2001: A Space Odyssey in popular culture 2001: A Space Odyssey in popular culture In popular culture, Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science fiction film "" has had a significant impact in such diverse cultural forms and media as film, literature, music and technology. The influence of "2001" on subsequent filmmakers is considerable. Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and others, including many special effects technicians, discuss the impact the film has had on them in a featurette titled "Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001", included in the 2007 DVD release of the film. Spielberg calls it his film generation's "big bang", while Lucas says it was
A Time Odyssey Clarke's previous "Space Odyssey" novel series. In the introduction to the "Time's Eye", Clarke describes the premise as "neither a prequel nor a sequel" to "Space Odyssey", but an "orthoquel" (a neologism coined by Clarke for this purpose, combining the word "sequel" with "ortho-", the Greek prefix meaning "straight" or "perpendicular", and alluding to the fact that time is orthogonal to space in relativity theory). In "Space Odyssey", a race of benevolent godlike aliens with highly advanced technology decides to use machines called "monoliths" to travel across the galaxy with the intention to ensure the survival chances of intelligent life