This week, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey completes 50 years, and the legend only grows. Even after five decades, the film remains a benchmark for Sci-Fi movies from all around the world. It’s impossible to make a space film without it being compared to 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The film’s stellar sound design, the opulent sets and its stirring philosophy hardly seem to have aged. Unlike the Star Wars films from the 1970s, Kubrick’s practical effects in 2001 are still ingenuous.
Based on the original text by Arthur C Clarke, 2001 remains one of the most compelling adaptations. The steely gaze of HAL 9000 will continue to be one of the most unnerving moments in world cinema. Everyone from Christopher Nolan to Alfonso Curaon has cited it as inspiration, for them to pursue filmmaking.
As the future generations discover the film in due time, it’s heartening to see that 2001: A Space Odyssey’s enigma still holds after all these years.
