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January 8, 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey |
Tidbit Archive
| "2001: A Space Odyssey" debuted in the spring of 1968.
Lyndon Johnson was President of the United States. Much of the world
was preoccupied with the Cold War and the War in Vietnam. The memory
of President Kennedy's assassination was still fresh. The Rev. Martin
Luther King was murdered in April; Robert F. Kennedy, two months later.
The U.S. and Russia were locked in a race to land a man on the moon.
A year earlier, three American astronauts had died in a fire on the launch
pad, setting back the U.S. Apollo Program by many months.
Directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick and based on a book by Arthur C. Clarke, "2001" was a huge hit. A third of a century later, in the real year 2001, it lives on in videocassette, DVD, print, music CD, and of course, on the web. And a new version, enhanced with digital light and sound and then-and-now comparisons is due out next year. "2001" was a tour-de-force of cinematography in its day, as well as a speculative essay on human destiny, and a semi-documentary on space exploration. As futurism, the film does pretty well. An orbiting space station is under construction, its supplies delivered by shuttle vehicles. The shape of the real-life station is not nearly as photogenic as that in "2001," and the shuttles lack both the PanAm logo and the stylishly uniformed female flight attendants, but the basic concept is there. Computers play a central role in space flight, and, although they haven't developed HAL-like artificial intelligence (nor, fortunately, HAL's malevolence), they do deliver news in real-time much like the "Newspad" Dr. Heywood Floyd read on his shuttle flight in the film. Stanley Kubrick died in 1999, but Arthur Clarke is alive and active as a futurist. Besieged by interview requests in his signature year, Clarke announced recently in an e-mail to the press: "Having done several thousand interviews in all media, I'm now completely fed up with talking (even about myself)." He did add that he is ready to comment on major developments in his areas of interest "e.g., a genuine message from space or an ET landing on the White House lawn." Stay tuned. |
Buy "2001: A Space Odyssey"
Video
(VHS, $17.99)
DVD
($18.74)
Book
(paperback, $6.29)
Soundtrack
(CD, $14.99)
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Not only did the film "2001" create a huge following
among SF fans but now that the year 2001 has finally arrived, it is spawning
clichés by the dozen among newspaper headline writers. Some
examples from an
article by Tom Kuntz in the January
7, 2001 New York Times:
"2001: A Snow Odyssey" (San Antonio Express-News, Jan. 2) |
Links:2001: A Space Odyssey Internet Resource Archive. The granddaddy of all 2001 sites. Everything you might want to know and more from sound files to essays on the meaning of the film, plus a page of links.
Underman's celebration of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Underman describes this as "the most comprehensive celebration ever created in honour of the film."
2001 web site on SciFlicks.com. A review, plus factoids, videos, sound files, and more. Interesting material, although the site is a bit cluttered and slow-loading.
The Tech Museum of Innovation's exhibit "2001: Destination Space" (on display at the museum in San Jose, CA, February 9 - September 3, 2001). Includes models, furnishings, fashion, design, even electronic 2001 postcards, and a guestbook where you can write about how 2001 changed your life.
Transcribed version of the original 2001 screenplay (script). Although I have no way of verifying the authenticity of this transcript, it certainly looks authentic, and if it is, it's a very cool artifact.
Virtual reality animations of the space station from 2001.
Original program from the 1968 U.K. release of 2001.
Mike Post's "2001: A Space Odyssey" Page.
Review by Tim Dirks. Lengthy, detailed description of the film.
Review by Roger Ebert. A literate discussion by one of the best-known American film reviewers.
Stanley Kubrick: The Master Filmmaker. Includes his biography, filmography, homages, trivia, and, of course, a section devoted to "2001: A Space Odyssey."
The Arthur C. Clarke Foundation. Dedicated to the major scientific themes of Clarke's life and work. Includes a time-line of Clarke's life and a page from which many of Clarke's less-known books can be ordered.
Profile of Arthur C. Clarke in Salon magazine.
Sites devoted to the International Space Station by:
NASA
Boeing
Discovery.comReadings on the International Space Station and human space flight from Omega 23.
E-mail your tidbit suggestions to ateich@aaas.org.Search for more information about "2001: A Space Odyssey" on:
