I saw it for the first time as a kid when it aired on American network TV. I watched it with my mom. The first ad came at the famous jump-cut: bone to satellite. I was transfixed. My mom got up and headed for the kitchen saying "If I see one more goddamn ape I'm going to bed."

@Simian Jack said:

I saw it for the first time as a kid when it aired on American network TV. I watched it with my mom. The first ad came at the famous jump-cut: bone to satellite. I was transfixed. My mom got up and headed for the kitchen saying "If I see one more goddamn ape I'm going to bed."

I like that!!

I don't remember too much about it now, except that it felt like a chore trying to finish watching it.

I know I should respect it, and the special effects are magnificent. It's a lot of work putting all of the pieces together, though, and I haven't been able to do it yet.

@luthien said:

I don't remember too much about it now, except that it felt like a chore trying to finish watching it.

That's how I felt!! I was determined to give it a fair chance, but it was so dull (to me) that I had to watch it in stages. When I said that about another movie that also had a fanatical group of followers, I was accused of being a troll.

@Gary O. said:

@luthien said:

I don't remember too much about it now, except that it felt like a chore trying to finish watching it.

That's how I felt!! I was determined to give it a fair chance, but it was so dull (to me) that I had to watch it in stages. When I said that about another movie that also had a fanatical group of followers, I was accused of being a troll.

May I ask which movie?

I agree, I also disliked the movie. I thought it was very boring. I also disliked the obscure hard to understand ending. After forcing myself to sit through the whole movie only to be given an ending that I did not understand, I felt robbed of a decent payoff after my time spent watching it.

This is also the movie that turned me off of exploring more of Kubrick's work. The only other that I had seen before this was The Shining. I figured that if 2001: A Space Odyssey was considered one of his best films and I did not like it then I probably was not going to enjoy any of his other movies.

@luthien said:

@Gary O. said:

@luthien said:

I don't remember too much about it now, except that it felt like a chore trying to finish watching it.

That's how I felt!! I was determined to give it a fair chance, but it was so dull (to me) that I had to watch it in stages. When I said that about another movie that also had a fanatical group of followers, I was accused of being a troll.

May I ask which movie?

Arlington Road. Again, I know I was in the minority here, but that movie-AR--while at least it had a plot that I could understand, was still extremely overrated by its' adherents. I didn't care for Kubrick's film The Shining, either, and when I said that, that was what got me called a troll. FWIW, I didn't care that much for the Mick Garris version either, although I thought The Stand Was superb.

For some reason, the story in The Shining, just did not appeal to me and I like most of King's books that I have read. And I like some of Kubrick's films, such as Paths of Glory, and Dr. Strangelove.

So, for me anyway, Kubrick is a hit and miss type.

Hi, Gary.

I really like 2001, it's one of my favorites, but I do think it's okay that you don't like it.

It was definitely an acquired taste for me.

May I thank you for your kindness? You didn't like this film and you said so. But you didn't say that those who like it are idiots, fools, morons, or something worse.

You, sir, are definitely not a troll:)

@northcoast said:

Hi, Gary.

I really like 2001, it's one of my favorites, but I do think it's okay that you don't like it.

It was definitely an acquired taste for me.

May I thank you for your kindness? You didn't like this film and you said so. But you didn't say that those who like it are idiots, fools, morons, or something worse.

You, sir, are definitely not a troll:)

Thank you for the very kind words. One thing that I don't understand is when folks get mad when you differ with them on a movie. Like I said earlier, I like The stand. ON the IMDb board for it, we had some spirited discussions but while they sometimes amused me when they expressed different views, they did not make me angry. What I did was to engage them.

Ah well, such is life. Thank you once more for your kind words.

@Gary O. said:

First, I know that I am in a small minority here, but I am not a troll. That said, while the special effects were magnificent, I still thought that this was one of the most boring, pointless films I have ever seen. I didn't even finish it the first time around and went to IMDb to see if my DVD was defective. It was fine, and almost everyone on the 2001 board just raved over how good it was, so I decide to give it a second shot. I still didn't like it.

But then some folks didn't like films that I loved, so I chalk it up to individual tastes. I loved Dr Strangelove and Paths of Glory, so I didn't hate everything that Kubrick did, but this film, I did not like at all.

Please, no axes and pitchforks.

I like the first 3 parts - the beginning of man, finding the monolith on the moon, and the trip to Jupiter and HAL. I've never liked the 4th part very much. I saw it when it came out in the theaters -- I was 11 years old. Parts of it scared me --- mostly the scenes with the monolith, the sun, and moon lining up. That along with the music really scared the tar out of me. Seems like the 4th part was a product of those "trippy" times -- almost like an LSD trip -- what I'd imagine an acid trip to be!

@Gary O. said:

First, I know that I am in a small minority here, but I am not a troll. That said, while the special effects were magnificent, I still thought that this was one of the most boring, pointless films I have ever seen. I didn't even finish it the first time around and went to IMDb to see if my DVD was defective. It was fine, and almost everyone on the 2001 board just raved over how good it was, so I decide to give it a second shot. I still didn't like it.

But then some folks didn't like films that I loved, so I chalk it up to individual tastes. I loved Dr Strangelove and Paths of Glory, so I didn't hate everything that Kubrick did, but this film, I did not like at all.

Please, no axes and pitchforks.

It's happening once more on the moviechat boards. I agreed with someone's not liking this film and got called names. People are very strange sometimes.

@glomps and nibbles said:

I have still not watched this one

Im gonna give it a watch this week itself

You may very well like it. Most people do, but I didn't.

@Gary O. said:

First, I know that I am in a small minority here, but I am not a troll. That said, while the special effects were magnificent, I still thought that this was one of the most boring, pointless films I have ever seen. I didn't even finish it the first time around and went to IMDb to see if my DVD was defective. It was fine, and almost everyone on the 2001 board just raved over how good it was, so I decide to give it a second shot. I still didn't like it.

But then some folks didn't like films that I loved, so I chalk it up to individual tastes. I loved Dr Strangelove and Paths of Glory, so I didn't hate everything that Kubrick did, but this film, I did not like at all.

Please, no axes and pitchforks.

This is a tough one, I will admit it. I also didn't quite like it the first time I saw it but it does grow on you. It's one of those films that is more appreciated for the cinematography than the actual plot which is very basic. Yes, there are some mysterious elements to it leaving some things ambiguous as to let the viewer have his own take on it but for the most part if you are looking at it from a storytelling point of view it is quite boring.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - 7 outta 10 stars

My favorite Kubrick film without question is Full Metal Jacket. If you haven't seen that, I highly recommend it.

@movie_nazi said:

@Gary O. said:

First, I know that I am in a small minority here, but I am not a troll. That said, while the special effects were magnificent, I still thought that this was one of the most boring, pointless films I have ever seen. I didn't even finish it the first time around and went to IMDb to see if my DVD was defective. It was fine, and almost everyone on the 2001 board just raved over how good it was, so I decide to give it a second shot. I still didn't like it.

But then some folks didn't like films that I loved, so I chalk it up to individual tastes. I loved Dr Strangelove and Paths of Glory, so I didn't hate everything that Kubrick did, but this film, I did not like at all.

Please, no axes and pitchforks.

This is a tough one, I will admit it. I also didn't quite like it the first time I saw it but it does grow on you. It's one of those films that is more appreciated for the cinematography than the actual plot which is very basic. Yes, there are some mysterious elements to it leaving some things ambiguous as to let the viewer have his own take on it but for the most part if you are looking at it from a storytelling point of view it is quite boring.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - 7 outta 10 stars

My favorite Kubrick film without question is Full Metal Jacket. If you haven't seen that, I highly recommend it.

Weren't you on the board for Salem's Lot on IMDb? Your name looks familiar.