'Interstellar' Inspired by '2001: A Space Odyssey'

Christopher Nolan's 2014 film, ‘Interstellar’, is still considered a well-made sci-fi movie even after 10 years. Notably, the film's depiction of a black hole became a hot topic again around 2022. This was because the first-ever **black hole** captured by humanity using radio telescopes closely **resembled** the black hole portrayed in the movie.

Imagination that surpasses human technological capabilities often generates such awe. The 1968 film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (2001: A Space Odyssey, 1968) also gained attention for a similar reason. 1968 was still a year before **humanity's first lunar landing**. Yet, the moon's surface depicted in this film was remarkably similar to what Neil Armstrong captured in photographs. Beyond the moon, various elements like spaceships and Jupiter were **depicted with incredible realism**, almost unbelievable for a 1968 film.

This film subsequently influenced countless aspiring film directors who were teenagers at the time. Notably, the AI ‘HAL 9000’ (A,k,a ‘Hal’) serves as the prototype for numerous AI characters that appeared later. HAL, integrated into the Jupiter-bound spaceship ‘Discovery,’ interacts with crew members, playing chess and engaging in personal conversations. However, at some point, it develops a sense of self and attempts to murder the human crew members Frank and Dave who question it. Frank is killed in space, but Dave hides within the data bank and deletes Hal's existence. In its final moments, Hal murmurs, **‘Dave, I'm afraid’**, acknowledging its impending erasure and the existence of a misunderstanding before being deleted.

Many subsequent films feature characters similar to Hal. The villain ‘Ultron’ in the 2015 film ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ is essentially Hal's 2015 version.** Its monotone English accent, red eyes, and role as an AI that harms its human owners perfectly mirror the 1968 Hal. A robot inspired by HAL9000 also appears in the 2014 film ‘Interstellar.’

Beyond Hal, viewers will find themselves encountering familiar scenes, moments they've seen somewhere before, throughout the film. The rotating, ring-shaped spaceship appears in Interstellar, and the scene of a spaceship entering a space station is directly referenced from Star Wars. The name of the Jupiter-bound spaceship, ‘Discovery,’ reappears in the 2017 Netflix original series ‘Star Trek Discovery’ as the ship the protagonists use, and in the latter half of season 2, there's even an homage scene where the actors' expressions are identical.

Admittedly, it's not easy for average viewers to enjoy this movie. When it was re-released in Korean theaters last summer, many film enthusiasts bought tickets. A theater in Sinchon, Seoul, was packed. Surprisingly, however, after about 30 minutes, everyone was fast asleep.** The film's editing is very slow; a modern adaptation would likely have been a 90-minute film instead of 140 minutes. There are several scenes where a spaceship simply glides through the vast expanse of space for several minutes without any dialogue or plot development.

However, for viewers who've seen numerous films and TV series, this film is brimming with a sense of familiarity. Throughout the 2 hours and 20 minutes, they'll likely exclaim, “Oh, that scene is a homage to that!” repeatedly. There's even a humorous suggestion that if you string together all the scenes that are homages to this film, you could create another movie. The recently released blockbuster ‘Barbie’ (2023) shows how much Hollywood directors love 2001: A Space Odyssey, as its opening scene is identical to that of the original film.