How The Movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" Should Have Ended

    The script and novel of 2001: A Space Odyssey were largely joint efforts between film maker Stanley Kubrick and author Arthur C. Clark.      

    If you have seen Kubrick's film, 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know that an alien monolith is uncovered on the Moon that, once exposed to sunlight, sends a signal directed toward Jupiter; and when astronaut Bowman, aboard the spacecraft Discovery reaches Jupiter, he finds another, much larger, monolith in orbit about the planet. 

    But if you have read the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know that, unlike the movie, the signal was actually directed to one of the moons of Saturn, Iapetus. There, Bowman discovers a large circular or oval marking on the surface of Iapetus, in the center of which stands another, much larger, monolith. Funny enough, when space probes were actually able to photograph Iapetus from close up, it did have a large circular crater similar to the marking described in the novel.

    In any event, in both the novel and the film, the monolith Bowman discovers is a stargate which transports Bowman once he enters it, although what Bowman sees and encounters after he enters the stargate differs somewhat between the film and the novel.

    Per Wikipedia, "the use of Saturn as the final destination of the Discovery mission rather than Jupiter, [was] discarded when the special effects team could not develop a convincing rendition of Saturn's rings," which matches what I read several decades ago in a book about the making of 2001. Apparently there was a falling out between Kubrick and Clark during the writing and production which also led to other differences between the two, particular in the ending. 

    The video below shows how the movie should have ended if it had followed the novel. Although a fan pic, the CGI is not bad. It picks up with Bowman's fellow crew member, Poole, being killed by the HAL 9000 computer as Discovery approaches Jupiter, and then quickly goes over the subsequent events, including the journey to Saturn and Bowman's journey into the stargate and transformation into the Star Child, who is (ineffectually) attacked by the Earth nations with nuclear weapons. 

VIDEO: "2001: The Alternative Trip"
C B Newham (27 min.)