with all this stuff about the technical quality, I ought to mention that the story is Just amazing when you allow yourself to be totally immersed in it. And, the pacing of the film is perfection. The genius of Kubrick and his amazingly talented team. If you take your pleasures slow and sweet, this will delight.