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Amazon.co.uk Review
A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Arthur C Clarke's short story "The Sentinel", 2001: A Space Odyssey is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. When Stanley Kubrick recruited 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 with the result. 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 dehumanisation by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient, computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it is supposedly 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 post-millennial 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
Video Description
Box Set includes:
Remastered and digitally restored DVD version of the movie
Exclusive limited edition senitype image from the movie, with 70mm film frame
CD Soundtrack
Booklet
Remastered and digitally restored DVD version of the movie
Exclusive limited edition senitype image from the movie, with 70mm film frame
CD Soundtrack
Booklet
2.21:1 widescreen transfer
English and German Dolby 5.1
Subtitles: English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Icelandic, Italian, English SDH, German SDH
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
77 of 81 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"I must say, you guys have certainly come up with something...",
By Kenneth F. Mcara "Kenneth F. McAra" (Dundee, Scotland) - See all my reviews (VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: 2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
It was with a certain trepidation that I put this, my first blu-ray disk, into my new Panasonic blu-ray player. "2001: a space odyssey" has been my favourite film for as long as I can remember, and I've owned copies on a variety of VHS tapes and DVDs.
The theme is just about as epic as it's possible to imagine: the evolution of man from ape through human to a completely new life form. It's a film which has sharply polarised views, with some people completely mystified or even bored by the presentation, whilst others are spellbound and deeply moved. Unsurprisingly, I am in the second category, and still find myself surprised that Kubrick managed to get a major motion picture company to finance such a bold and imaginative film. The presentation on blu-ray is beyond my wildest dreams. I take the point of a previous viewer about the visible joins in the front-projection screens, which could no doubt have been digitally removed, but other than that the film is in appropriately pristine condition. I sat down to watch for a few minutes - just to check that the new blu-ray player was working - and found myself watching the whole way through to the end. The special effects were always a highlight of the film, and they do not disappoint in this new transfer. My particular favourite comes at the end of the first section of The Blue Danube where the camera appears to sail straight through between the 'wheels' of the space station - absolutely marvellous! This film easily holds its place amongst other great cinema masterworks; watch this blu-ray version and find out exactly why.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Flights Of Man,
By
This review is from: 2001: A Space Odyssey [1968] [DVD] (DVD)
An extra-terrestrial intelligence plants black monoliths on Earth, on the Moon and at the edge of the solar system in order to monitor man's evolutionary and technological progress. As apes learn to use tools, develop into Homo Sapiens and ultimately travel into space the monoliths signal these key stages of development back to their makers. Mankind's production of artificial intelligence and the "man vs machine" battle of wits with HAL creates the sense that mankind is never in control of its own destiny but rather, like a child, always "at the edge" of its capabilities and struggling to learn and grow. The film ends with the super-intelligent, super-developed God-like extra-terrestial entity placing man into his true context - as a bewildered child re-born into the cosmos to enter a new stage of superhuman development.
67 of 74 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb film, good transfer, poor extras ...,
By
This review is from: 2001 - A Space Odyssey [Blu-ray][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
As has been reported this disc does have an FBI warning at the beginning but is otherwise a UK release. The packaging is for the UK. I love this film, have done for 35 years so I won't comment on the movie itself except to say that 95% of the visuals could have been made yesterday and that the story is fiercely intelligent. And so to the Blu-Ray disc:
The transfer is good. There are very few anomalies (and I don't mean Tycho Magnetic Anomalies), most of the anomalies that are present were built in, eg dirt on the rear projection screen in the Dawn of Man sequence. That brings me to my only real irritation with the film. If Stanley Kubrick was such a perfectionist (and he was) then why oh why did he allow the set designers to use a godawful backcloth screen to simulate the African terrain and sky? It's SO blaringly obvious that it's artificial because the viewer can see creases and imperfection in the fabric. It ruins the whole sequence. It was bad enough on DVD but with the extra resolution of Blu-ray it's just annoying. It's the one things that I wish someone would digitally correct. After that all is well. Yes they got the Earth from space wrong (too washed out) but the SFX are stunningly good and look marvellous in HD. It amused me to read IBM-Tele-Pad on the Discovery crew's flat screen TV pads (whilst they're eating). There's a multitude of fine detail revealed: the ancillary rooms inside the lunar shuttle docking area reveal figures and screens that I'd not noticed before. The Star-Gate sequence looks a LOT better now. The finer detail and improved colour range of HD really adds some wow factor to it. I'm still not convinced by the colour filtered landscapes though: they could have tried harder there. The audio is good. The soundtrack is good as it can be for a 40 year old film and despite being a little 'thin' is well within modern standards. Frame judder is a slight problem as reported by another reviewer but I'm wondering whether that was a limitation of the original effects rather than the transfer to Blu-Ray because the same scenes in SD in the extras reveal the same judder. The extras are many but none good. There's a very iffy Channel-4 documentary with some annoying talking heads discussing the film and various other small documentaries. None make the heart race. The best is a promotional film made for 'Look' Magazine in 1966 that was designed to interest potential advertisers in buying into a 'special' Space related supplement due to be published first quarter 68 on the back of the 2001 release. It shows some really interesting scenes of production, Kubrick on set etc and Clarke in the Grumman factory inspecting Lunar Modules. There's something weird about this release. Amazon had a release date that has been a gone with no stock. The other Kubrick related releases appeared on time but not this one leading me to think there's been a production problem. It is possible to obtain a copy elsewhere and if you like 2001 it's worth doing so.
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