I saw a 70mm print of this film a few years back and it was AWESOME. People may bitch and moan about the story, but I think they’re missing the point. This thing is better viewed as a time-capsule view back into a time that is no more. The 60's were a crazy time and both culture and civilization were in a mad chase toward meltdown. Since the physical existence of this film is itself an artifact from that period, you are literally looking through a window to a time, place, and point of view that, from today's vantage point, no longer makes any sense (if it ever did). Therefore, all of the flaws are in and of themselves proof of the psychology of those insane times...
Also, a quick glance at many of Antonioni's other films show that he was generally more interested in image and space than in narrative. This is not to say that narrative wasn't important; I just feel that he used the vastness of natural space across his wide-screen canvas to visually isolate his characters. Alienation was a major theme of his. So it’s no mystery to me that most viewers would themselves be alienated from the film. It's only natural. Once you understand that level of disengagement, it's easier to accept the flaws as possibly even intentional.
The explosion at the end on the big screen in 70mm was GLORIOUS. The detail of every single bit of slo-mo shrapnel was unbelievable. It was like every television commercial you've ever seen in your life blowing up all at once. I still particularly remember a box of Kellogg's Special K and a loaf of Wonder Bread flying by in the middle of all that in crystal clear detail, like I could reach out and grab them. There's just no way to experience this sequence the same way on a TV at home. Watching it on the big screen makes you feel like you're getting sucked in, sorta like the "Jupiter and Beyond the Unknown" portal at the end of 2001 (another sequence that can only be "experienced" on the big screen).
So as crazy as it sounds, if you ever have the chance to see this insane film on a big screen, you owe yourself the journey just for the explosion alone.
Watch it at home. Experience it in a theatre.
"Gravity is a harsh mistress." -Tick
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