2001: A Space Odyssey

A group of primates happen upon a large, metallic pillar and soon discover the ability to make simple tools and weapons. Fast forward several thousand millennia to the title year where a similar structure has been discovered dispatching messages to Jupiter, where a two man crew and an eerie, self-thinking supercomputer have been sent to investigate. From an Arthur C. Clarke novel, Stanley Kubrick's visionary masterwork can be seen as a challenging piece of science fiction and as a mesmerizing visual wonder. It unfolds at a deliberate pace and features excellent photography and state of the art special effects (which still haven't been equalled) meshed perfectly with classical music. It also contains one of the finest villainous "performances" from the HAL 9000.