In a message dated 97-01-18 18:51:07 EST, [log in to unmask] (Wirt Atmar)
writes:

<< Because I had read all that Arthur C. Clarke had written up to that point,
I
 immediately recognized the story of 2001 as being a combination of
 "Childhood's End" and a short story called "The Sentinel." However, because
 Kubrick purposefully designed the story not to be intelligible on the first
 seeing, and because there is almost no dialogue in the movie, at the end of
 the movie, a cowboy in the back row of the theater got up and shouted, "I've
 been gypped" (which I've always since found oddly unsettling and amusing at
 the same time).
  >>
Wirt writes a lot of great stuff about his early life and 2001 A Space
Odyssey.  The discussion on 2001 prompted me to dust off my collection of
Arthur C. Clarke's works, and I found, once again, 2010: Odyssey Two and
2061: Odyssey Three.  These I have in hardcover and are therefore more easily
found.  2001: A Space Odyssey , was in paper back and I cannot find it now.
 Nor can I find another paper book by Arthur C. Clarke, The Lost Worlds of
2001.  In this book, Clarke recounted the various differences between the
book and the movie and various endings and plot twists which he and Kubrick
had considered and discarded.  I will endeavour to find these two books.

In the Author's note for 2010, which I just read again, Arthur Clarke retells
of the differences twix the movie and the book. One of the very big
differences is the goal of the mission.  In the book, the spaceship Discovery
was bound for the sattelites of Saturn, specifically Japetus, and made a
flyby of Jupiter.  In the movie, the goal was the Jovian system and there the
third monolith was found.  (Not to put too fine a point on it, but an obelisk
is that pointy Egyptian monument like the big one in Washington, not at all
like the monolith of 2001 which is more of the featureless slab genre. Sorry
if I sound pedant.)  In chapter 40, when Dr. Chandrasegarampillai (Chandra to
his friends and those with faulty memories) reactivates HAL, the latter
mentions his birth date in the following manner: " Good afternoon gentlemen.
I am a HAL 9000 computer.  I became operational at the Hal plant in Urbana,
Illinois, on the twelfth of January, 1992..."

I have always considered 2001, the most accurate science fiction movie ever
made.  There are two others which were also quite accurate, though not on
scale as large as 2001.  One is a very obscure movie called, Moon Zero-Two
(if memory serves) and the other is Moontrap with Walter Koenig of Star Trek
fame (Mr. Chekov).  At least in those movies, there is no sound in space, and
the Moon has a lower gravity than the Earth, but dust does fall faster on the
Moon than on Earth, as it should.

I remember "The Sentinel", it was in one of Clarke's anthologies and indeed
he does mention in The Lost Worlds, that it was used as the basis for the
movie.  I am not sure if I agree with Wirt that 2001 has a link with
"Childhood's End".  However more recent movies have, at least, plagiarized
Childhood's End, the latest being "Independence Day".  (They did take more
than just "Good Morning, Dave.") Another was the TV miniseries "V" of the
early 1980s.

2010, the movie was a bit of a disappointment. We are back to sound in space.
 It seems Hollywood just can't get it through its collective mind that sound
in space takes away a lot of the excitement and drama of action in space.  In
Moon Zero Two, there were sequences where gunfire was exchanged on the Moon,
all in silence. Very eerie.  Same with Moontrap.

The next movie based on a book from one of the main SF authors is "Starship
Troopers" from Robert A. Heinlein.  This is one of my most favorite (!!!)
books ever and I look forward to/dread the release of the movie.  If done
well, it could be excellent.  The only other book from Heinlein made into a
movie is "The Puppet Masters" about 2-3 years back.  It was somewhat faithful
to the book.


Enough rambling.

Kind regards,

Denys. . .