2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Arthur C. Clarke (screenplay),

Stars:

Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester

Top 250 #94 | Won 1 Oscar. Another 12 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keir Dullea	...	Dr. Dave Bowman
Gary Lockwood	...	Dr. Frank Poole
William Sylvester	...	Dr. Heywood R. Floyd
Daniel Richter	...	Moon-Watcher
Leonard Rossiter	...	Dr. Andrei Smyslov
Margaret Tyzack	...	Elena
Robert Beatty	...	Dr. Ralph Halvorsen
Sean Sullivan	...	Dr. Bill Michaels
Douglas Rain	...	HAL 9000 (voice)
Frank Miller	...	Mission Controller (voice)
Bill Weston	...	Astronaut
Ed Bishop	...	Aries-1B Lunar Shuttle Captain (as Edward Bishop)
Glenn Beck	...	Astronaut
Alan Gifford	...	Poole's Father
Ann Gillis	...	Poole's Mother

Storyline

"2001" is a story of evolution. Sometime in the distant past, someone or something nudged evolution by placing a monolith on Earth (presumably elsewhere throughout the universe as well). Evolution then enabled humankind to reach the moon's surface, where yet another monolith is found, one that signals the monolith placers that humankind has evolved that far. Now a race begins between computers (HAL) and human (Bowman) to reach the monolith placers. The winner will achieve the next step in evolution, whatever that may be.

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Plot Keywords:

Monolith | Computer | Moon | Evolution | Alien | 

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Taglines:

Man's colony on the Moon... a whole new generation has been born and is living there... a quarter-million miles from Earth.

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Genres:

Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

G

Details

Country:

USA UK

Language:

English Russian

Release Date:

6 April 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

How the Solar System Was Won

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$56,715,371 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Stanley Kubrick Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

141 min 160 min (premiere cut)

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm magnetic prints) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) DTS 70 mm (2001 re-release)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though almost invisible when watching the film on a TV screen, the four satellites in the first space sequence bear United States, German, French, and Chinese markings.

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Goofs

During Bowman's EVA, stars are moving by, as though the ship was moving at about 5 light years (30 trillion miles) per second. In reality the star field would be stationary. Discovery's velocity of 28 miles per second is insignificant relative to interstellar distances.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Aries-1B stewardess: Here you are, sir, main level please.

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Crazy Credits

The original theatrical release had Ligeti's Atmospheres to a black screen for roughly 8 to 10 minutes before the movie began, and Strauss' The Blue Danube well after the end credits to a black screen.

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Connections

Referenced in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

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Soundtracks

"The Blue Danube"
(1866)
("An der schönen, blauen Donau, op. 314 (The Blue Danube)")
Music by Johann Strauß (as Johann Strauss)
Performed by Berliner Philharmoniker (as the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
Conductor Herbert von Karajan
Courtesy Deutsche Grammophon

User Reviews

film is a poetical contemplation of most exciting eternal questions

This movie is certainly one of the greatest films ever made. It is a story told in a steady pace, told mostly not by words but by cinematic means of expression. Perfect blend of spectacular special effects and classical music bring to life creations of human imagination in both realistic and poetical way. The story itself is quite simple at a first glance. As the title implies, there is an archetypal journey, a motive repeated for thousands of years. This motive was always used not only to depict a trip in space and time, and beyond, but also had rich philosophic meaning. The film is a poetical contemplation of most exciting eternal questions. It is not just an odyssey of a person; it is an odyssey of our species. The film is great by itself, yet, in my case, the impression from it will always be mingled with that from the book. I've read it at the age of 10, really not thinking about problems like 'what is the relationship between evolution of humankind and development of human morality'. But the impression was great enough to make me fall for entire genre of science fiction.

The day I learned '2001' got only special effects Oscar and was not even nominated for the Best Picture was the day when 'Academy Award' completely became two words meaning nothing to me.