The definitive story of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, acclaimed
today as one of the greatest films ever made, and of director Stanley
Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke--"a tremendous explication of a
tremendous film....Breathtaking" (The Washington Post).Fifty years ago a
strikingly original film had its premiere. Still acclaimed as one of the
most remarkable and important motion pictures ever made, 2001: A Space
Odyssey depicted the first contacts between humanity and
extraterrestrial intelligence. The movie was the product of a singular
collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and science fiction visionary
Arthur C. Clarke. Fresh off the success of his cold war satire Dr.
Strangelove, Kubrick wanted to make the first truly first-rate science
fiction film. Drawing from Clarke's ideas and with one of the author's
short stories as the initial inspiration, their bold vision benefited
from pioneering special effects that still look extraordinary today,
even in an age of computer-generated images. In Space Odyssey, author,
artist, and award-winning filmmaker Michael Benson "delivers expert
inside stuff" (San Francisco Chronicle) from his extensive research of
Kubrick's and Clarke's archives. He has had the cooperation of Kubrick's
widow, Christiane, and interviewed most of the key people still alive
who worked on the film. Drawing also from other previously unpublished
interviews, Space Odyssey provides a 360-degree view of the film from
its genesis to its legacy, including many previously untold stories. And
it features dozens of photos from the making of the film, most never
previously published. "At last! The dense, intense, detailed, and
authoritative saga of the making of the greatest motion picture I've
ever seen...Michael Benson has done the Cosmos a great service" (Academy
Award-winning actor Tom Hanks).
