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- "Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried 40 feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter the four-million year old black monolith has remained completely inert. Its origin and purpose are still a total mystery."
- ―Heywood R. Floyd
| 2001: A Space Odyssey | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | 2001: A Space Odyssey |
| Director: | Stanley Kubrick |
| Writers: | Stanley Kubrick; Arthur C. Clarke |
| Producers: | Stanley Kubrick; Victor Lyndon |
| Composer: | Johann Strauss II; Richard Strauss |
| Cinematography: | Geoffrey Unsworth |
| Editors: | Ray Lovejoy |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | MGM; Stanley Kubrick Productions |
| Released: | April 6th, 1968 |
| Rating: | G |
| Running time: | 141 min. |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $10,500,000 |
| Gross: | $190,700,000 |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | 2010: The Year We Make Contact |
2001: A Space Odyssey is an American science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick and released theatrically on April 6th, 1968. The script was based on a story written by science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke and was written between 1964-1965 to coincide with the production of the film. 2001: A Space Odyssey is widely regarded as being one of the greatest science fiction films of all time, notably for it's scientific realism, intelligent approach to evolution and alien intelligence, surreal imagery and the exacting execution of its director.
Plot[]
The Dawn of Man[]
The Moon-Watcher.
Four million years ago, during Earth's Pleistocene era, a tribe of primitive ape man scrounges the desolate plains of Africa in search of food. Their days are fraught with peril, both from starvation as well as predators. A leopard takes the opportunity to lunge at one of the weaker apes and kills him. The leader of the tribe brings his brethren to the banks of a muddy river. A rival group of ape men are on the opposite side and both tribes shout and shake their fists at the other.
The tribe soon come upon a bizarre stone Monolith in the middle of the gorge. The leader touches the structure and finds that he is now imbued with enhanced instincts and intellect. Through their leader, the tribe adapt to the use of tools and weapons and become carnivores. These ape men will one day evolve into modern homo sapien due to their interaction with the Monolith.
TMA-1[]
Journey to Clavius Base.
Millions of years later, in the year 2000, chairman of the National Council of Astronautics Heywood R. Floyd boards a shuttle bound for the orbital platform Space Station One. He is en route to Earth's moon for a top-secret briefing. The stewardesses on the Orion III shuttle see to his needs and assist him with adapting to the foibles expected in a zero gravity environment.
When they reach the Space Station, Floyd meets with some colleagues including, Russian scientist Andrei Smyslov. Smyslov asks him about the alleged quarantine taking place on the moon, but Floyd offers up on details. He then boards the Aries-1B lunar carrier, which takes him on the final leg of his journey to Clavius Base at the Clavius Crater. Doctor Floyd meets with site administrator Bill Michaels and addresses an assembly of the base's top scientists. He speaks about TMA-1 and the necessity of keeping all news of the project a secret.
Floyd then takes a moon rover out to Tycho Crater, where a team of geophysicists stand around the subject of the TMA-1 project - a Monolith. Dubbed Tycho Magnetic Anomaly-1, the Monolith is a tall, slender slab of black stone in the middle of the crater. Analysis of the Monolith provides irrefutable proof that it is of alien origin and that man is not alone in the universe. Floyd touches the Monolith and upon doing so, it immediately generates an intense radio wave of energy. Floyd and the others cradle their helmets in an effort to block out the ear-piercing whine.
Jupiter Mission[]
Eighteen months later, in the year 2001, the Discovery One exploratory ship is traveling through space en route to the planet Jupiter. The mission involves taking up stationary orbit around the gas giant and mapping and analyzing Jupiter's moons. Of the five crew members, only First captain Dave Bowman and Deputy commander Frank Poole are active aboard the ship. The three-man survey team are in cryonic hibernation.
Dave and Frank both know that there is more to the Jupiter mission than they have been led to believe, but they are unclear on the exact parameters of the mission. They watch a news broadcast, televised from Earth, outlining the Discovery One voyage to its viewers. As they continue observing the broadcast, the ship's onboard computer intelligence, the HAL 9000, begins speaking to them. It alerts Dave and Frank to the fact that the AE-35 unit is faulty and needs to be replaced within seventy-two hours. Without it, the crew will lose all contact with Earth.
Dave and Frank take an EVA pod outside and examine the ship's parabolic antenna array. They find that the AE-35 unit appears to be functioning perfectly well and they wonder if the HAL 9000 could have made an error. When they explain this to the computer, HAL is quick to disagree with them, noting that the 9000 series of computer has a 100% successful operational record and is virtually incapable of making a miscalculation. In HAL's opinion, any discrepancy with the analysis must be due to human error. To prove it's point, the computer recommends placing the faulty unit back and wait it for it to fail.
Dave and Frank become concerned about HAL's reliability. In order to discuss the matter in private, they enter an EVA pod and shut off all of the pod's audio systems. Frank recommends waiting until the seventy-two hour window expires to see if HAL's calculations were correct. If not, and the computer is indeed faulty, he recommends disconnecting HAL from the rest of the ship. What neither Bowman or Poole realize is that one of HAL's video monitors watches them and although it cannot hear their conversation, it can discern the nature of the discussion by interpreting their lip movements. HAL understands that the astronauts intend on terminating it's functions.
Prisoner of the "mad machine".
Frank Poole takes an EVA out and goes on a spacewalk to replace the AE-35 unit. HAL takes control of the EVA and angles it so that it severs Poole's oxygen hose. The escaping pressure from the hose pushes Poole away from the Discovery One and his body begins cartwheeling into outer space. When Bowman realizes what is happening, he takes a second pod out in an effort to reclaim Frank's body. He uses the pod's articulating arms to latch onto Frank, but when he tries to re-dock with the Discovery One, he finds that HAL has locked him out. Dave orders HAL to let him inside, but HAL refuses. Unable to do anything for Frank, he lets his body drift out into space. Dave then has to return to the ship by going through the emergency airlock. The feat is dangerous, for Dave is without the benefit of a helmet. He succeeds in exiting the pod, entering the airlock chamber and shutting the bay door without succumbing to the vacuum of space.
When he gets back into the main body of the ship, he finds that HAL has terminated the life functions of the hibernation chambers. All three members of the sleeping survey team are now dead. Hal makes his way to the computer control console and begins disconnecting HAL's systems. HAL protests, but as Dave continues to remove the circuits, HAL's voice becomes more sluggish. Eventually, he completes the task and HAL's systems shut down. When the computer goes offline, a pre-recorded message from Doctor Heywood Floyd begins playing. Floyd details the true nature of the mission. He reveals information concerning the TMA-1 Monolith and says that the Monolith began emitting a powerful radio wave aimed towards Jupiter and it is believed that Jupiter may hold the key towards understanding the architects of this strange and ancient device. With HAL disconnected and the rest of the crew dead, Dave Bowman must now complete the journey to Jupiter manually.
Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite[]
The Star Child approaches Earth.
The Discovery One finally reaches Jupiter and finds a giant Monolith floating in space just outside of Jupiter's orbit. Dave takes an EVA pod and approaches it, but as he comes within close distance of the artifact, he finds himself drawn into the Monolith, which is actually a cosmic star gate. He is shunted through a tunnel of dazzling light, surreal, psychotropic images and inexplicable cosmological phenomena.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Bowman finds himself transported to a more familiar setting. The EVA pod appears in the middle of a giant suite patterned in the style of Louis XVI decor. Bowman sees progressively older versions of himself, his point of view switching each time, until he appears as a very elderly man lying in the bed. Looking up from the bed, he sees a black Monolith appear before him. As he reaches out to it, the astronaut transforms into a giant, fetus-like being enclosed in a transparent orb of light. Ascending to a higher state of being, the reborn Dave Bowman, this veritable Star Child, travels across the galaxy in his transparent womb, ultimately returning to Earth. The Star Child gazes down upon the blue-green planet with a look of awe and wonder.
Cast[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The tagline for this film is "An epic drama of adventure and exploration".
- The 25th Anniversary edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey was first made available on VHS on June 30th, 1993. The DVD edition of the film was made available on August 25th, 1998. It was made available on Blu-ray on October 23rd, 2007.
- Extended edition cut is 160 minutes long.
- Pre-production began on January 28th, 1965. The film was shot from December 29th, 1965 to July 7th, 1966. Post-production concluded on March 10th, 1968.
- This is the first film released through Stanley Kubrick Productions.
- The "Dawn of Man" sequence at the beginning of the film was based on "Encounter at Dawn" (also known as "Encounter" and "Expedition to Earth"), which was written by Arthur C. Clark and published in Amazing Stories in 1953. [1]
- 2001: A Space Odyssey was adapted and expanded upon in the 2001: A Space Odyssey comic book series by Marvel Comics.
- Was lampooned in the 2001 film 2001: A Space Travesty starring Leslie Nielsen.
- In the film, the Discovery One mission is bound for the planet Jupiter. In the novel, their destination was Saturn.
- Final film appearance for actress Ann Gillis.
- In issue #16 of the first Man-Thing comic book series, the character of Eugene "Star" Spangler performs a song called "1999: A Space Parable", which is a play on 2001: A Space Odyssey.
External Links[]
Gallery[]
References[]
Keywords[]
2000s; 2001; Accelerated aging; Alien artifacts; Astronaut; Computer malfunctions; Cryogenic suspension; Earth's moon; Evolution; Explosive decompression; Hominid; Jupiter; Monolith; Moon; Planet; Pleistocene era; Quarantine; Rogue computers; Saturn; Space agencies; Space station; Spacecraft; Spacetime; Spacetime compression