Steven Spielberg spoke together with James Cameron about the sci-fi classic ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ and how excited they and other moviegoers were about the film.
In the first episode of the AMC series James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction (via IndieWire), the two world-famous directors Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Jurassic Park) and James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic) talked about a highly acclaimed sci-fi film that is considered an absolute classic of the genre: 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Here you can see a trailer for the sci-fi film from 1968:
2001: A Space Odyssey as a great inspiration for Spielberg
Steven Spielberg revealed during the AMC show that Kubrick’s film had a great influence on him.
When he saw the sci-fi classic in theaters back then, it felt like a spiritual experience:
2001 had a profound impact on my life and my everyday life. It was the first time I went to a movie and really felt like I was having a religious experience.
Steven Spielberg via IndieWire
But James Cameron is also a huge fan of the sci-fi film. The director shared that he watched it a total of 18 times in the years following its release in various theaters.
But not only the director but also another moviegoer was extremely excited about the film, seeming to have a religious experience similar to Steven Spielberg’s.
“And I remember that at an event a man ran down the aisle shouting: ‘It’s God! It’s God!’ And at that moment, he meant it,” James Cameron reported.
If you want to have an extraordinary experience like Steven Spielberg does on your next trip to the cinema, you can find a list of 10 film classics you must see on the big screen here with our colleagues from Moviepilot.
Then Steven Spielberg also recounted a curious anecdote about how a visitor in the cinema created a stir during 2001: A Space Odyssey:
“And there was a guy who really ran to the screen and ran through with outstretched arms. People went crazy because that person disappeared into the screen, right in [the star gate sequence].”
The director of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick († March 7, 1999), is one of the most famous names in film history. He was considered an absolute perfectionist, where every scene had to fit down to the smallest detail.
He even shot one scene so many times that it made it into the Guinness Book of Records:
