In April of 1968, Americans filed into movie theaters
seeking refuge from media dominated by war, tension,
and political demonstrations.
One film would transport viewers into outer space
through an unparalleled cinematic experience--
Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey."
Today, the movie is not only a staple of classic sci-fi.
It's widely considered to be one of the greatest
films ever made.
Kubrick's masterpiece took cues from both the canon
of science fiction before it--
Something is happening to the children of Mars.
And the culture and politics of the 1960s.
"2001" not only left a massive impact on cinema,
technology, and pop culture.
It may have even predicted the future.
The science fiction we know today
didn't really take shape until the 19th century with the birth
of the Industrial Revolution.
Science and Technology advanced rapidly, changing culture
and society in profound ways.
Some science fiction authors explored the dark consequences
of scientific advancement, while others used the genre
as an idealistic way to transport
readers into imagined futures.
Then, at the turn of the 20th century,
came the invention of the moving picture, a perfect platform
for science fiction.
Movies became an instant hit, and sci-fi hit the big screen.
We've got to get to that ship!
It's on fire!
But in the 1950s, science fiction
took a dark turn as America entered the Atomic Age.
Filmmakers and writers responded to the wonder
and anxiety arising from the technological advancements
of World War II.
They told stories of scientists, politicians, and soldiers
facing otherworldly weapons of mass destruction
and external threats, like monsters and space aliens.
Here is another UFO bulletin.
The cultural upheaval of the following decades
sparked a renaissance in science fiction filmmaking.
The '60s were all about rejecting the status quo.
War in Vietnam challenged nationalist ideals.
The Civil Rights Movement challenged
segregation and equality.
Questions about the future hung in the balance.
So people looked to the stars for answers.
As America and Russia neared the climax of the space race,
interest in space exploration skyrocketed,
and writers and filmmakers became interested
in more speculative fiction.
What if our future enemies weren't
just monsters with lasers?
What if technology became so advanced
that it looked like magic?
And one of these filmmakers was Stanley Kubrick.
After reading a short story called "The Sentinel,"
Kubrick and the story's author, prolific sci-fi writer Arthur
C. Clarke, developed a screenplay
together about man's relationship to the universe--
a screenplay that, in a few short years,
would become "2001: A Space Odyssey."
In April of 1968, "2001: A Space Odyssey"
was released in theaters.
Initially, the three-hour-long filmed
received a lot of criticism.
At its premiere, 241 people walked out.
With very little dialogue, the film focused on imagery,
and it confused viewers who did not
understand what it was about.
"2001" presented a psychedelic journey featuring a monolith
at the dawn of man, a space station, a talking computer
system named Hal 9000 that goes insane,
and a prison built from a man's subconscious.
But even if they didn't entirely understand the plot,
moviegoers were transported into the future.
Its sweeping visual style and special effects
influenced future space blockbusters like "Star Wars"
and won the film an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
When "2001" came out, space exploration
finally seemed credible.
Even though Kubrick's film was kind of a dark warning
about dehumanizing technology, it
inspired a generation to pursue and appreciate
space exploration.
NEIL ARMSTRONG: That's one small step for a man,
one giant leap for mankind.
And it also imagined a version of the future
with some shocking similarities to our world today.
Meticulous research by Kubrick's team
forecasted technology to come.
The talking computer Hal 9000, for example,
feels eerily similar to Siri or Alexa.
From flatscreens to tablet computers,
in-flight entertainment systems to video calling,
"2001" presented high-tech gadgets
that would eventually exist in real life, though not
all by the actual year 2001.
Perhaps the most notable vision, though,
is the large, revolving space station orbiting Earth.
The first space station, Mir, wasn't launched by the Soviet
Union until 1986, and the fully-crewed International
Space Station launched in 1998.
"2001: A Space Odyssey" left an indelible mark on society--
a work of cinema that, in 1968, was decades before its time.