Long before AI Took Over the World and Star Wars Ruled the Galaxy, There was 2001: A Space Odyssey – and there is still nothing like it today.
How did a movie made before human beings walked on the Moon manage to make modern science fiction look as though it was late for work? Before artificial intelligence started writing reports, answering telephones, composing music, diagnosing machinery, and occasionally telling us complete nonsense with the confidence of a man running for office, there was HAL 9000. Before Star Wars filled movie theaters with laser battles, roaring spacecraft, strange planets, and merchandise stacked to the ceiling, there was 2001: A Space Odyssey. Star Trek had already arrived on television in 1966, but television space was still television space. The … Continue readingLong before AI Took Over the World and Star Wars Ruled the Galaxy, There was 2001: A Space Odyssey – and there is still nothing like it today.