Love it or loath it, it’s one of those movies that splits opinion even on this forum. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of an Arthur C Clarke story for me is a masterpiece, every frame is iconic from beautiful panoramas at the dawn of mankind to the final shot of the Starchild as it turns towards the Earth, even the music is instantly recognisable.
The film asks a lot of questions and can be interpreted in many ways, is prehistoric man forced to evolve to further some long distant endgame set by an alien race? Or is it an experiment that’s been deemed a failure and so it begins again on another world in our solar system as it was alluded to in the novel 2010: Odyssey II, 'ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS—EXCEPT EUROPA ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE', it’s also a picture that’s not afraid to leave many of those questions unanswered. You don’t get to find out what the plan, (if any), was, you don't get to see the alien race, (again if any), that set that plan in motion. Who, what and why are all left up to you to decide.
The picture has since become a cult favourite and has influence many film makers, Spielberg and Lucas to name but two, and it’s been referenced in multiple other productions from Catch 22 to The Simpsons.
It’s a little hard to review such a classic movie especially when it’s one of your favourites and in this age of reboots, remakes and reimaging’s I can only hope that no studio is foolish enough to attempt such a project.