2001: A Space Odyssey has been called the greatest science-fiction motion picture ever made. Much of the film follows a spaceship’s journey to Jupiter searching for intelligent life in outer space. Critics have praised the film for its brilliant technical effects and photography, but they have also criticized its often obscure symbolism. The film won an Academy Award in 1969 for special visual effects.
2001 was released in 1968. It was directed by American filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, who was the coauthor of the screenplay with British science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke. The movie was based on Clarke’s 1951 short story “The Sentinel.” Clarke adapted the screenplay into the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
The movie begins 4 million years ago on Earth. Early humanlike creatures find a large black block of stone called a monolith, which has been sent to Earth by an unknown intelligence to encourage the development of humanity. This prologue features the famous opening passage of the symphonic poem Thus Spake Zarathustra by the German composer Richard Strauss.
After the prologue, the film moves ahead to the spaceship Discovery on a mission to trace the source of a strong radio signal from outer space. However, the crew does not know the spaceship’s true mission. The HAL 9000 computer (“HAL”) controls the voyage. Once underway, HAL begins killing off crew members because the computer considers them obstacles to the success of the mission. Only one man, Captain Dave Bowman, survives. Bowman disconnects HAL. In orbit around Jupiter, Bowman encounters another monolith, which takes him on a journey through infinity. Bowman is transformed along the way into a “Star Child,” marking a higher stage of development.
Many viewers and critics were fascinated by the imagination of 2001, but others found it confusing and pretentious. However, in its visual creativity and the ambition of its philosophical story, the movie has been generally considered a masterpiece.
The cast starred Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood. The supporting actors included Robert Beatty, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, and William Sylvester. Canadian actor Douglas Rain provided the voice of HAL the computer.
A sequel was released in 1984 as 2010: The Year We Made Contact. It was based on the Clarke novel 2010: Odyssey Two (1982). Clarke also wrote two more novels in the series—2061: Odyssey Three (1988) and 3001: The Final Odyssey (1997).
See also Clarke, Arthur C. ; Kubrick, Stanley .
