Visuals and atmosphere may be two different things, but the latter is a much more attractive concept to me. I don't think I'll ever watch a Michael Bay film again after seeing two movies from him I really did not enjoy in the slightest (Pearl Harbor; Transformers), whereas I echo your sentiments regarding what I would classify as 2001's atmospheric worth being tremendous.
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"we're about 50 years behind the rest of western society." -icon on B8