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…