A Singular Achievement

Rating: 10/10 (13 November 2015)

I'd prefer that you play the theme to the film when you read this review. Look it up on YouTube, if you will. It lends everything a deep, thick layer of gravitas; I think my review is no exception.
Here it is, folks. One of those true event movies. A film that makes you remember the place and time when you first saw it. This movies revolutionized cinema in many a way, providing inspiration for the masses. While this is only arguably Kubrick's best film (I have it second), it is certainly his most important. Contemporary critics were stupefied and divisive; to me, that typically means one of two things: either you have a comedy film or dark, dark drama that heavily depends on individual taste; or you have one of the greatest works of cinema ever made, one that people just aren't ready for yet. i am confident when I say that this is part of the latter category.
I'm sure that you know some of the famous lines or scenes from the film; the protohumans banging on the mysterious black monolith, the interactions between the computer and Dave, and the trippy sequence near the film's conclusion that ends with the main character turning into a starchild. (By the way, there are actual reports of hippies sneaking into the film just for that last third and tripping, which I find hilarious.) But this film is more than its most memorable parts. I mean, so are most films; but this film is all about the overall atmosphere and tone. There is little dialogue and little human interaction. This film is a cinematic experience; a film closer to Fantasia than The Social Network. The most memorable and personable character is a computer, for crying out loud. If you had any doubt that a good film could be made without any of the traditional elements of a good story, here you go.
I am frankly surprised that this got popular, even in the sixties. It is nothing less than monumental, and one of the few things that I can truly, unhyperbolically say took my breath away. I don't think I need to say that a movie like this would never get popular nowadays, and it certainly wouldn't get the same sort of budget. this is a good time to remind that a movie being clearly from its era is not a bad thing. This movie swept in when it could and ran to the stars.
Looking at the reviews, I can say criticism has not changed much in the last fifty years; there are still some who degrade an epic like this, unable to grasp the bigger picture. I am not saying that this film is perfect, but rather that it's beyond criticism; its faults are as meaningless as our planets in the grand expanse of outer space.
To Mr. Kubrick, I tip my hat. And I will do the same to you, the reader, if you indulge in a film that grasps the spirit of science fiction like no film before it. This is the movie that showed that the medium could transcend its roots and take on a soaring life all of its own.