IMDB member Robertmaclean1 recently pointed out a striking similarity between an early scene of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Alien/Prometheus Space Jockey.
So SFMZ decides to play myth buster so to speak, a connection or a coincidence?
The 2001 ASO scene in question appears around the 6:15 timer mark, the man-apes are grazing near a large boulder (Image 1 on the right).
Looking at the shape of the boulder, the IMDB member points out the visual similarity between the boulder and the head of the Space Jockey.
The next image on your right (Image 2) is H. R. Giger's rendition of the Space Jockey. The member was exploring the possibility that the Space Jockey concept was inspired by 2001 ASO, or at least this particular scene.
The third image on your right (Image 3) is a merging of the two images. I converted them to black & white, adjusted sizing, lined up the images, and cropped to highlight the head only.
It's presented in a slide show effect to fade in the head of the Space Jockey. So what do you think? A connection or a coincidence?
SFMZ's conclusion: A coincidence.
First of all, there's literally hundreds of thousands of films over the last several decades contributing possibly millions of frames of film.
There's bound to be visuals of one film's given film frame that unintentionally matches closely to another given film's visuals. There's likely a number of films where you can match up visuals between two films.
Secondly, and probably most importantly, it's very doubtful H. R. Giger was inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey considering he was exploring his biomechanoid theme before the film was released in 1968.
His early works include Birth Machine and Under the Earth, 1967, which shows signs of Giger's exploration of merging organic with mechanic.
While it's like how we see familiar shapes in clouds, making this merely a coincidence, I give the IMDB member a salute for a pretty cool coincidence!
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