Should I watch 2001: A Space Odyssey?

The long and short of it: Probably Not
When was it made: 1968

Directed by Stanley Kubrick and co-written by Arthur C. Clarke, 2001 is a sci-fi epic dealing with the origins of man and our future in the stars. In it's time, the special effects were the most extraordinary and realistic of any other movie. Note the caveat, however: in it's time. The visuals were extremely well done: attendants walking upside down, pens floating through the air, all done pre-digital effects, and aside from a few odd movements and bad monkey costumes, it looks very well done. Unfortunately, the tricks of camera required to make these things look realistic without digital effects requires very slow movement. In fact, that is the biggest problem this movie suffers from overall. The whole movie moves slowly. While this is fine in those subplots that are interesting and have a lot to cover, I don't think we need ten minutes following attendants in space. I'm sure in '68 that whole sequence was fascinating, and everyone in the theater was calling Kubrick a sorcerer, but in the modern age of Michael-Bay-made movies driven entirely by effects (as opposed to plots) these effect sequences are incredibly boring.

There is a considerable amount of hype surrounding this movie: it is often called one of the greatest movies ever, of all time. It is one of those few American movies that is considered "culturally significant." In other words, only the truly intelligent and therefore snobby will understand it. It is a viewers badge, and unfortunately it is one of the last big truly sci-fi movies: by no means is this a space adventure or space opera.

Now, for some people, 2.5 hours is a bit long for them to sit and watch any movie, much less one without hot chicks and explosions (I do it for teh lols). Those well versed in the nature of vacuum and zero-gravity will be pleased to see that the movie is one of the most accurate, with only a few problems with lighting and small discrepancies in gravity effects, but these were all things that could not be avoided while shooting the movie in atmosphere and on Earth. If you want to watch an actual sci-fi movie that gets most of the science right (like no sound in space), than go ahead and watch it. If you have to have action and can't sit through two hours of dead time and talking, read the Wikipedia entry and act like you've watched it.

I personally do not think this movie deserves all the positive hype it gets. It has some interesting moments and some great character interactions, but it moves so slowly, and the message it is trying to send is too confusing for its importance. I think if the movie moved a bit quicker, I would be willing to put up with it a lot more. But the fact remains that it was probably impressive back in the day, and history has been kind. I will say this: if you have nothing else to do, or someone you know is watching it, go ahead and do it, but I wouldn't go out and spend money on it or plan an evening around the movie. There were some good parts: I actually thought the first act with the pre-humans was actually pretty fun to watch, and an interesting sci-fi explanation of the "missing link." So, I wouldn't actively avoid this movie, but I wouldn't go out of my to see it, either.