2001: A Space Odyssey

2001: A Space Odyssey, is popularly considered one of the first movies to revolutionise the science fiction genre. Based on one of Arthur C. Clarke's 1951 short stories "The Sentinel", this movie begins with a mysterious monolith first appearing on Earth in Africa during pre-historic times. The energy from the monolith helps a tribe of an ape-like pre-human tribe to start developing tools in order to defeat other wild animals and rival tribes, thus supposedly setting in motion human evolution. Fast forward to 1968, when scientists discover the same monolith present on the moon, they suspect it to be the creation of some extraterrestrial life. The rest of the movie revolves around space scientist David Bowman, played by Keir Dullea, who is sent on a mysterious mission to investigate the source of the monolith. He is accompanied by other scientists and a sentient supercomputer named HAL, who seems to be up to no good. 2001: A Space Odyssey is produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, who wrote the screenplay along with Clarck. The movie also stars Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain in prominent roles.