[A Navy Vet]

I think 2010 pretty much explained the mystery of the obelisk, and worked for me. Clarke could have left it at that.
ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS, EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE. USE THEM TOGETHER. USE THEM IN PEACE.

Reading 2001 after the movie, it was obvious that Kubrick's movie vision left out transitional scenes that could have made it less confusing. Even as a long time Sci-fi fan, I had trouble with the closing sequences of Poole aging in that room and then abruptly the fetus floating through space while Also Sprach Zarathustra plays again. The novel explains it.

I never met anyone who got the closing sequence above. However, the classical Strauss music Kubrick used was genius for his vision.

[frank ballenger]

Good insights.

When it came out April 2, 1968 I was not yet out of college and it seemed mystically special in its Cinerama version.