The Arrival (1996)

Director:

David Twohy

Writer (WGA):

David Twohy (written by)

Release Date:

31 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller | Mystery | Action

Tagline:

The greatest danger facing our world has been the planet's best kept secret...until now.

Plot:

Zane, an astronomer discovers intelligent alien life. But the aliens are keeping a deadly secret, and will do anything to stop Zane from learning it.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Scientist | Paranoia | Taxi | Seminar

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Charlie Sheen	...	Zane Zaminsky
Lindsay Crouse	...	Ilana Green
Richard Schiff	...	Calvin
Shane	...	JPL Guard #1
Ron Silver	...	Phil Gordian / Mexican Guard
Teri Polo	...	Char
Phyllis Applegate	...	Mrs. Roosevelt
Alan Coates	...	Terraformer
Leon Rippy	...	DOD #1
Buddy Joe Hooker	...	DOD #2
Javier Morga	...	Co-worker
Tony T. Johnson	...	Kiki
Catalina Botello	...	N.C.A.R. Woman
Georg Lillitsch	...	Computer Tech
David Villalpando	...	Cabbie

Also Known As:

Shockwave

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sci-fi violence and terror, and for brief language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA | Mexico

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Netherlands:18 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | UK:15 (video premiere) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #34593) | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Grove Street, Bishop, California, USA

Company:

Live Entertainment

Goofs:

Continuity: When Zane is talking to Gordian about the signal, Zane smashes the gyroscope. But a few seconds later, the top of the gyroscope can clearly be seen revolving in the bottom right hand corner.

Quotes:

Cabbie: [looking towards old, scruffy building] Posada San Marsol. One of our much very best hotels!

Movie Connections:

References "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)

I came - I saw - I left happy

I was a little bit late getting to the theater to see The Arrival as I recall. The movie was slated to start ten minutes past the hour and I didn't get to the theater until five after. Then I had to go through the concession stand crowd. When I finally reached the theater -- the large screen was engrossed by a huge satellite disk and there was some guy talking. "Damn," I thought. "I just missed the start of the movie." It wasn't three seconds after that realization that I had another one. "This isn't the movie. It's a commercial." A commercial which it turned out for one of the large multi-billion dollar phone companies. Talk about false scares.

So what about the movie? Some people called it a thinking man's science fiction movie and while the jury is still out on that I will say it's not a stupid movie either. It is one more of those 'one man saves the world' flicks. Which is never terribly realistic, but on it's own terms it entertains. Charlie Sheen plays Zane Zaminski. A smart, but soon-to-be paranoid astrophysicist who already has reason to be paranoid with the slithery Godian (Ron Silver) for a boss. Then one day watching the satellites some anomaly passes his screen. Suddenly the search is on. What was it? WHO was it? Not letting the subject go gets him fired from his job and deeper and deeper he journeys into the mess.

The Arrival is one part use your mind, two parts conspiracy theory. As Zane takes it upon himself to find out what's going on, who's involved and to what lengths they'll go to suppress everything. Soon we start to see elements straight out of the X Files. Aliens... conspiracy... colonization. The story has it's own set of implausibilities, but things move at such a pace that there isn't much time to question them. Zane knows something is going on and as it gets deeper we see what going on. It's all about the ride. Could one man really stop such things from happening? Probably not in the real world, but it makes for a fun paranoia filled sci-fi ride.