2001: A Space Odyssey
Movie, 1968, Present Day, Set in 2001
2001: A Space Odyssey is #1 of 18 in release order and #8 of 18 in chronological order in the Space Movies.
The story
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
2001: A Space Odyssey recap
Millions of years ago, a black monolith appears among a tribe of starving apes, and soon after one of them learns to use a bone as a weapon. In 2001, Dr. Heywood Floyd travels to the Moon, where a monolith has been dug up in the crater Tycho; when the sun touches it, it sends a piercing signal toward Jupiter. Eighteen months later the ship Discovery One heads to Jupiter with astronauts Dave Bowman and Frank Poole awake, three crew in hibernation and the ship run by the HAL 9000 computer. HAL reports a fault in a communications unit that turns out to be fine. Dave and Frank plan to disconnect HAL if he is wrong, and HAL, reading their lips, kills Frank during a spacewalk and the hibernating crew by switching off their life support.
2001: A Space Odyssey ending explained
Dave gets back aboard and shuts down HAL's higher functions while HAL pleads and sings "Daisy Bell". A recorded message reveals the mission's real purpose: the monolith signal. At Jupiter, Dave finds another monolith and is pulled through a corridor of light into an elegant room, where he sees himself grow old and die. He is reborn as a Star Child, a foetus floating in space above the Earth.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 90%
Where it fits
- Release order: first, before Apollo 13.
- Chronological order: after Space Cowboys, before Gravity.
Cast
- Keir Dullea as Dr. David Bowman
- Gary Lockwood as Dr. Frank Poole
- William Sylvester as Dr. Heywood Floyd
- Douglas Rain as HAL 9000 (voice)
- Daniel Richter as Moonwatcher
- Leonard Rossiter as Dr. Andrei Smyslov
- Margaret Tyzack as Elena
- Robert Beatty as Dr. Ralph Halvorsen
- Sean Sullivan as Dr. Roy Michaels
- Frank W. Miller as Mission Controller (voice)
- Bill Weston as Astronaut
- Ed Bishop as Aries-1B Lunar Shuttle Captain
Directed by Stanley Kubrick.