Rating: 
Summary: An interesting novel
Review: Carl Sagan does a good job bringing up and discussing the thin line between science and religion. It definetly leaves you thinking... I did the mistake of seeing the movie first. Not that I disliked the movie, I actually thought it was good. The book doesn't give you that much move then the move though. I guess it goes a little deaper, but once you've seen it, reading the book is a waste of time.
Rating: 
Summary: A Classic!
Review: Contact is not like those other Sci-Fi movies. It's mostly psychologic, about people and their lives, their struggles, their goals. It is a masterpiece! A great cast, very-well directed! The special effects are good. This movie is for those who loves Sci-Fi movies with a story! And since most of those movies don't have any story or logic behing their big amazing special effects, that's what makes CONTACT a classic, best real/intelligent Sci-Fi movie that has been made so far. And then again, Jodie Foster totally delivers!
Rating: 
Summary: Buy it, then play it as Big and Loudly as possible.
Review: When I first saw this movie in the theater I was blown away and went home in a daze. With some time to reflect, it was more about Jodie Foster's performance and the film's big Hollywood style, than true movie substance. Emotionally one of my favorites, I've watched it many times and still get a little choked up, esp. when she gets ready for launching in the Machine. The love story, however, is flat, and thus I feel it can't have 5 stars. I had to read the book, and of course it was better. More political, (although dated) it makes up for the lack of deep substance in the movie. No love story here (although some interest in a character not even in the movie). Read it soon, but after you see the movie. Carl Sagan, thank you for making a brilliant, original pop fiction novel before you left us. As for the DVD, plenty has been said here already, and all of it is true. This is one of the ultimate DVD versions of a movie and relatively inexpensive too! (only Brazil - Criterion is better, but 3 times the price!) Movie: 4 stars DVD, although : 5+ stars
Rating:
Summary: Ideas before special effects!
Review: When I first saw "Contact" in the theater, a few audience members walked out on it. So buyer (or renter) beware: This is not a science fiction movie for everyone. If, however, you are interested in a sci-fi movie that puts ideas before special effects...look no further.There are no ray guns in "Contact." There are no bug-eyed aliens. No explosions. (Actually, strike that. There is one explosion. Perhaps the most spectacular explosion I've ever seen in a movie.) What "Contact" has instead is ideas. What will mankind's first contact with an alien species really be like? It won't be pointy-eared Vulcans landing in their spaceships. It won't be nasty, slimy aliens blowing up the White House. It will, more than likely, go something like this: A young, driven radio astronomer (Jodie Foster in a role which surely should have gotten her another Oscar nomination) hears a radio signal from somewhere out there... Incidently, how many of you know that Carl Sagan started working on the screenplay to "Contact" before he started writing the novel? Sometimes the wheels of Hollywood turn very slowly.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: I read this book shortly after I saw the movie, just after completing my sophomore year in high school. The book went much more in depth than the movie; something that usually makes books better than the movies that are based on them; which is true in this case. If you can understand the complex math and science that is interwoven into the chapters (I didn't, but I read it anyway :) you'll probably enjoy it that much more. Otherwise I would have rated it five stars. A must for for the obsessive sci-fi reader (such as myself :).
Rating:
Summary: Contact, the World's BEST Movie
Review: "Coctact" is probably the best movie I have ever seen besides Appolo 13! The movies both show things that touch the viewers heart. I hope that you will see "Contact" if you have not already.
Rating:
Summary: Did he find what he was searching for?
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed hearing the late Carl Sagan's innermost aspirations lived out in the life of Ellie the radio astronomer. His descriptions of what might happen if a non random signal were received from elsewhere in the galaxy through a radio telescope inferring intelligent life as the source of the signal are creative and fascinating. The flight to a distant paradise-like world to meet god-like beings who are all knowing, all wise and good leads one to hope that such things exist. Carl Sagan's description of the multinational, years long, and no costs barred effort to decode and understand the message that turns out to be a blueprint for a complex machine is in fact occurring today! Truth is stranger than fiction. There is currently a collaborative effort over many years, by universities around the world costing millions of dollars to understand the message encoded within DNA which is the blueprint for the human body. The effort is justified because of the spin off benefits both medical and economic that will result. I sense that Contact reflects a aspiration to find God, to find purpose in life and fellowship in the universe. Just as the skeptics doubt the story the 5 travelers bring back of visiting the center of the galaxy and meeting other beings, so too many today find a purposeful message in the stars above or the cells within too incredible to believe. Just as the "machine" was built to transport people to its designers in space, so too our Designer desires to bring our souls to Himself through our earth bound bodies. "Yet in my flesh I shall see God".
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: A book that every *Woman* should read, because Ellie (the most important character) is a superior scientist to the clumsy and incompetent white males around her. Unfortunately the film version by Jodie Foster is poorly executed, but then she's not the most talented director in the world (although thankfully at least somewhat a feminist...)
Rating:
Summary: An underrated classic!
Review: I'll keep this short & sweet! Contact is simply one of the best movies I've seen in recent memory. I can't believe the way the Academy ignored this film when it came to oscar nominations! Jodie Foster certainly deserved a best actress nomination for her performance as Ellie Arroway. The supporting cast of this movie is a who's who of top rate actors in hollywood today & all good in their roles: James Woods, Tom Skerritt, Matthew McConaghey, & Angela Bassett. The always brilliant Robert Zemeckis, who walked home in 1994 with the best director oscar for Forest Gump, certainly deserved a nomination for his work here. I personally think CONTACT is his best film to date. The visual effects in this film are second to none & astonishing to look at. From the opening force ten pullback sequence to the scenes involving The Machine...Kenneth Ralston & his team at Sony Pictures Imageworks (once again!) deserved an oscar nomination. If you have a DVD player, get CONTACT on DVD...you won't regret it! I would encourage anyone to see this movie(can you tell!). CONTACT is definitely an underrated classic!
Rating:
Summary: No words can tell..
Review: Actually i, personally, didn't think that the novel "Contact" could be applied to a motion picture for it had multiple levels of storytelling. Moreover, it presented a long time period with ingenious connections, references and, of course, memories which could turn out as a disadvantage for a film to grasp it all. However, Zemeckis' demiurgical blend of Sagan's novel with conventional Hollywood approach makes this film an experience to enjoy. What's so striking is that, the film and the book almost enrich one another. For example, in order to visualize the Machine (of course not fully, because it's a bit altered in the film) described in the book, you have to see the film. On the other hand, if you want to touch a deeper level of meaning & cross-references (through a magnificent choice of quotes, flawlessly constructed storyline, and the unique perspective of the universe & life itself that Sagan makes us witness) you have to read the book. But beware: if you read the book 1st, then you may find the film less satisfying. Because, after all, this is a Hollywood production. It has to address the public taste with a pinch of a love story, injustice & redemption sequences, and of course a "comprehensible" finale. But no matter what, it's a sparkling film with an unforgettable performance from Foster. Check out the book for a more puzzling ending. But don't miss this beautiful "visual" version of the novel. Because Ellie says it all: "no words can tell.."
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