MovieChat Forums > Planeta bur (1962) Discussion > Kubrick connection?

Kubrick connection?

posted 17 years ago by monsieurzy
2 replies | jump to latest

In 1966 The New Yorker printed a story (now available in the book The Making of Kubrick's 2001) about Stanley Kubrick, who was in the process of making 2001. The interviewer (Jeremy Bernstein) mentions Kubrick researching all available sci-fi movies at the time, and going with Kubrick to a London theatre for a screening of Planeta Bur (here titled Astronauts on Venus). After the screening,Kubrick dismissed the film as crude, but one can't help but wonder if the idea of the robot John, who wanted to kill the two cosmonauts to save his own life might have influenced the similar idea of the computer HAL.

[–] LSigno 17 years ago

The story is actually a bit different.

Kubrick indeed saw almost every SF movie available at the time, and it's true that he saw a few Russian titles, and it's true that he reportedly dismissed most of the movies he saw as "crude".

But the ONE that definitely must have made an impression on him is another title from the same directory of "Planeta Bur" - a pseudo-doc called "Road to the Stars". The special effects for that one where almost ten years in advance of anything made in the west - and Kubrick definitely "borrowed" a lot of concepts and images form that one for the Earth - Moon trip at the beginning of 2001.

For a complete report of the story (with screenshots - as much as I love Kubrick and 2001, it's very difficult to deny that some stuff was basically duplicated in Kubrick's movie!)

http://www.astronautix.com/articles/roastars.htm

[–] monsieurzy 17 years ago

Kubrick was also heavily influenced (effects-wise) by this excellent short documentary from Canada's NFB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054429/

..in fact he actually hired the effects team from this short to work on 2001, but they quit over creative differences

so take all these ideas, plus Clarke's short story The Sentinel, and you get a masterpiece