it starts off with a view of earth and jupiter aligned.<br /><br />where do we come from, and where we are headed.<br /><br />the story starts with "the dawn of Man", a documentary-like view of the Pre-historic grass-eater ape that was facing its extinction due to no physical ability that would let him hunt to eat, and the lack of grass and water in the austral Africa. the monkeys hadn't survived if it wasn't for the "god-like" intervention of an alien artifact, that somehow transformed the apes that touched it, and gave them the ability to use tools, that were first used as weapons that allowed them to kill pigs to eat for super and to kill other monkeys in fights for water. that ape was Man. an enigmatic start for an enigmatic film.<br /><br />after the fast-forward that leaves the movie at the present days, we see a magnificent dance of spaceships at the sound of Strauss. The rest of the movie is about how tools got control of Man. the strange artifact appears once again to evolve Man to his final stage: the starchild.<br /><br />at 1968, the year this movie was released, only astronauts had idea of what was out there in space. after this movie, that changed. it's futurism took 7 years to be explored. the special effects are incredible. they are completely realistic, even today.<br /><br />the directing, along with excellent taste in music, good acting, and the fantastic filmography, makes it an epic.<br /><br />the plot, with its vision of the year 2001 and the evolution of man tools, with an AI psycokiller, with the psycotropical hypnotising end, makes it the trip our lives.<br /><br />if you have never seen this movie, see it. don't be scared with the lack of dialog, sit back and enjoy. it's a symphony of evolution. it's terrific.