2001: A Space Odyssey grew out of a short story I'd read by Arthur C. Clarke called The Sentinel from the early 50's. It was changed up a lot to get 2001 rolling. The visual effects for 1968 were stunning and had a huge impact of everyone, (including me,) but can't match what's done today. To me the plot was confusing in parts (and the science very questionable,) and I didn't really understand what was going on until reading the Book written concurrently with the movie.

Despite it's shortcomings, this is still a favorite because of the classical scoring. Not only is Also Sprach Zarathustra about as dramatic as you can get, Lux Aeterna, The Blue Danube waltz, and the Adagio from the Gayane Ballet Suite are all superb. The Soundtrack from the movie was a huge hit and has been reissued again and again.

Reeves

Also Sprach Zarathustra was created using 9 String Ensembles 1 (Consisting of 2 Violins, 1 Viola, and 1 Cello), 3 Solo French Horns, 1 Oboe, 1 Bassoon, 1 Piccolo, 2 Timpani, 1 Crash Cymbal 1, and 1 Crash Cymbal 2.