Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey: Film Analysis

The conception of film is surely a momentous step in human history similarly to Lance Armstrong’s first step on the moon. Movies make for a timeless escape from the restless realities of life now just as much as for those that watched them during the Cold War & subsequent space race. Films unwarily impact the viewer with subtle differences in thoughts, emotions, and actions after participating in this modern art. The social and cultural impression of film is quite significant as the correlation can be made that great films can enlighten those that experience them with a new perspective and motivation. On the far end of the spectrum, this can result in instances of uprising for change. Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey did not inspire such drastic events, but its foray into new methodologies left a lasting impression on the Sci-Fi film genre and society’s views of space exploration and the future. The movies success is not due to it simply being the perfect period, in terms of historical context, to release the film but owed to the symbolic and original use of visual and sound effects.

To emphasize the success of Kubrick’s film was not merely an outcome of being released right at the end of the Cold War; one must step back and view its success from the opposing angle. This excerpt from the History.com website provides the perfect introduction to the era of the film’s release:

“After World War II drew to a close in the mid-20th century, a new conflict began. Known as the Cold War, this battle pitted the world’s two great powers–the democratic, capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union–against each other. Beginning in the late 1950s, space would become another dramatic arena for this competition, as each side s...

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...the science fiction genre was created by film genius Stanley Kubrick. 2001: A Space Odyssey is considered a classic by film buffs, critics, and historians. Though some could wrongly discern that the Cold War/Space Race era of the films’ release is what made it so successful, that is evidently not the case. While it is fantastic the film earned $56,715,371 on its original meager investment of about $10,500,000 according to the website IMDB which signifies the financial success of the film. Financial success is only a part of the pie. Movies are revered for the impressions they have on people and that’s the true definition of their success. The subtle impression the 2001: A Space Odyssey left on how space travel is visualized still is noted through people’s description of what spaceships should look like and their interpretation of what sounds you can hear in space.