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2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray] | ![2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51jYA7Mv32L._SL500_.jpg)
| Actors: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, Ed Bishop, Penny Brahms, Edwina Carroll
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.99
Buy New: $17.95
You Save: $11.04 (38%)
New (20) Used (10) Collectible (1) from $16.48
Rating:  900 reviews
Sales Rank: 349
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Original Recording Remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Korean (Subtitled), Portuguese (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: G (General Audience)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 148 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 79838
UPC: 012569798380
EAN: 0012569798380
ASIN: B000Q66J1M
Theatrical Release Date: April 6, 1968
Release Date: October 23, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com essential video
When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com
When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon
Description
A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 895 more reviews...
 Winnmusic July 17, 2008
Capital One (Austin, TX)
This new 2007 Digital Transfer is the best home video version I have ever seen. Crystal Clear Quality even down to the correct aspect ratio that Stanley originally intended. The original print was not in 2.35 Anamorphic Widescreen. It was the same aspect ratio that was used in Clockwork Orange and Barry Lyndon. All the special features on the other disc is an absolute must too!
I think the quality is so good it looks like it was made yesterday! and I think if Stanley was around today he would have given 2 thumbs up!
Highly recommend to any fan of this film and must for classic film collectors.
Mesmerizing, Not Boring July 16, 2008
Alan Lawn (Brooklyn, NY USA)
Here's what stood out to me:
1. The music. On the one hand, duh. On the other, have you actually listened to "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" recently? It's 10+ minutes of constant enjoyment -- every melody is beautiful. Of course, another Strauss also has his moments. What most intrigued me, though, were the selections by György Ligeti. I don't usually appreciate atonal or unmelodic pieces, but the "monolith theme" is an awesome blend of the haunting, intense, and otherworldly. Notably, Kubrick commissioned a score by Alex North but then decided to use the classical recordings he had been playing during production -- without telling North.
2. The new bone. At the end of "The Dawn of Man" chapter, the triumphant tool-user throws his tapir bone (which he just used to beat the life out of a rival hominid) into the air, and the scene artfully cuts from the bone to its modern counterpart: a white, cylindrical nuclear device orbiting the earth. That's deep. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for a good transition.
3. The visual realism. The space exploration special effects hold up remarkably well considering that the film turns 40(!) this year. Not only do they look realistic, they also illustrate Kubrick's attention to procedural detail. He uses extended shots of relatively mundane activities in order to give us a sense of what it's like in the vacuum and how exactly people get things done.
4. The computer. HAL's got a great voice (he's going to sing "Fitter Happier" in my remake). And his lines aren't half-bad, either. If only his shipmates weren't so wooden and...mechanical. (Was Kubrick trying to say something about astronauts -- that the government preferred unimaginative military men to a fault?) If I were on board, I'd've picked his brain nonstop. A conscious computer would never get old. Forget chess -- imagine having a conversation about philosophy, or anything else for that matter. What would you talk about?
5. The end. What's the deal? The protracted light show screams "we've got to do something with all these FX shots," especially when the colored landscapes kick in after what I thought would be the climax (when everything appears to be culminating in a burst of white light). And then there's the bizarre room sequence. I won't spoil it; I'll just speculate: is this how the aliens wanted Dave to perceive his transformation? Or is it Kubrick reminding us that 2001 is an art film, infinitely beyond trashy sci-fi?
 Graduate College Student July 14, 2008
K. Falkena (Iowa)
I purchased this movie because it is supposedly one of the greatest American Films ever made and I enjoyed the book immensely. The movie itself was visually stunning and the direction of Kubrick was great. I found the storyline lacking from what the novel presented, however. The movie would not have made much sense if I had not read the book. That's why I only rated it three stars.
Humanization, Dehumanization & Super-humanization July 12, 2008
John Salonia Jr. (New Jersey)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Much (perhaps too much) has been written about this beautiful yet sluggish, frustrating yet fascinating film. So I'll put in my nickel's worth (used to be two-cents'-worth, but inflation has hit everything these days) of speculation.
It's all in the title of this review. 2001, it seems to me, can be encapsulated in these 3 words.
First, the humanization comes when the Monolith appears to our anthropoid ancestors and nudges them to the next evolutionary level by teaching them the use of tools (ironically, specifically the use of weapons and the art of killing).
Next, we cut to the just-past-millennial year of the film's title and learn that humans are emotionally isolated (note the strained awkwardness of Dr. Floyd's birthday message to his daughter and the utterly cold unconcern with with Frank Poole receives his parents' taped birthday greetings). Nearly all the verbal communication concerns either empty formalities or technical data. Man has been dehumanized by his technological dependence. Also note that the distrust and tension between the superpowers of the USA and the USSR continue the theme of the feuding tribes of man-apes in the film's beginning.
It is then that the second Monolith is found on the moon, buried there as though its alien makers did not want it found unless humanity became technologically advanced enough to leave its cradle world. This, obviously, is based on Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel," but I'd like to take the idea a little further. Perhaps the Monolith's makers knew that someday mankind's dependence on its technological tools would go too far, and they left an alarm to signal them when mankind reached this state. Which takes us to the next level.
When Bowman (notably, the only human being who shows any hint of an inner life beyond the mastering of technical equipment: note his attempts at sketching the spaceship, stiff and awkward as they are) reaches the Star Gate triggered by the third Monolith in Jupiter orbit, has his mind expanded and his life expended in seeing just a tiny corner of infinity's vastness, and then is recreated as the Star-Child (who must be a super-human being of some sort, or nothing in the film has any point)he returns to earth. My guess is that he intends (or is intended by those who have transfigured him) to nudge the rest of us up to his level -- or our descendants, anyway.
Anyway, when I view the film with all this in mind, it all makes sense, including the thoroughly banal dialogue which so many critics have ridiculed, possibly missing the point that it was supposed to be banal to reflect the human condition in this stage of history. The older classical music, like the "Blue Danube Waltz", can be viewed as ironic (products of an earlier, more simplistic age with its clockwork music reflecting its view of the clockwork cosmos shattered by the 20th century's discovery of quantum mechanics and relativity and now, superstring theory) or else as a reflection of humanity's innate longing for logic and order and its clinging to the dead-but-beautiful past even as we're hurled pell-mell into the future. (Like the intertribal hatred of different groups of man-apes, more with us than ever these days!)
Whether we'll live to reach the year 3000 is debatable, but one thing is certain. Arguments about 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY will take us to the next millennium without any consensus being reached.
One final amusing note: 2001 has at least predicted the invention of the Kindle text-download screen in its "Newspad", which Bowman and Poole use while they're eating their space-baby-food meals.
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