5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester and Douglas Rain
Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial, object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.
The Godfather of science-fiction movies, Stanely Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is unparalleled. Spanning from the dawn of man to the infinite and beyond. Every scene is iconic. HAL’s beady, red eye. Those imposing monoliths. The spaceship and space-station pirouetting in an interstellar dance to Strauss’ The Blue Danube.
“Every time I watch it (I attend at least one screening annually at the cinema), I come away with something different. A new favourite scene, an alternative interpretation. It covers the entire scope of human existence, contains the best jump cut EVER in cinema and is the basis for roughly 40% of all of The Simpsons’ pop culture jokes.” Oliver Davis, Co-Editor
Originally published August 5, 2014. Updated April 15, 2018.
