2001: A Space Odyssey (film)

2001: A Space Odyssey (often referred to as simply 2001) is a 1968 epic science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. The film deals with thematic elements of human evolution, technology, artificial intelligence, and extraterrestrial life, and is notable for its scientific realism, pioneering special effects, ambiguous imagery that is open-ended to a point approaching surrealism, sound in place of traditional narrative techniques, and minimal use of dialogue.

The film has a memorable soundtrack—the result of the association that Kubrick made between the rotary motion of the satellites and the dancers of waltzes, which led him to use the The Blue Danube waltz by Johann Strauss II,[1] and the famous symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, to portray the philosophical evolution of Man theorized in Nietzsche's homonymous work.[2][3]

Despite initially receiving mixed reviews, 2001: A Space Odyssey is today recognized by many critics and audiences as one of the greatest films ever made; the 2002 Sight & Sound poll of critics ranked it among the top ten films of all time.[4] It was nominated for four Academy Awards, and received one for visual effects. In 1991, it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Title

The first title imagined by Kubrick and Clarke was Journey Beyond the Stars, but Kubrick modified it later.[5] Having the intention to give the film more pomp and grandeur, he used Homer's The Odyssey as inspiration to name the film.[5]
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Style
See also: Differences between the film and the novel

Clarke and Kubrick wrote the novel and screenplay simultaneously, but while Clarke ultimately opted for clearer explanations of the mysterious monolith and the Star Gate, Kubrick chose to keep the film mysterious and enigmatic[3] with minimal dialogue in order to convey what many viewers have described as a powerful sense of the sublime and numinous, without specific explanations of events. For this reason, an encyclopedic plot summary of this film is difficult.
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Plot

DVDs of this film restore the blank screen musical prelude that appeared in the original road-show release though this was not seen in the wider theatrical release of the film or early VHS releases. The viewer sees a blank screen while the theme music "Atmospheres" plays (the same music played during the final StarGate sequence). After about three minutes the music dies out and the MGM logo appears.[6] The title sequence then begins with an image of the Earth rising over the Moon, while the Sun rises over the Earth, all in alignment. (This is the first of three occurrences in the film of the iconic "Thus Spoke Zarathustra" theme. See music section for further discussion of the use of music in the film.)

The film consists of four major sections, all of which except the second are introduced by title cards.
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The Dawn of Man

A tribe of herbivorous apes is foraging for food in the African desert. A leopard kills one member, and another tribe drives them from their water hole. Defeated, they sleep overnight in a small exposed rock crater. They awake to find that a black monolith has appeared in front of their shelter. They approach it shrieking and jumping, and eventually cautiously touch it. Soon after that, one of the apes (Daniel Richter) realizes how to use a bone as both a tool and as a weapon. The apes have now learned how to take down prey, and are seen eating meat in a subsequent scene. The next morning, they wrest control of the water hole from the other tribe, killing its leader in the process. Triumphant, the ape leader throws his bone into the air, which switches via match cut from a close-up of the bone to a long shot of an orbital nuclear weapon[7] millions of years in the future.
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TMA-1

A Pan Am space plane flies Dr. Heywood R. Floyd (William Sylvester) to Space Station V for a layover on his trip to Clavius Base, a US outpost on the moon. From the station Floyd makes a videophone call to his daughter (Vivian Kubrick) to wish her a happy birthday. He meets a Soviet scientist friend and her colleagues. One of the scientists, Smyslov (Leonard Rossiter), asks him about Clavius, but Floyd declines to answer any more questions when he mentions the rumor that an epidemic has broken out at the base, implying that the rumor is true.

At Clavius Floyd heads a debriefing session, apologizing for the epidemic cover story. His mission is to investigate an artifact dug up on the moon, initially detected by its magnetic field and named "TMA-1" ("Tycho Magnetic Anomaly One"). Geological evidence shows it was "deliberately buried" four million years ago. Floyd and others ride in a Moonbus to the site. In a large pit dug around it, the artifact is a monolith identical to the one encountered by the apes. The visitors examine the monolith and pose for a photo in front of it. As they do, the sun rises over the top of the monolith; the sunlight triggers an ear-splitting tone over radio.
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Jupiter Mission

18 months later, on board the American spaceship Discovery One bound for Jupiter are two mission pilots—astronauts Dr. David Bowman (Keir Dullea) and Dr. Francis "Frank" Poole (Gary Lockwood)—and three scientists in cryogenic hibernation. Three weeks after leaving Earth, Bowman and Poole watch a BBC television story about the mission which discusses the ship’s on-board computer HAL 9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain), or "Hal", who runs most of the ship’s operations. BBC newsreader Kenneth Kendall notes that Hal seems to take pride in his work, as if he has genuine emotions.

Hal asks Bowman about the unusual mystery and secrecy surrounding the mission. The computer then interrupts himself to state that the AE-35 unit, which controls the antenna that provides communications with Earth, is going to fail within 72 hours. Bowman takes an EVA pod to replace the unit with a spare. The astronauts examine the unit but are unable to find anything wrong with it. They contact Earth-based ground control, and are told that the earth-based HAL 9000 states the ship's HAL is in error predicting the fault. This is surprising, since the 9000 series has a perfect operational record.

Hal insists the problem is due to "human error", and suggests placing the unit back and waiting for it to fail. On a pretext, Bowman and Poole enter one of the EVA pods to talk without the computer overhearing them. They decide to follow Hal's suggestion and replace the unit, but Poole says that if the computer is proven to be wrong, he will have to be deactivated. The astronauts do not know that Hal is able to read their lips through the window of the pod.

Poole attempts to replace the AE-35 unit. His EVA pod, controlled by Hal, turns and accelerates towards him, severing his oxygen hose and setting him adrift. Bowman, not realizing the computer is responsible for the incident, takes another pod to attempt a rescue without a full spacesuit. While he is gone, Hal terminates the life functions of the crew in suspended animation. When Bowman returns to the ship Hal refuses to let him in, stating that the astronaut's plan to disconnect him jeopardizes the mission. Risking death from anoxia Bowman enters the ship manually and goes to Hal's memory core to disconnect the computer. Hal tries to reassure Bowman that everything will be all right, but he ignores him.

As Bowman disconnects each crystal neural network module from Hal’s circuitry, the computer continues to protest. Hal regresses to his earliest memories, singing the song ("Daisy Bell") his instructor taught him on his first operational day with increasing slowness.

When the computer is disconnected, a monitor displays a pre-recorded message from Floyd:
Good day, gentlemen. This is a prerecorded briefing, made prior to your departure and which, for security reasons of the highest importance, has been known on board during the mission only by your H-A-L 9000 computer. Now that you are in Jupiter's space, and the entire crew is revived, it can be told to you. 18 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 still a total mystery.