A selection of 3 screen grabs Taken from Stanley Kubrick’s genre defining 2001: A Space Odyssey. In 40yrs + it’s never been bettered in terms of artistic merit or design, for me this will always be THE Science Fiction Movie, a spectacle indeed, though not always riveting entertainment in the mould of so much other classic Sci-fi, it is however a brooding experience like no other. Personally I feel it’s almost better to watch and marvel the drawn out acts separately rather than one long sitting, make your own remix…
Warning – Possible Spoilers!
The above images relate to Franks Poole’s ill fated attempt to replace the broken/not broken AE35 Unit, I didn’t realise until recent re-watch that Kubrick used the famous helmet reflection trick on both astronauts and not just Dave Bowman – so here’s a little tribute to Franks last EVA. Interestingly though if one follows Arthur C Clarke’s Canon, 2001, 2010, 2061 and 3001 – the final book actually see’s the 1000 year frozen body of Poole being plucked from deep space, defrosted and brought back to life ALA Buck Rogers! now there’s a plot device…
2001’s greatest scene? a tough one of course, but for me, well it’s Bowman’s psych out trip – “My god it’s full of stars” – chillingly punctuated with brief flash’s of the terrified astronaut, 500 million miles alone and utterly helpless, a rabbit caught in the headlights of oblivion. Suffice to say, 2001 is as supremely powerful and otherworldly today as it was upon release in 1968…
One final note for a test, whats the primary font used to for Status/Error messages on all consoles?… clue is: its visable in this post……
I am pretty sure the font is Eurostile Bold Extended #2. Email me if you want it.
Comment by Ben George — December 11, 2008 @ 3:33 am
Hey Ben,
Yeah it is Eurostile Bold extended…. The only time it ever looks any good – Sci-fi movies!
well I’ve never got it to work
Comment by Kie — December 11, 2008 @ 10:29 am
To be exact its actually not Eurostile, but its no-lower-case having predecessor Microgramma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microgramma_(typeface)
Comment by Sjef — December 11, 2008 @ 10:51 am
AAahh thats interesting I always thought Microgramma was a copy of Eurostile by a different font house…. now I know! cheers
Comment by Kie — December 11, 2008 @ 11:32 am
2001 has ALWAYS been one of my favorite sci-fi films and I am amazed at how well it has held up over the years. I recently re-watched it… seeing these pictures makes me want to do it again.
I have a nice glossy coffee table book about the making of the movie that was a really great read. One of the things that really stood out about this film was the fact that Kubrick/Clarke use really NASA engineers to design most of the tech. I guess that is part of the reason the film has held up so well.
Yet another great post sir.
Comment by SerKevin — December 11, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
Cheers Kevin… sounds like an excellent book, I agree completely it really hasn’t dated
Comment by Kie — December 11, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
When I worked at the BFI, about 10 years ago we had a great collection of photos and slides from the set of 2001. It included alot of continuity and reference shots of costume details and other props, technology, watches, food, stuff like that. Even a close up of a ‘futeristic’ credit card. It used to be one of my favorite things in the archive. I dont know if you can still see it or if any of that stuff has been made into a book or whatever. It should be.
Comment by dick — December 11, 2008 @ 4:21 pm
kubrick was amazing!
Comment by captain uber — December 11, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
It’s all about attention to detail isn’t it, obsessive attention to detail…
slightly off topic – I was just reading Kubricks Bio on Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_kubrick and there’s an interesting (slightly touching) paragraph commenting on how much of an animal lover Kubrick was. Here’s an excerpt: “Matthew Modine remembers Kubrick being deeply upset when a family of rabbits was accidentally killed during the making of Full Metal Jacket. Kubrick was so beside himself that he canceled shooting for the rest of the day.”
Comment by Kie — December 11, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
Have you this picture in HD ?
Comment by Benjamin — December 25, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
alas, Just DVD…
Comment by Kie — December 26, 2008 @ 11:16 am
i have in HD – see second 2001 post
Comment by hal9000 — December 29, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
More on HD here: http://www.sci-fi-o-rama.com/2008/12/11/2001-a-space-odyssey-2/#comments
Comment by Kie — December 29, 2008 @ 10:02 pm
To correct this article, the Frank Poole, “My god, It’s full of stars” line was not from 2001. It was uttered by the same character in the sequel to 2001 called “2010 – the year we make contact.
Comment by david Bates — November 13, 2009 @ 10:13 pm
aah my mistake David… thanks for pointing that out
Comment by Kie — November 16, 2009 @ 1:50 pm