2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey 2001: A Space Odyssey is the 1968 science fiction written by Arthur C. Clarke and the directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is a part of Clarke's "Space Odyssey" series. Both the novel and the film are partially based on Clarke's 1948 short story "The Sentinel", an entry in a BBC short story competition, and "Encounter in the Dawn", published in 1953 in the magazine "Amazing Stories". After deciding on Clarke's 1948 short story "The Sentinel" as the starting point, and with the themes of man's relationship with the universe in mind, Clarke sold Kubrick five more
Interpretations of 2001: A Space Odyssey as "orbiting satellites carrying nuclear weapons" Actor Gary Lockwood (astronaut Frank Poole) in the audio DVD commentary says the first satellite is an armed weapon, making the famous match-cut from bone to satellite a "weapon-to-weapon cut". Several recent reviews of the film mostly of the DVD release refer to armed satellites, possibly influenced by Gary Lockwood's audio commentary. A few published works by scientists on the subject of space exploration or space weapons tangentially discuss "2001: A Space Odyssey" and assume at least some of the orbiting satellites are space weapons. Indeed, details worked out with input from space industry