WSR Detailed LaserDisc Review

2001: A Space Odyssey Deluxe Boxed Set
Genre:Classic

Reviewed In Issue 01 Of Widescreen Review® Stars:
Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester Dan Richter, Douglas Rain, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan & Frank Miller

WSR Review Scores
Picture Rating: 4.5
Sound Rating: 3
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Reference Systems
Critics' Composite Score:
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Supplementals

DVD General Information
(Studio/Distributor): Criterion Collection
(Catalog Number): CC1160L
(MPAA Rating): G
(Retail Price): $124.95
(Running Time In Minutes): 149
(Color Type): Color
(Chaptered/Scene Access): Yes
(Closed Captioned): No
(Theatrical Release): 1968
(LD Release Date): 12/06/88
(THX® Digitally Mastered): No

Credits Information
(Director): Stanley Kubrick
(Screenplay/Written By): Stanley Kubrick & Arthur C. Clarke
(Story): NA
(Music): NA
(Director Of Photography):
(Production Designer): Tony Masters, Harry Lange & Ernest Archer
(Visual Effects): NA
(Costume Designer): Hardy Amies
(Editor): Ray Lovejoy
(Supervising Sound Editors): NA
(Re-Recording Mixers):
(Executive Producers): NA
(Co-Producers): NA
(Producers): Stanley Kubrick

DVD Picture Information
(Principal Photography):
(Theatrical Aspect Ratio): 2.35:1
(Measured LaserDisc Aspect Ratio): 2.16:1

DVD Sound Information
(DVD Soundtrack): Dolby Surround
(Theatrical Sound): Mag Stereo & 70mm 6 Track Mag Stereo
(Theatrical Re-Issue Soundtrack):
(Remastered Dolby Digital):
(Remastered DTS Digital Surround):
(Additional Languages):

WSR Narrative Review
Story Synopsis:
“2001: A Space Odyssey” is Stanley Kubrick’s critically acclaimed milestone film about an unforgettable space journey. The story moves mankind from the prehistoric birth of intelligence to the emergence of man as pure thought in a setting of interplanetary space.

LaserDisc Picture:
This widescreen edition at an aspect ratio of 2.05:1 is a thrill to experience for its impartation of the sense of what it would be like to be witness to this film’s ultimate involvement and grandeur in theatres equipped with the very finest theatrical large format projection and sound. The images of space are absolutely both stunning and haunting in their beauty and scope even on a home theatre system. This is one of the few films that can evoke a mesmerizing effect on the viewer. It is represented here well as the masterpiece of filmmaking that it is.

LaserDisc Soundtrack:
The entirely classical score heightens the hypnotic state imparted by the visuals and special effects by Douglas Trumbull. This film popularized the now standard Richard Strauss classic, “Also Sprach Zarathustra.” The music recording lacks the extended bass and bottom octave performance of the introductory 32 Hz organ pedal note at the first frames of the film that can be heard on Telarc’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”
(Surround Bass Below 50Hz):
(Aggressive System Surround):
(Intense 25Hz Bass):
(Deep Bass Challenging):
(Aggressive 0.1 LFE):
(Holosonic Soundfield):
(Aggressive Split Surround):
(Center Back Surround Imaging):
(Directionalized Dialogue):
Superb Sound Effects Recording Quality:
Superb Music Score Recording Quality:
Superb Special Visual Effects Quality:
Superb Color Fidelity:
Superb Cinematography:
Reference LaserDisc:
Collector Edition:
DVD To LaserDisc Comparison: