Three million years B.C., a mysterious black monolith of alien origin influences a group of prehistoric human ancestors to develop tools and establish dominance over other tribes. Fast-forward to 1999 - and a black monolith with magnetic properties is detected by scientists working on a moon base. When the rays of the sun activate it, the monolith sends a signal toward one of the moons of Saturn. In 2001, the Discovery Mission to Saturn - five men and an artificially intelligent computer named HAL 9000 - is launched. Three of the crew are in suspended animation; and all proceeds smoothly until communications with Earth break down...and HAL begins to act independently and take over...Cover art by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.