Contact (1997)

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers (WGA):

Carl Sagan (novel)
Carl Sagan (story) ...

Release Date:

11 July 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Get ready to take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history... of history.

Plot:

Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of intelligent aliens, who send plans for a mysterious machine.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Radio | Astronomy | God | First Contact

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 8 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Jena Malone	...	Young Ellie
David Morse	...	Ted Arroway
Jodie Foster	...	Eleanor Arroway
Geoffrey Blake	...	Fisher
William Fichtner	...	Kent
Sami Chester	...	Vernon (as SaMi Chester)
Timothy McNeil	...	Davio
Laura Elena Surillo	...	Cantina Woman
Matthew McConaughey	...	Palmer Joss
Tom Skerritt	...	David Drumlin
Henry Strozier	...	Minister
Michael Chaban	...	Hadden Suit
Max Martini	...	Willie (as Maximilian Martini)
Larry King	...	Himself
Thomas Garner	...	Ian Broderick

MPAA:

Rated PG for some intense action, mild language and a scene of sensuality.

Runtime:

150 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #35448) | Iceland:12 | Brazil:12 | South Korea:12 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12/9 | Germany:12 (bw) | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Arecibo Observatory, Arecibo, Puerto Rico

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The character of Dr. Arroway was modeled after two of the pioneering radio astronomers of the 1930s and 1940s, Grote Reber and John Kraus; both men were ham radio operators at an early age. Another model for the character's work was real-life SETI researcher Jill Cornell Tarter.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): This is possibly intentional, but when Ellie receives the call from Mir, the Cosmonaut addresses her as "Comrade Arroway", a form of address that became outdated with the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Young Ellie: CQ, this is W9GFO. CQ, this is W9GFO here. Come back?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "South Park: Tom's Rhinoplasty (#1.11)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Spirit In The Sky

Different from the book doesn't mean bad.

I am used to hearing from just about everyone who has read a book that was made into a movie that the book is always better. I tend to agree with this opinion. Contact, however, shows that in the arts the norm is not always the truth; opinion, no matter how often it is backed up with evidence, can never break through the barrier into be a hardened and absolute truth.

I saw this movie first before I read the book. That is partly because I didn't know that there was the book until after the movie. So, a year or so after the viewing, I got the book. Of course, the movie, in general terms, follows the book fairly well. I have to say, the movie can easily stand on its own merits just as the book can also.

The immediate impression of the film after the book is that there is a great emphasis on faith, proof, truth and opinion. These themes are not much brought up in the book - at least not with the same impact nor in the same way as in the film. Of course, the field of Astrophysics, of which Carl Sagan was a practitioner, lends itself very easily to ultimate questions such as God, faith, truth etc. The vastness of space and complexity of reality, viewed through the scrutiny of the scientific eye, is mind-boggling. As was repeated in the movie several times: "if we're all that there is, "its an awful waste of space." Personally, I think that the book relates these notions of vastness and complexity much better than the movie. But, the audience of the book was certainly not necessarily the same audience as the movie.

To be more fair, the vastness which was expressed in the book was demonstrated to an equal degree, but differed in quality, by the "aloneness" of Dr. Arroway as she scuttles across the universe. In the book, Dr. Arroway is not alone but go with a team of scientists, all of whom make their appearance in the movie. There is much more detail given in the book of the trip through the device than in the movie. In fact, there are very deliberate omissions made which eliminate the technological bent of the book. Yet, the focus of the movie does not allow the movie to be diminished by these omissions in the same way that the book would unavoidably be lacking without those details.

One final aspect of the movie which is relevant with respect to the book is time. Of course, in physics, time has its leading role so it must make at least a cameo in a movie which relies on physics. Astrophysics is tied inextricably to relativity which is likewise tied to time. The timelessness of the device design sent via radio signals and the instantaneous trip Dr. Arroway seemed to put relativity into perfect perspective. The book takes a slightly different view by using distance and the experience of each traveler of moving fast distances with no other apparent sensations of motion. It all adds up to different but equal expressions of the science which Carl Sagan had mastered.

Both the book and the movie are simply fantastic, one not outshining the other as regards their scope and vision. Watch the film, it is a beautiful one. Read the book, it is equally beautiful.