2001 A Space Odyssey [1968] [Blu-ray] [Region Free] [4K UHD]

A film I had not seen in 40 years. It was exactly as I expected.

Spectacular in blu-ray. Thus Spake Zaratustra (the opening theme) is fantastic in blu-ray audio and the space scene literally jump off the screen so that the viewer thinks he/she is there. I heartily recommend this version of 2001 to anyone who has seen it on DVD. You'll be in for a real treat.

Classic, perfect science fiction movie. I have never had any problems understanding the movie or the ending of the movie. It all made perfect sense to me. The visuals are simply amazing.

This was the absolute peak of cinematic special effects technology when it came out a million years ago. It's still fun to watch and brings back many memories, but I had forgotten how incredibly slow it is. It's worth the ride, but bring your imagination and lots of patience if you want to watch it.

This movie was/is such a major classic and it really benefits here on the BluRay version compared to the original VHS and then standard DVD releases. If you own the previous releases you probably viewed them on pre HD TV sets. When viewing those releases on HD TV devices, production flaws become very obvious (even though the movie was extremely modern for the time it was made, and was beyond all previous films of the like). This version is extremely pleasing and many of the production flaws seem invisible. An upgrade to this version will satisfy.

Love these titans of cult releases, it’s arrived on time & packed well with no damage

From Sentinel to Starchild, we will be eternally sorry we willingly handed over control to machines.

Great. Fav movie!

* Introduction The film took 4 years to create, produce and release. The initial audience misunderstood it. It eventually became a hit movie in 1968. The film, I believe, was John Lennon's favourite at the time. This film is open to many interpretations, and here is mine for what it's worth. The film '2001: a Space Odyssey' I. m. h. o runs on these two ideas. The physical distances in the story, Africa, Moon, Jupiter, and galactic travel are increasingly distant, and thus, how small humankind is in the scheme of things. The second idea is the film is the portrait of an old man dreaming from the start to the end of this movie. Another handle on this movie is the growth of technology. It's initial stages. Then, the flow and its failure. Then maybe as a species and given time, we will eventually get it correct in the future. * Initial story The initial shots of the movie, 'Dawn of Man', were taken in the Spitzkoppe mountains, in what was then South West Africa. For lesser cost, and simply being physically easier to do, were not captured with a bulky movie camera, but with a top-notch Hasselblad stills camera. The grain on this still camera film is comparable to movie footage quality. The structure of this film is that when the monolith on the African plain is placed with the apes, its physical symbol of the first logical thought by the apes, these being the size ratios of the squares of the first three integers, 1:2:3, (1:4:9). This being symbolic of the logical change from eating plants to eating meat. These changes increase our brain structure and our likelihood of surviving more than other animals. The film has the biggest jump-cut in movie history. With hundreds of thousands of years. (Until superseded by Luc Bresson's, 'Lucy' with Scarlett Johansson in the lead.) And when the same monolith on the moon is uncovered, this was this time an alarm to be sent to the sentient beings that humankind had reached the technological milestone of interplanetary flight. * The technology piece The first 65 or so minutes of this movie is a guided exploration of the growth of technology. Kubrick was very interested in the new technologies. It gives this movie its technology backbone. And including the use of the animal bone to kill the Tapier. Such as on the space station, a video telephone, bank cards, Security methods with voice print verification, the space shuttle, velcro shoes to enable walking in zero G. and the space wheel simulating gravity. An astounding and subtle scene within the space shuttle is when a Dr. Floyds pen floats in the cabin and is retrieved by a stewardess. There are three charming vignettes, of people having birthdays and interacting with technologies. The young daughter, 'Squirt', ( she, Vivian, being the real daughter of Kubrick) of Dr Heywood Floyd, Chairman of the United States National Council of Astronautics. And the astronaut, Dr. Frank Poole. Another is the same astronaut, Dr. Frank Poole, who is playing chess with HAL. The technology of the single occupancy E.V.A. vehicle is realistic and impressive. Another forecast is the massive video screens. The two moon - shuttle stewardesses watch Judo, on what we would say now is on a wide-screen television, showing its multi-cultural backgrounds to these technologies. Also, there is an explosion in the number of digital channels. Such as, when a recording of an interview of these two astronauts on the Discovery ship, is played, they both see it on a tablet-like device. And on channel BBC12. There is a scene of the crew being cryogenically suspended until the craft is in Jupiter's space. Stanley Kubrick liked filming 'impossible' shots; such as astronauts standing in differing orientations to each other in the same scene. Kubrick had a 30-short-ton (27 t) rotating "ferris wheel" built by Vickers-Armstrong Engineering Group at a cost of $750,000 (equivalent to $6,600,000 in 2023). And the difficulties of landing the space shuttle into the rotating space wheel station. The design of the space transport of passengers system; the space shuttle up to the space station. The craft from the space station to the moon, is a more economical and viable method, even if never built in reality. It's an elegant design and is Soviet. When compared with the real Saturn V rocket Americans built in reality one - way with only three passengers. This isn't economic. Also, the electrical circuit testing system when the crew is testing the faulty AE35 unit is similar to the present electronic simulator 'Spice'. * Music score Most of the music in this film is also its academic backbone. It's avant-garde at times and beautiful. In another differingly world - way. The opening of the spacecraft accompanied by the 'Blue Danube' is just exquisite, delightful and of true art in cinema. Gayane Ballet Suite -- Gayane's Adagio Music by Aram Khachaturyan, Atmospheres Music by György Ligeti, Lux Aeterna, Music by György Ligeti, Requiem "Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs, and Orchestra"), Music by György Ligeti, The Blue Danube, ("An der schönen, blauen Donau, op. 314 (The Blue Danube)"), Music by Johann Strauss, Music by Richard Strauss, Adventures, Music by György Ligeti. * The section with HAL, the sentient computer. And of course the sentient A.I. computer 'Hal'. If you are interested in the philosophical possibility of science and technology as described in the film, I can recommend the following book, 'Hal's Legacy: 2001's Computer as Dream and Reality' by Stork. To find it on Amazon, I needed to copy this text into Google, then Amazon could locate this book in its databases. The technological breakdown of H.A.L is discussed in the movie '2010: The Year We Made Contact' and it covers this well. About 50% of the predictions seem to have held true. It's more interesting when you consider that even low-tech items at the time of the movie were sci-fi, such as cellophane for sandwiches, and bank cards! The absence of PCs in this mainframe world is an oversight. I have seen quite a few movies, but I have never seen a murder described only in the graphical display of the crew's vital functions. It's suitable for a cold machine killing other crew. * The ending Its ending is uniquely beautiful and beyond words, it's a visual experience. This connection when Discovery reaches Jupiter, those living are sent through interstellar flight via a cosmic 'motorway' to be examined. Other crafts, in the shape of Octahedrons, are using this transport system too. This can be seen with many cryptic communication indication signs during its journey. It’s a portrait of the infinite size of the universe by the sheer traveling over the time used to show these shots. And how strange to our eyes the universe is. The ending is not obvious. The long dream that has been the film's flowing structure has finally caught up with the present. The interstellar trip Bowman has undertaken is a parallel with the long journey all of us take in life and living. This last night alive of an astronaut, in an elegant room, dying in his bed. He thought, if all of this I have recalled is outstanding, then - with the Starchild appearing - think what our offspring may be capable of? It's a positive hope for the future of mankind and interplanetary travel. I prefer this explanation to the higher dimensional plane of humanity angle, as it is not substantial enough for me. * BONUS MATERIAL!! I, accidentally discovered, that the Blu-ray edition of this movie has several related topics for 2001 anoraks. Press the TOP MENU button on your Blu-ray player handset to access these hidden video files. They are as follows; Commentary by Actors, 2001:Making of the Myth, Standing on the Shoulders of Kubric, Vision of the Future Passed, 2001: a Look Behind the Future, What is Out There? 2001; FX and Early Concepts, Look at Stanley Kubrick, Interview with Stanley Kubrick, Original 2001: a Space Odyssey Trailer, online sites. * Background Kubrick picked the best of other ideas and compiled them into his movies, such as the strange music from 'Forbidden Planet', and the lack of editing in many scenes that go on for several minutes. At the time, Bell Labs, and IBM, amongst others in the technology fields, would create film shorts for cinema and for training internal staff with the same playful pitch. This is the source of the three vignettes mentioned earlier. And the long silences in 2001 are inspired by the movie, 'The Heros of Telemark'.And the space wheel by the V2 rocket designer, Von Braun. The scene of the Stargate using multicoloured shots of sea and land was shot from a helicopter in Isle of Harris, Western Isles, Scotland. The film stock was developed using costly chemical methods to give false colours. This is Kubrick's way of suggesting to the audience that the planet is different. Not even the light from this star is the same as our Sun lighting our planet Earth. And our eyes are shown this difference. In the film itself, Kubrick and his staff used over 200 optical effects new to film. My older brother said some at the time went into the cinema with smoked weed when this film section was reached for its enhanced hallucinatory session, and this is one small reason why it became popular. * Why does the film have this ending? Three and a half years into this movie, the executives supporting the Shepperton Studios, and at MGM Borehamwood in Elstree, noticed that the film had no ending in sight. Kubrick wanted another 18 months on top of the three and a half years. They were worried. They forecast a potential black hole of endless increasing costs and diminishing potential financial returns. They thought few people would pay to see a planned four-hour, slow-paced movie with an unconventional story structure, a poverty of speech, and a bizarre and unfashionable music score. The executives were pressuring Kubrick to produce many dailies, or film excepts. However, the older senior staff, schooled in an older comprehension of what makes movies sell to the public, basically 'bums on seats', had some appreciation of the technical aspects of what they were being shown. The 'Stargate' sequence was a platform for a much more explaining and majestic story to follow. Kubrick and the actors devised a cheaper, and shorter more philosophical ending, that would try not to discredit the shots already taken and carry the story ending. So this 'room's' ending results from strong financial pressure from the senior staff and a flexible artistic response to bring the story to its conclusion. * What if the senior staff had gone - ahead and backed Kubrick, what could the movie ending have become? If the senior staff had held their nerve, trusted Kubrick, and gone with his planned ending. Would it have become a bigger financial and artistic success? The film, before the 'Rooms' is spectacular, and grows, but the ending is somewhat abrupt and welded on. So the story up to this 'rooms' part is promising. My best guess is that the plot could have moved into exploring the idea that this race of beings behind the monolith also helps create new life on suitable planets. This was hinted at in the ending chapters of the paperback book of 2001. But, eventually, after 4 hours, even Kubricks creative talents could plateau under the cumulative weight of the story. Perhaps unable to pull any more 'rabbits - out - of - the - hat', that would delight and wonder the viewers?

todo bien, pero esperaba que viniera con slipcover

Esta es una de mis películas favoritas, por lo cual decidí comprarla en blu-ray para obtener una buena calidad de imagen. Ahora bien, la edición tiene esta cubierta de cartón con HAL, pero que realmente se quita y es la misma de siempre, pero es un poco más cara de lo que debería. No estoy molesto, pero es mejor que lo sepan antes de comprar.

This is without a doubt the best 2001 has looked for home viewing! The transfer is one word WOW! I went to see the Christopher Nolan 'unrestored' 70mm print at The Prince Charles Cinema in London and despite being a fan of Kubrick and the film this was my first time seeing it on The Big Screen. Well I was amazed more then ever as Kubrick's genius took over the full booked auditorium and my senses were addicted to the experience. Well needless to say was excited for this package and using both Nolan's new negative which was scanned in 8K and under the supervision of Leon Vitali's colour grading for home viewing this is the closest the film looks to an actual 70mm version. The transfer is deep and rich with strong black levels and highlights, colours pop off the screen, skin tones are natural/close to their original print colour and there are no scratches or dirt anywhere or appearance of artificial sharpening with a fine film grain texture. Once again with the colour as many pop off the screen but the Crimson Red which Kubrick used in most of his colour films just sparkles and shines on screen. This is the best 2001 has looked in it's digital form and all the team involved should be applauded especially Vitali who literally supervises the transfers of all of Kubrick's films for free overseeing every single frame from start to finish. Him and the team have done a fabulous job. Not only is the picture amazing but so is the soundtrack. The film originally had a 6 channel stereo track that has been mixed into DTS HD 5.1 format that will please many but to my happy surprise the disc also comes with the original stereo 6 track itself which I personally prefer on a purist level. Fans will love this option and just listening to the dark atmospheric moods of Ligetti or the sweet sounds of The Blue Danube on any sound system (even televisions) is well worth it. Lastly we have all the great features from the original blu ray and the lobby cards and booklet are nicely package in the box. Speaking of the box I am not a fan of most modern designs but this looks beautiful with the Red and Black. This one gorgeous set and one thing I forgot to say is that the included blu ray has the 4K transfer as well so if you not upgraded yet you can still enjoy the film with it's beautiful new picture. A Must for all Fans!

Una obra maestra. Poco hay que decir al respecto la calidad de la imagen y el sonido es muy buena pero no esta a la altura de las nuevas peliculas de hoy dia a ver si la producen en 4K para disfrutar más todavía recomendada para fans de la ciencia ficción!!!