Based on the screenplay by Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke. A group of primates is singled out to receive information from a superior outside force which will speed up their development into mankind. Later, men excavate a huge monolith from the Moon's surface - a monolith which emits a strange and, to them, incomprehensible signal. Upon its discovery the monolith launches into deep space, its task of watching over Man, now that he has reached the level of sophistication necessary to find it, being over. This theme continues building into a a massive climax.