Review - Space Odyssey the Making of a Masterpiece

Celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the film’s release, this is the definitive story of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, acclaimed today as one of the greatest films ever made, including the inside account of how director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke created this cinematic masterpiece.

This is the ultimate "DVD Extra" of a book. Every single detail of the genesis and revelation of 2001 is documented in painstaking detail. The author has exclusive access to original manuscripts, and has conducted dozens of interviews with everyone from Arthur C Clarke to - literally the on-set tea boy.

Full of odd little anecdotes - some barely more fleshed out than an IMDb trivia entry - including some absolute gems of stories in there. A complete guide to how the film twisted and turned in its creation. I'd go so far as to call it a pure biography of a cultural artefact.

At times it feels like each chapter is written by a different author. There are meandering asides, and spurious footnotes - but it is all rather jolly.

It is long - but what else would you expect? A great book for anyone who loves the film.