Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1068 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-03-03
• Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 136 minutes

Special Features
Commentary by Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood, 1966 Interview with Stanley Kubrick,2001: The Making of a Myth (Channel 4 documentary). Contains five features that explore: The Legacy of 2001, Kubrick’s view of the future, Special Effects and early conceptual artwork, Space and beyond, and the Theatrical trailer

Synopsis
A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission while hiding the truth from the public. Later, another team is sent to Jupiter in a ship controlled by the perfect HAL 9000 computer to further investigate the giant object--but something goes terribly wrong.

Customer Reviews

In space no one can hear you...
I saw this when it came out. In Cinerama I believe. I was 8. Even today the special effects have not been bettered. The technology predictions are only now coming true eg small camcorders and flat screen TVs. Oh, and it is still the only space film that respects the laws of physics. There is no air in space. No air = no noise. No whoosh, no bang, no nothing. Brilliant. It is a Space Opera. Beautiful on a big, big screen.

A Milestone for Cinema
One needs reminding him/herself that this movie was filmed prior to the Apollo 11 Lunar Landing. Thers is the Orbital station, the lunar station and spaceshifts ( with IBM computer navigation screens with 3D graphics, the AI system HAL ( named after one letter prior to I.B.M.) , playing chess, watching, thinking, killing and ultimately begging for its existence, the Alien's Monolith and the absolutley visually stunning trip inside it and the last few minutes ( Dave's rebirth ) making this ( in my opinion ) a true masterpiece and a milestone for cinema.

Not that far off from the Lost Worlds of 2001 book, the idea of an Alien intelligence guiding our evolution is without doubt breathtaking and surely has references to religion and philoshophy and is portrayed in the movie. On the other hand the evolution of technology and the birth of AI and logial probable consequences are also portrayed in a chilling fashion. Cryogenic sleep/space travel, telephones with handsfree and live video are also portrayed making this surely a rather ' way ahead of its time ' movie in 1968. The Blue Ray version does justice to the stunning visual effects and its a movie/ BR disc worth having

Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do.
2001: A Space Odyssey is an amazing film and one that commands a great amount of respect from those in the the film industry today. One of the documentaries on disc 2 is testament to that, interviews with many of the most influential of today's filmakers.

It's also a film, in my experience, people either love or hate. There's not a lot of dialogue, it's long and to some it can drag on immensely with many long, slow moving shots of spaceships.

However, to me and many others it is beautiful, being an incredibly visual experience. It is also a landmark film in several ways. It changed the face of cinematic science fiction and also raised the bar in the special visual effects industry. It also raises many questions, what's it about?, what happens at the end? being two that are commonly asked. But you can make of it what you want. There are no right or wrong answers, everybody can have a different opinion on what it all means. This I think is a real strength of this film which is seldom seen in many others.

Finally it also is another film which should be seen on the big screen. I never have done myself but I know people that have and they say it should been seen on the biggest screen possible!!!!!!! Bring it on!