Via Starwars.com:

At the time of its release in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey was polarizing amongst critics and audiences, but it has since earned high status as one of the greatest science-fiction films of all time. In fact, George Lucas himself remarked in 1977, “Stanley Kubrick made the ultimate science fiction movie. It is going to be very hard for someone to come along and make a better movie, as far as I’m concerned.”

It’s difficult to explain just what 2001: A Space Odyssey is about because it is such a personal experience and the ending seems to mean something different with each repeated viewing. What I can say for sure — I think — is that it’s about humanity’s evolution from the “Dawn of Man” all the way to our next phase of evolution through space exploration and competition against artificial intelligence.

While the story of 2001 didn’t inspire Star Wars much directly, Lucas has called the film “hugely influencing.” Watching it now, you can easily see how.

The film opens with a sequence called “The Dawn of Man” and shows the struggles of apes, which were created under the supervision of Stuart Freeborn. His work with creatures had made him a legend in that world, and he was hired on to the original Star Wars film and its two sequels. Most notably, he designed and created the puppet for Yoda, reportedly basing the design on his own face as well as that of Albert Einstein.

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