Kubricks most artistic masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (28 June 2012)

There are very few directors that were as specific and attentive to detail as Stanley Kubrick. Every single scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey is like a work of cinematic art. I can imagine Kubrick filming each scene a hundred times until it's exactly the way he imagined it. This is what made him such a legendary director and set him apart from everyone else.
I first watched this film about 10 years ago and I couldn't believe the special effects. I can't imagine what people thought of it when it first came out. I'm sure a lot of people didn't know what to think about it at first. The first third of the movie has no dialogue and the last third is basically an acid trip sequence with no dialogue as well. It's very different than anything you've seen but if you have the right mind set, it will blow your mind.
The acting is very good, but the movie relies heavily on everything else. The plot is not explained very well but the open ended questions are what makes it so mysterious and mind boggling. You see what happens and your questions aren't fully answered but your imagination fills in the blanks and in my opinion that's the best way to do it.
It starts out at the dawn of man, when we were all just ape-like creatures waiting to evolve. The group of apes (let's call them) that we see are suddenly looking upon a giant, rectangle monolith that appeared out of nowhere. When the apes touch the monolith their minds are opened up to a new stage in evolution, the use of tools. After this long and dialogue-free part of the movie, it jumps forward to the year 2001 in a split second. The world has discovered yet another monolith except this one is on the surface of the moon. I don't want to get into too much detail but basically they find out that it's origin is one of Jupiter's moons. Earth then decides to send its best spaceship off on a mission to see exactly where the monolith came from. The spaceship is equipped with the best astronauts, and the most advanced computer ever built, HAL 9000. We are then sent on the wild ride to Jupiter and a lot happens on the way that you don't expect.
Basically, 2001 is a longer than average movie and has a lot of quiet parts with only the sound of breathing or apes grunting. If you have the patience to sit back and appreciate a cinematic piece of art, then this is the movie for you. If your attention span is tiny and you don't like space movies, I suggest skipping this one. If you happen to take acid or any visual enhancing drugs, this movie will be especially satisfying, but drugs or not, it's a masterpiece of film.