Destination Outer Space! kicks off at Trailers from Hell, with director John Landis introducing Stanley Kubrick’s epic sci-fi classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Many a baby boomer’s most treasured recollections of the
1960s include one or more altered-state viewings of Kubrick and Arthur
C. Clarke’s game-changing science fiction film, which combined extraordinary,
state-of-the-art special effects with a metaphysical meditation on life, death
and rebirth played out in Super Panavision 70. Douglas Trumbull’s
groundbreaking visual effects remain as convincing as any found 45 years later
in Alfonso Cuaron’s equally awe-inspiring Gravity. Many sci fi fans approached
2001 with skepticism since it was touted as the pinnacle of the genre, only to
become lifelong devotees. It would be interesting to contrast Martin Balsam’s
rejected performance as the voice of the computer HAL with that of Douglas
Rain, who was hired to be less “emotional” than Balsam.
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