The Offenders: All proceeding sci-fi. We've already looked at how Star Wars and Blade Runner helped create an aesthetic that still defines many sci-fi films, but tracing their threads back leads to a film even more influential. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey may be (at least) thirteen years late on its prediction of the future, but we can overlook not having a pet Star-Child given how the film completely shook up the genre. It's so dominating most movies probably don't even realise that they're copying it. On a technical level it was truly groundbreaking. And not in an Avatar "we've updated technology a bit" way; Kubrick sank half the budget into effects, popularising processes that would remain commonplace until the CGI revolution in the nineties. Matte paintings and models weren't new concepts by any stretch, but the attention to detail and intense approach leaves us with a film that hasn't dated badly at all. It's in the designs, however, where many films took inspiration. The realistically constructed space-craft (NASA designers helped out with the production) seem so typical now, but that scientific thought was newly applied here and is probably 2001's greatest unsung influence. It was, after all, where Star Wars heavily borrowed from the film and we all know where that led. The plot, with psychotic computers and higher alien powers interfering with human development, have countless decedents too, but the impact feels rather insignificant given how seismic an influence the film was just on a visual level. Agree with out assessment? Which is your favourite copycat movie? Let us know down in the comments.
