2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		5.0

2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 16, 2019

Warner Brothers and Best Buy have collaborated on a store exclusive SteelBook release for Director Stanley Kubrick's Science Fiction masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey.' The SteelBook's contents are identical to the three-disc wide release. See the 'Special Features and Extras' section below for more on the SteelBook itself.

For a link to a full film review and a few additional thoughts on the film and its UHD release, please see Jeffrey Kauffman's writing here.

2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For a full UHD video review, please click here.

2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a full UHD audio review, please click here.

2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

2001's SteelBook front cover image is not fundamentally different from that seen on the wide release. It features an image of Dr. Dave Bowman inside his space suit, bathed in red light, with glowing white computer chips reflected in the helmet. The image is taken from a key scene late in the film and can be viewed in chapter 29, around the 1:56:00 mark on the UHD disc. The film's title, accompanied by Stanley Kubrick's name, appears top-center. There is no other text on the front and there is no embossing or debossing work. The rear side is handsomely simplistic, featuring a black star field with the film's famous circular space station center and a much smaller craft off to the right. The spine is largely black, but some of the red from the front wraps around the middle. The film's title, again with director's name, appears center. A fairly large "4K UltraHD" logo appears at the top and a Warner Brothers shield appears at the bottom. The front and rear panels are not prone to excessive fingerprinting.

Inside, the digital copy code is housed underneath the left hand side tabs. The three discs (UHD film, Blu-ray film, Blu-ray special features) are situated on the right, staggered-stacked, and the two BD discs are stacked one atop the other. The inner print offers a handsome two-panel spread featuring a computer station seen prominently in the film, the one in which the HAL 9000 unit appears center (see chapter 15, the 1:00:55 mark, for a very nice in-film overview of the station). The nature of the image inside the SteelBook makes it very prone to reflection.

For full coverage of the on-disc supplements, please click here.

2001: A Space Odyssey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While the designers might should have opted to select a unique front cover art for this SteelBook, it's impressive in the hand, feels great, and the rear and inner prints are fantastic. The on-disc content is tremendous, and for as great as the movie may be, it's easy to become lost in Warner's beautiful transfer and awe at the on-screen visuals rather than once again become lost in the film. This SteelBook release earns my highest recommendation.