Great Scene: “2001: A Space Odyssey”

The use of a tool… violence against others… and the dawn of humankind.

I can still remember to this day seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time. The movie screened at the theater on Minot AFB in North Dakota where my family was stationed. I had just turned 15. At the end of the movie, I sat in my seat and didn’t move. The credits rolled, then darkness. I still sat there. The movie was an absolutely mind-boggling experience. I saw the movie several more times before its run ended. Each time I thought I understood it a little more — and a little less. We moved to March AFB near Riverside, California that summer of 1968. I suppose having my own little “head trip” with 2001 was some sort of preparation for the experiences that awaited me in SoCal.

There are so many great scenes in the movie, but the one I want to highlight today is the opening.

It’s interesting to compare the movie to the only script that’s available (to my knowledge). The movie differs in many of the particulars, but when you read the script excerpt below, you’ll see that writer-director Stanley Kubrick and co-writer Arthur C. Clarke knew early on in the writing process both the tone and the symbolism of where this sequence was headed.

It’s also interesting to note how much like a novel the script is:

And now, the entire opening “Dawn of Man” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

How about you? Did 2001 boggle your mind the first time you saw it?

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