2001: A Space Odyssey

Where to watch 2001: A Space Odyssey (US)

Checked 22 Oct 2026 · Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night

The giant hamster wheel

For the scenes aboard the Discovery, Stanley Kubrick had a huge rotating set built, a wheel several stories tall that turned while the actors walked around the inside. When you watch a crew member jog in a full circle, that's real, filmed in camera. No computers existed that could fake it in 1968, so everything you see was built, painted or projected.

It still looks like the future

Ships glide instead of zoom. Rooms are white, clean and perfectly symmetrical. Then there's HAL, a single red light that somehow becomes the most frightening thing in the film. The last stretch turns into a storm of color and light that still divides people, and that's fine. Over half a century later, very few science fiction films have looked this convincing.

Cast and crew

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Cast: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester