2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - The Movie Which Revolutionised Sci-Fi Genre

As an artist myself, I consider films as one of the most important form of art. It's the movies that give us a beautiful escapism from reality to a world of their own. It's a Rocky Balboa or an Ellen Ripley that makes us want to become like them. A movie like Iron Man releases and every engineer wants to design a suit like the one of Tony Stark’s. It's the world of Star Wars or Star Trek that makes people all over the world fight over the characters and circumstances that don't even exist in real life.

img source: stangehorizons.com

One of my all time favourite film was a revolution to science fantasy movies. 2001: A Space Odyssey. A Stanley Kubrick master piece. Being a huge science-fiction fan, this movie stands above all for me. Released in 1968, this movie revolves around the exploration of humankind in 2001 to solve the mystery behind the strange monoliths found in several places including one on the surface of moon. This film was not just a masterpiece, but also an inspiration for many science-fiction/fantasy movies which are about to come, including Star Wars. It is a story told in a steady pace, told mostly not by words but by cinematic means of expression. Perfect blend of spectacular special effects and classical music bring to life creations of human imagination in both realistic and poetical way.

This Alex North musical starts off with a slow rumbling with a black screen which goes on for minutes, with the audience expecting something huge from the movie before the title appears. Once the movie started off, the imagination of the future in this movie stunned me to such an extent that I had to check whether this movie really released in 1968 or not. Nobody could have imagined the technology of Skyping and astronauts using tablets in space during 1968.

Despite excellent acting and amazing characters, it's the character of HAL 9000 for me that steals the show. Voiced over by Douglas Rain, HAL 9000 is ironically the most "human" character present in the film that won't take any second chance for the mission to succeed. Douglas Rain made such a huge impact by his voiceover, that this voice further inspired Anthony Hopkins to behave as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the Silence of the Lambs the way HAL 9000's voice behaviour was. It is a film like no other, not only revolutionizing science fiction, but also changing the way films are conceptualized. It was probably America's first film and has inspired the likes of George Lucas and countless other writers and directors.

Apart from its visual greatness, the reason the film spawns so much discussion and analysis is because so many people have so many different interpretations of it. Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, his co-writer, had a vision, but we have never really found out what was going through their minds. Of course, the skinny on its 'message' is how technology of the future will take over humanity and decide the course of our lives unless we are careful. 2001's ending is one of hope, a version of our rebirth through the star-child's flight back to earth. Just like the monoliths shown in this movie, this movie is an epitome of perfection and a movie that will inspire humanity to rise for many more generations. For me, 2001: A Space Odyssey is and will always be a legendary piece of art.

- Kshitij Choudhary (BJMC I'D')