Tom Hanks is one of the most celebrated actors of the modern screen era. So when he says a movie is great, it’s great. Right?
Well, critics and moviegoers in April 1968 might beg to differ.
The film in question is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Although it’s now widely regarded as a masterpiece decades ahead of its time, the initial reaction was decidedly mixed when it premiered in 1968.
View this post on InstagramThe film first screened in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 1968, before opening in New York and Los Angeles, and the reception was lukewarm at best. Some viewers even walked out.
Meanwhile, several prominent critics weren’t kind to Kubrick’s ambitious science-fiction epic. Case in point: The New York Times critic Renata Adler famously described it as somewhere between “hypnotic” and “immensely boring.”
Tom Hanks Has Seen It More Than 100 Times
In a Deseret News feature in which stars were asked to name their all-time favorite movies, Hanks hesitated for no time.
“Absolutely, ‘2001’ (1968) is my favorite movie of all time. All the rest of the movies ever made just pale in comparison,” he said.
He then explained what fascinated him about the film: that Kubrick took the laws of physics seriously, particularly when depicting zero gravity.
“Very few films bother to do that,” Hanks said.
And Hanks’ admiration for the film didn’t stop there. In a later interview, he said he had seen 2001 roughly 120 times.
The actor also discussed his affection in a Q&A with the app Letterboxd, telling its users, “I still watch it a couple of times a year. … I could walk you through 2001: A Space Odyssey and not stop talking once during the entire film. So I don’t know if you want to have that experience.”
That makes his affection for Kubrick’s famously slow-burning space epic about as definitive as it gets.
2001: A Space Odyssey Was Also Named Greatest Film by ‘Time Out‘
The latest version of Time Out‘s list of the 100 best movies of all time puts 2001: A Space Odyssey at No. 1.
The list, updated in September 2026, was written by senior film critic Joshua Rothkopf and film writer Matthew Singer and edited by global film editor Phil de Semlyen. Time Out‘s editors acknowledge the ranking isn’t meant to be a definitive canon, but their current list still puts Kubrick’s 1968 science-fiction masterpiece at the top. The Godfather is No. 2, Citizen Kane is No. 3, and Psycho is No. 38.
Released in 1968, Kubrick’s sci-fi opus was light years ahead of its time. Encompassing millions of years of human evolution, the film stars Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood as astronauts aboard the Discovery One, sent toward Jupiter after a mysterious artifact is discovered on the moon.
But 2001 is less concerned with traditional plot than with revolutionary visual effects and big ideas about evolution, isolation, humanity’s place in the universe, and artificial intelligence. Time Out praises the film’s ambition and audacity, calling Kubrick’s vision of the future “prophetic” decades after its release.
The current acclaim is a far cry from some of the film’s earliest reviews.
When 2001 premiered in 1968, critics were divided. The New York Times critic Renata Adler famously found the film somewhere between “hypnotic” and “immensely boring,” while Pauline Kael called it “monumentally unimaginative.”
The film’s reputation changed dramatically over time. By the early 1970s, 2001 was increasingly recognized as a major cinematic achievement, and it has since become one of the most celebrated films in movie history.
Related: 1993 Val Kilmer Classic Named the ‘Very Best Film Ever Made’
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