2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey

(1968, directed by Stanley Kubrick)

- inducted 2019 –

“Half a century later, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey hasn't lost its power to inspire awe. It's still a divisive movie, but it can't reasonably be dismissed. Special effects have evolved - particularly in the depiction of space vehicles - without making 2001's look silly. The pacing of entertainment has sped up, only making its long, meditative scenes feel even more hypnotic.

“It has a reputation as a cold and distanced movie. Its human characters aren't much more emotive than its A.I. antagonist, and Kubrick seems to put us in a God's-eye perspective, stepping far back enough to see a continuum from primitive apes to mankind's discovery of a space vortex. Yet it's joyful in its use of image and sound, turning a space walk or the movements of celestial bodies into ballet.

“Everything about it feels enormous, demanding the biggest screen available. A single edit spans millions of years, suggesting a story about the entire history of the human race, or at least a topic as broad as ‘man's use of tools.’ Yet it ends intimately, with one man alone inside the vastness of space, of time, of his mind. Maybe. I'm not sure. Luckily you don't have to be able to follow 2001 to feel it deeply. There doesn't seem to be a shelf date on the potency of pure cinema.” ~ Vern

Principal cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter, Leonard Rossiter, Margaret Tyzack, Robert Beatty, Sean Sullivan, and the voices of Douglas Rain and Frank Miller, with a uncredited appearance by Vivian Kubrick
Screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke
Based on the short story “The Sentinel” by Arthur C. Clarke
Produced by Stanley Kubrick
Associate producer: Victor Lyndon (uncredited)
Director of photography: Geoffrey Unsworth
Production design by Ernest Archer, Harry Lange, Tony Masters
Wardrobe by Hardy Amies
Film editing by Ray Lovejoy
Featuring music by Aram Khatchaturian, György Ligeti, Johann Strauss, Richard Strauss
Makeup by Stuart Freeborn
Key hair stylist: Carol Beckett, Alice Holmes (uncredited)
Sound by: A.W. Watkins (sound supervisor), H.L. Bird (sound mixer), Winston Ryder (sound editor), J.D. Smith (chief dubbing mixer)
Special photographic effects designed and directed by Stanley Kubrick
Special photographic effects supervisors: Con Pederson, Douglas Trumbull, Wally Veevers
Scientific consultant: Frederick I. Ordway III
Additional photography by John Alcott, Gilbert Taylor (uncredited)
Choreography by Daniel Richter (uncredited), Roy Simpson (uncredited)
Ape suits consultant: Leonard (uncredited)
Concept artist: Christiane Kubrick (uncredited)
Star Child designed by Liz Moore (uncredited)
Director of photography, Monument Valley: Robert Gaffney (uncredited)
Assistants to Mr. Kubrick: Andrew Birkin (uncredited), Anthony Frewin (uncredited)
Original score by Alex North (uncredited, score unused)

UK/USA
Duration: 149 minutes
Languages: English, Russian
Filmed in color (Metrocolor)
Sound mix: 70mm 6-track (70mm prints); 4-track Stereo (35mm magnetic prints)
Cinematographic process: Cinerama, Todd-AO, Super Panavision 70
Aspect ratio: 2:20:1
Printed film format: 70mm

Produced and released in USA by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Premiered in Washington, D.C. on April 2, 1968

Awards and honors:
- 50th Anniv. Muriel Award, 2018
- National Film Registry selection, 1991
- Selected as one of Roger Ebert’s “Great Movies
- Academy Awards (USA), 1968 – Best Effects, Special Visual Effects (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards, 1968 – Best Art Direction (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards, 1968 – Best Cinematography (won)
- BAFTA Film Awards, 1968 – Best Sound Track (won)
- Academy Awards (USA), 1968 – Best Director: Stanley Kubrick (nominated)
- Academy Awards (USA), 1968 – Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Written Directly For the Screen (nominated)
- Academy Awards (USA), 1968 – Best Art Director-Set Decoration (nominated)
- BAFTA Film Awards, 1968 – Best Film (nominated)
- BAFTA Film Awards, 1968 – UN Award (nominated)
- DGA Awards, 1968 – Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures: Stanley Kubrick (nominated)
- National Board of Review, 1968 – Top 10 Films of the Year

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