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2001:
A Space Odyssey
A four-million-year-old black
monolith is discovered on the moon,
and the government (while hiding the
situation from the public) sends a
team of scientists on a fact-finding
mission. Eighteen months later,
another team is sent to Jupiter in a
ship controlled by the perfect HAL
9000 computer to further investigate
the giant object--but on this trip
something goes terribly wrong. 2001:
A SPACE ODYSSEY is a masterpiece of
filmmaking. Director and (with
Arthur C. Clarke) co-screenwriter
Stanley Kubrick has created a visual
and aural spectacle that stands as
one of the greatest achievements
ever put on celluloid. The film
begins with the "Dawn of
Man" segment, about the
evolution of apes, and then ventures
into the future, taking a look at
what the world might be like in the
first year of the 21st century.
Kubrick's film is a triumph of
technological storytelling, with
stunning sets and a brilliant,
overwhelming soundtrack. Long
dialogue-free scenes sparkle with
indelible images backed by powerful
orchestral music, culminating in an
unforgettable, inscrutable tale of
birth and rebirth, human evolution
and artificial intelligence, the
past and the future.
Theatrical release: April 4,
1968. Filmed at MGM British Studios
Ltd., Borehamwood, England.
Production on the film lasted four
years. The film was based on Arthur
C. Clarke's short story "The
Sentinel." 2001: A SPACE
ODYSSEY was added to the Library of
Congress National Film Registry in
1991. Alex North composed a score
for the film, but Kubrick opted to
go with more familiar classical
music pieces instead. There are four
parts of the film: "The Dawn of
Man," "From Earth to the
Moon," "Jupiter 18 Months
Later," and "Jupiter and
Beyond the Infinite." Pink
Floyd's song "Echoes" was
supposedly written and recorded to
synchronize with the "Jupiter
and Beyond the Infinite" part.
Vivian Kubrick, who plays Squirt,
Dr. Floyd's daughter, is Stanley's
daughter. An early working title for
the film was JOURNEY BEYOND THE
STARS. Two possibilities for the
voice of HAL were actors Nigel
Davenport and Martin Balsam before
Douglas Rain got the part; Rain
recorded his part without ever
actually being on the set of the
film. Kubrick won an Oscar for Best
Effects/Special Visual Effects, the
only Oscar win of his career.
Bowman's spaceship is Discovery I, a
name that was later used for an
actual U.S. space shuttle. A theory
was perpetrated that Kubrick got the
name HAL by taking the next letter
preceding each one in IBM; Kubrick
claimed that that was a coincidence.
According to Arthur C. Clarke's
writing, the name came from the
technical term "heuristic
algorithm." Kubrick cut about
20 minutes from the film after the
preview for critics and before the
theatrical release. The original
film was 160 minutes, which included
an intermission, and was rated MPAA
G. Mission controller Frank Miller
was an actual mission controller,
and Richard Wood, who played the
anchorman, was an actual BBC
anchorman. A sequel to the film,
2010: THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT, was
released in 1984.
"The 9000 series is the most
reliable computer ever made. No 9000
computer has ever made a mistake or
distorted information. We are all,
by any practical definition of the
words, foolproof and incapable of
error."--HAL 9000 (voice of
Douglas Rain) "I enjoy working
with people."--HAL 9000
"Open the pod bay doors,
Hal."--Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea)
"I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I
can't do that."--HAL
"What's the
problem?"--Dave "I think
you know what the problem is just as
much as I do."--HAL "What
are you talking about,
Hal?"--Dave "This mission
is too important for me to allow you
to jeopardize it."--HAL
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