While Star Wars is undoubtedly the most famous franchise in the science fiction genre, there are many classics that built the genre. We can think of Metropolis by Fritz Lang (1927), the very first The Planet of the Apes, Encounters of the Third Kind by Spielberg, or even THX1138…by George Lucas. The list is very long; and everyone will certainly have their preferences.
But for George Lucas, there is a film above the rest, a cult science fiction film which even surpasses its famous franchise.
Did you say Kubrick?
The classic in question (which you must see if you haven’t yet), is 2001, A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick, a science fiction film released in 1968. A feature film considered by many to be one of the best films of all time, and which seems devilishly current when we think of one of its protagonists main: artificial intelligence called HAL 9000.
In 2001, four million years later, a spaceship moves in lunar orbit to the languorous rhythm of the “Beautiful Blue Danube”. On board, Dr. Heywood Floyd secretly investigates the discovery of a black monolith which emits strange signals towards Jupiter.
Eighteen months later, astronauts David Bowman and Frank Poole set off for Jupiter aboard Discovery. The two men calmly go about their daily tasks under the control of HAL 9000, an exceptional computer endowed with intelligence and speech. However, HAL, undoubtedly more human than his masters, begins to show signs of worry: what is the point of this mission and what are we likely to discover on Jupiter?
AlloCiné
If George Lucas was always very proud of Star Wars, he believes that although his franchise is technically comparable to Kubrick’s classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey remains far superior to his work.
Stanley Kubrick made the quintessential science fiction film, and it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to come along and direct a better film, as far as I’m concerned. Technically “Star Wars” can be compared, but personally I think 2001 is much better.
George Lucas
A turning point in the perception of science fiction
For Lucas, 2001: A Space Odyssey allowed science fiction to find a real place for itself, to finally be taken seriously by critics and spectators, as he explained in the documentary Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001.
[Avec ce film, c’était] the first time people took science fiction seriously. A lot of science fiction up until then, and especially in the ’50s, was more B-movie. It was giant monsters, giant spiders, everything that was giant.
George Lucas
The director also praised the special effects of 2001, A Space Odysseyenoting that “As far as traditional special effects go, it’s the pinnacle. If you look back over the last 70 years, it’s the best movie in terms of special effects. And it always will be. “
If you have never seen this masterpiece, know that it is available for rental and purchase on various streaming platforms such as Canal VOD, or even Amazon Prime Video.
