Christopher Nolan is renowned for his unique directorial style, as his films are known to challenge audiences with his signature complex and innovative storytelling. For instance, Memento is told in a non-linear narrative that immerses viewers in layers of mystery; Inception plays with time and perception as it explores concepts regarding peoples’ dreams and subconscious; and The Prestige is presented just like a magic trick in an almost meta-commentary of the story itself. But before achieving such a renowned filmography, Nolan was another audience member in the movie theater.
Before Nolan was the one daring viewers to keep up, it was he who had to grow in his understanding of film. Nolan cites 2001: A Space Odyssey as a movie that was beyond his understanding when he first watched it as a child, but nonetheless reserves tremendous praise for the Stanley Kubrick picture, dubbing the seminal sci-fi film “pure cinema” and a truly extraordinary experience.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ Is One of the Most Influential Sci-Fi Films Ever Made
Bowman (Keir Dullea) asking HAL to open the pod bay door in 2001: A Space Odyssey.Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Few movies can claim to be as influential to a genre as Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the film’s visible influence on science-fiction still reverberating through the media to this day. 2001 followed the voyage of a group of astronauts to Jupiter to study a mysterious alien monolith — a simple premise that was made exceptional because of the film’s stunning and memorable visuals, pioneering special effects work, and scientifically accurate depictions of space.
Slow and methodical, reflective of Kubrick’s own directorial style, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a unique movie experience that utilizes relatively restrained dialogue to create a tonally distinct atmosphere. 2001 also introduced the world to HAL 9000 (Douglas Rain); the bone-chilling supercomputer from that space mission has become a mainstay in pop culture, serving as one of the foundational examples of an AI character in fiction. To this day, movies continue to draw inspiration from 2001’s visual design, even crossing genres as Greta Gerwig’s Barbie paid homage to Kubrick by mirroring the movie’s opening sequence — albeit with a high-heeled children’s doll instead of an unknown eldritch monolith.
Christopher Nolan Watched ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ as a Child
Christopher Nolan spoke about the importance of Kubrick’s seminal sci-fi feature and its impact on him as a young moviegoer in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, sharing that he first saw 2001 when he was seven years old, just a year after he first saw Star Wars. Speaking about how utterly enrapturing the experience was, Nolan shared that, “[This] was a completely different way of experiencing science fiction. I was seven years old, so I couldn’t claim to have understood the film. I still can’t claim that. But as a seven-year-old, I didn’t care about understanding the film. I just felt this extraordinary experience of being taken to another world. You didn’t doubt this world for an instant. It had a larger-than-life quality… It was ‘pure cinema.’”
Despite struggling to understand the movie from an intellectual standpoint, Nolan was captivated by the emotionally igniting spectacle of Kubrick’s work, a type of artistic expression only achievable through film, and that challenge was part of the fun.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
The impact of 2001: A Space Odysseycan also be felt in Nolan’s own filmmaking, as his 2014 film Interstellar somewhatfeels like a spiritual successor to 2001, as both films are renowned for their striking visuals and deep explorations into the human spirit. Both movies also explore sci-fi concepts of time dilation and extradimensional beings beyond human understanding, delving into explorations of humanity’s psyche based on our shared curiosity about the unknown. However, despite being released over 50 years before Interstellar, 2001: A Space Odyssey does not feel dated because it was shot on 70 mm film, giving the movie defined and crisp visuals that outcompete many contemporary movies released in this century.
Even though it was released in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey continues to inspire and challenge modern audiences. So, though Nolan may have been confounded when he first watched the movie as a young boy, there’s no shame in exiting this Kubrick feature with more questions than answers. Because that’s exactly what 2001: A Space Odyssey set out to do: challenge, inspire, and explore ideas beyond current understanding.
