I got to see 2001 on a new 70mm print very recently, and it was fantastic. I’d honestly call it one of the greatest experiences of my life. There’s just something about those film qualities that you don’t get with digital – the subtle flicker, the glow, the quiet whirring of the projector in the background – it’s been ages since I’ve since a movie like that, and I loved it.

Whether the color timing of the new prints is completely authentic to the original release I couldn’t say, but the colors and contrast did look exceptionally good throughout. It didn’t have any of the blue-tinted walls seen on the Bluray; if anything, the bright whites actually seemed slightly yellowish at times. Nothing about it felt revisionist or overly modern. Nolan and his associates did an exceptionally good job with this, and I’m very grateful for their efforts. If the 4K version looks like the print, then I’d be quite happy with it.

I also loved finally getting to hear the original sound mix. There was some very effective mono surround usage during the Dawn of Man sequence, the dialog panning contributed to the scope of certain scenes, and HAL’s voice often seemed to come from everywhere at once. The radio signal from the second monolith was piercingly loud! I hadn’t been expecting that at all (on the remix it is lower in level), but it was quite effective for the scene. There was a fair amount of low end during the stargate sequence as well, not as much as the remix since it doesn’t use an LFE channel, but it felt appropriate. I heard a small amount of distortion on the loudest peaks occasionally, but nothing to be concerned about.

I never thought I’d get to see 2001 (or any other film) in 70mm, so this was definitely one of those all-time great moments for me. Now I just wish I could see it again the same way.