What,......????

Rating: 5/10 (25 May 2005)

Why is this movie so overrated? It almost always is listed among the greatest movies ever made and I once again ask WHY? First, I need to point out that I am a bright, well-read and highly educated person. So, yes, I did understand the imagery and "hidden significance" of the movie. Despite this, I still MUST point out that the first 9 hours (yes, I know it WASN'T that long--but it seemed like it was) of people dancing around in primordial human/ape costumes was awful and the end was an artsty-fartsy mess (one minute Keir Dullea was flying through space, the next he was an old man in a sterile room and the next he was a giant embryo--wow, how stupid can you get?).
Despite my warnings, I seem to be one of only a few voices who hated the movie (though it does get 5 stars for SOME of the music and great special effects). I don't understand everyone's fascination with Stanley Kubrick. Yes, Paths of Glory was excellent as were Spartacus and Dr. Strangelove, but movies like 2001 as well as Barry Lyndon (STERILE, LONG and DULL) and Clockwork Orange (over-indulgent and sick as it portrays rapes and violence) make me think about the story of the Emporer's New Clothes. In essence, people fall over themselves praising his "artistic genius", while the average person finds some of his films often give them headaches!
The only positive about the film that make it a possible must-see is that it helped to raise the genre of sci-fi to a new and more artistic level--but it certainly DIDN'T make sci-fi fun or interesting!