Not a popcorn movie

Rating: 9/10 (20 September 2014)

The monolith has been there on Earth throughout human history. It goes all the way back to the ape-man. In the near future, they have found a monolith on the moon which is kept secret with a cover story. Then 18 months later, Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Gary Lockwood) are on a long deep space voyage to Jupiter on Discovery 1. HAL 9000 is the computer on board that is almost human. HAL seems to be malfunctioning. It kills Poole and the rest of the hibernating crew. Bowman pulls out HAL's memory and only then does he discover the true mission. Bowman encounters a monolith in the darkness of space near Jupiter.
It's hard to talk about this movie without pointing out that this is more than the normal fun space sci-fi movie. This is definitely not Star Wars but it has qualities that transcends popcorn movies. It's confounding at times. It takes its time which bored some people. Director Stanley Kubrick obviously is saying something but it's not so simplistic that one could easily explain it. One either loves the vast nature of the movie or one hates the meandering story. Nevertheless, there is no denying the profound influence of this movie and its enduring fascination.