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Orion Drive > Video > Fiction
Project Orion in Science Fiction
Project Orion is one of the great might-have-beens of the space age, and it is therefore no surprise to see that it features in many science fiction and alternate history stories. Here are some videos/movies/TV programs featuring Orion
- In early versions of the script for film, 2001 - A Space Odyssey,
the spaceship Discovery was powered by atomic bombs like Project
Orion. This idea was not depicted in the movie because of the difficulty
of filming it, and because Stanley Kubrick was tired with nuclear weapons
after making Doctor Strangelove.
2001 - A Space Odyssey (Two-Disc Special Edition) Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Featuring Keir Dullea, William Sylvester & Alan Gifford
Warner Brothers
Released: 2007-10-23
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A space mission that could reveal man?s destiny is jeopardized by a malfunctioning shipboard computer. A dazzling journey that tops them all ? and showed the way for other effects-packed films that followed.
Amazon.com:
When Stanley Kubrick recruited Arthur C. Clarke to collaborate on "the proverbial intelligent science fiction film," it's a safe bet neither the maverick auteur nor the great science fiction writer knew they would virtually redefine the parameters of the cinema experience. A daring experiment in unconventional narrative inspired by Clarke's short story "The Sentinel," 2001 is a visual tone poem (barely 40 minutes of dialogue in a 139-minute film) that charts a phenomenal history of human evolution. From the dawn-of-man discovery of crude but deadly tools in the film's opening sequence to the journey of the spaceship Discovery and metaphysical birth of the "star child" at film's end, Kubrick's vision is meticulous and precise. In keeping with the director's underlying theme of dehumanization by technology, the notorious, seemingly omniscient computer HAL 9000 has more warmth and personality than the human astronauts it supposedly is serving. (The director also leaves the meaning of the black, rectangular alien monoliths open for discussion.) This theme, in part, is what makes 2001 a film like no other, though dated now that its postmillennial space exploration has proven optimistic compared to reality. Still, the film is timelessly provocative in its pioneering exploration of inner- and outer-space consciousness. With spectacular, painstakingly authentic special effects that have stood the test of time, Kubrick's film is nothing less than a cinematic milestone--puzzling, provocative, and perfect. --Jeff Shannon
- In the
1998
film, Deep Impact,
the spaceship Messiah is said to be powered by an
"Orion Drive".
Deep Impact (Special Collector's Edition) Directed by Mimi Leder
Featuring Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood & Vanessa Redgrave
Paramount
Released: 2004-10-05
DVD
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In DEEP IMPACT, Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood), joins a field study for his high school's Astronomy Club and discovers a new comet that unfortunately is headed for Earth. While scientists build a cave to prevent the extinction of the human race, they estimate that only 800,000 people can be selected to survive the "Deep Impact." The threat of a comet ending the world quickly sends Americans into a panic until the president announces a plan to send astronauts on a mission to destroy the comet before it reaches earth.
- The Star Trek: The Original Series episode, For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky, features a hollow asteroid used as a generation ship, powered by "Orion class nuclear pulse engines".