IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive
RottenTomatoes.com
Register | Log In | What is RT?
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Trailers & Pictures The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
Movies / On DVD / 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Email to a Friend
  • Add to List
  • Bookmark and Share
  • Get this Movie
  • Buy Poster External Icon

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
96 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 51

Fresh: 49

Rotten:2

Average Rating: 8.8/10

Consensus: One of the most influential of all sci-fi films -- and one of the most controversial -- Stanley Kubrick's 2001 is a delicate, poetic meditation on the ingenuity -- and folly -- of mankind.

Runtime: 2 hrs 39 mins

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Synopsis: A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government (while hiding the situation from the public) sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission. Eighteen months later, another team is sent to... A four-million-year-old black monolith is discovered on the moon, and the government (while hiding the situation from the public) sends a team of scientists on a fact-finding mission. Eighteen months later, another team is sent to Jupiter in a ship controlled by the perfect HAL 9000 computer to further investigate the giant object--but on this trip something goes terribly wrong. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a masterpiece of filmmaking. Director and (with Arthur C. Clarke) co-screenwriter Stanley Kubrick has created a visual and aural spectacle that stands as one of the greatest achievements ever put on celluloid. The film begins with the "Dawn of Man" segment, about the evolution of apes, and then ventures into the future, taking a look at what the world might be like in the first year of the 21st century. Kubrick's film is a triumph of technological storytelling, with stunning sets and a brilliant, overwhelming soundtrack. Long dialogue-free scenes sparkle with indelible images backed by powerful orchestral music, culminating in an unforgettable, inscrutable tale of birth and rebirth, human evolution and artificial intelligence, the past and the future. [More]

Starring: Keir Dullea, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Daniel Richter

Starring: Keir Dullea, William Sylvester, Gary Lockwood, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Robert Beatty, Douglas Rain

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Screenwriter: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke

[See More Credits]

Get This Movie

  • Buy DVD
 
 
 
 
Release:

Oct 23, 2007

[DVD Details]
 
 

Blu-ray Disc Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround - English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
  • PCM 5.1 - English
  • Dolby Digital 2.0
  • Mono 1.0
  • Subtitles - Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean. Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - Keir Dullea; Gary Lockwood
  • Documentary - 1. Channel Four Documentary 2001 - THE MAKING OF A MYTH
  • Featurettes - 1. STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF KUBRICK: THE LEGACY OF
  • 2. VISION OF A FUTURE PASSED: THE PROPHECY OF
  • 3. 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - A LOOK BEHIND THE FUTURE
  • 4. WHAT IS OUT THERE?
  • 5. 2001: FX and Early Conceptual Artwork
  • 6. LOOK: STANLEY KUBRICK!
  • Interview (audio only) - 1. 1966 Interview by Jeremy Bernstein
  • Theatrical Trailer

Reviews for 2001: A Space Odyssey

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

Kubrick set out to make "the proverbial good science-fiction film," but he came out the other side with something far more ornery and profound.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/29/08
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image

Central to the profundity of the film is the notion that few things are more meaningful than a child's first steps, the emotive impact of this scenario manifest in every one of the film's dizzying set pieces, albeit multiplied to epic proportions.

Full Review Source: Slant Magazine | comment Comment
11/19/07
Rob Humanick
Slant Magazine
Ratings Image

2001 certainly is a colossal bore, unless you're on its wavelength, in which case it's one of the greatest films of all time.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
11/08/07
Chris Barsanti
Filmcritic.com
Ratings Image

Prepare to be dazzled.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/02/07
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The film's projections of the cold war and antiquated product placements may look quaint now, but the poetry is as hard-edged and full of wonder as ever.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/08/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It was a freshening attitude then, though its long-term effects haven't been all to the good.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
05/08/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

For all the essential coldness of Kubrick's vision, it demands attention as superior sci-fi, simply because it's more concerned with ideas than with Boy's Own-style pyrotechnics.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Ratings Image

It has reached the status of Art, meaning that it's going to go on provoking strong opinions.

Full Review Source: DVDJournal.com | comment Comment
04/08/06
Mark Bourne
DVDJournal.com
Ratings Image

What else can such a film be called but ART?

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment Comment
03/30/06
Dan Jardine
Cinemania
Ratings Image

Still one of the best

Full Review Source: sbs.is | comment Comment
03/29/06
Stefan Birgir Stefansson
sbs.is
Ratings Image

Part space opera, part cinematic symphony and part horror story, the film is a shape-shifting painting.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
03/20/06
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image

The most influential sci-fi film ever made, 2001 caused culture shock when released, forever changing the conventions, style, and prestige of the previously debased genre

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
08/13/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

Une leçon de cinéma par l’un de ses plus grands artisans.

Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
07/27/05
Louis-Jérôme Cloutier
Panorama
Ratings Image

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | comment Comment
06/11/05
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
Ratings Image

2001 speaks by monolith -- that is, by image, metaphor, poetry, and suggestion.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer
Ratings Image

The film looks at our dependence on technology before our modern culture had abused it. It warns us that a crutch can cause as many wounds as it attempts to heal.

comment Comment
09/04/04
Wesley Lovell
Oscar Guy
Ratings Image

Doesn't just depict a quantum leap forward in human consciousness — it practically requires such a leap, on an individual scale, from the viewer.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
07/09/04
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
01/20/04
Matt Zoller Seitz
New York Press
Ratings Image

A beautiful, confounding picture that had half the audience cheering and the other half snoring.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
07/30/03
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Those who love it as passionately as I do realize this film is about more than dialogue, plot, or space ships. Its uniqueness permits it to transcend the ordinary, becoming a movie not about one human but the entire human species.

Full Review Source: Zertinet Movies | comment Comment
03/05/03
Steven Snyder
Zertinet Movies
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 3 >> >|
all

Latest News for 2001: A Space Odyssey

July 16, 2008: Exclusive: The World of WALL-E
The artists behind this year's freshest film share their story with RT, with exclusive contributions from Andrew Stanton, Ben Burtt, Jim Morris, Lindsay Collins, Angus MacLane,... More...

April 10, 2008: Kim Newman on... The Terrornauts
RT Obscura, the exclusive column by renowned critic Kim Newman, sees the writer plumbing the depths of the RT archive in search of some forgotten gems. In his 15th column, Kim... More...

March 24, 2008: Kim Newman on... The Invisible Boy
RT Obscura, the exclusive column by renowned critic Kim Newman, sees the writer plumbing the depths of the RT archive in search of some forgotten gems. In his 14th column, Kim... More...

March 19, 2008: Arthur C. Clarke: 1917-2008
Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction novelist whose bestselling books included 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: The Year We Make Contact, has passed away at the age of 90. More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for 2001: A Space Odyssey

Quite possibly the WORST movie ever made.
by: Xalphin 9/8


Film review: The Greatest Film of All Time
by: Discovery One 8/27


I Dont Understand...
by: DGuitar 11/23/07


final screenplay
by: mattpietro527 10/27/07


Just Watched The Machinist....
by: nrborod 8/11/07
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
ROTTEN: 1 50% Sex and the City - The…
ROTTEN: 2 52% Leatherheads
FRESH: 3 62% Baby Mama
ROTTEN: 4 12% Made of Honor
ROTTEN: 5 12% Deception

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
ROTTEN: 35 35% You Don't Mess with the Zohan
ROTTEN: 18 18% The Happening
FRESH: 75 75% Paranoid Park
FRESH: 93 93% The Visitor
FRESH: 71 71% Stuck

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

That's Hot

That's Hot

Paris Hilton picks her favorite films.

Toon vs. Toon

Toon vs. Toon

We rank the best animated films of all time!

Chuck Palahniuk

Chuck Palahniuk

The Fight Club/Choke writer on film.

Dane Cook

Dane Cook

The actor-comedian shares fave films.

More Info

RT To Go

Get this widget! Movie Reviews

Around The Network

  • 2001: A Space Odyssey at Rotten Tomatoes
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey at IGN
 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.