On this day in Horror History, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in Washington D.C. Perhaps one of the most compelling yet misunderstood of Kubrick’s career, the science fiction mystery has embedded itself in cultural infamy as well as cinematic history. Being the last film to depict a lunar landing prior to the Apollo Mission where Armstrong had taken the first steps, the controversy was only fueled by Kubricks attention to detail and beautiful film making. Often used as a point of reference for those who believed that the United States did not land an Astronaut on the moon, it is widely believed that Kubrick’s film landed him as a correspondent in one of the biggest conspiracy theories of all time. Further proof of the movie’s impact on society, NASA named a Mars orbiter: 2001 Mars Odyssey, and had previously used the call sign “Odyssey” for the Command Module on the ill fated Apollo 13 mission.
Is this proof of some greater unknown behind one of the most dynamically stellar films of the modern era? ... In the words of Writer Arthur C. Clarke "If you understand '2001' completely, we failed. We wanted to raise far more questions than we answered."
“Good day, gentlemen. This is a prerecorded briefing made prior to your departure and which for security reasons of the highest importance has been known on board during the mission only by your H-A-L 9000 computer. Now that you are in Jupiter's space and the entire crew is revived it can be told to you. Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried 40 feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter the four-million year old black monolith has remained completely inert. Its origin and purpose are still a total mystery.” Dr. Floyd
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