Rating: 
Summary: Smart, emotional, brilliant!
Review: You'd have to be into that whole "thinking" thing to appreciate this movie. I was a little disappointed with the ending the first time I saw it, but after seeing it a few more times, it all began to snap together. This is NOT a cheap sci-fi B-movie that you can just half-watch and then go on with your life. It's one of those that you are thinking about long after, and it slowly begins to fit together. I didn't think that this movie was offensive. In fact, I felt somewhat spiritually empowered by it. One of the big messages in the movie is that faith is something that cannot be explained or proven, not even by science.
Rating: 
Summary: I wanted to like it.
Review: "Contact" began with promise. The first 30-40 minutes told a compelling scientific detective story. I looked forward to seeing the science team interact, detect, and piece together the alien signals. Sadly, the intelligent characters were cast aside and the plot moved to Washington, D.C., not known as a mecca for bold, original thinkers. With all the richness and possibilities inherent in cinema, I was frustrated to witness so many scenes revolving around TV news screens and the lingering reaction shots of the cast. Great scientific discoveries were being made, but the director chose to show the characters having dull meetings and watching TV. "Contact" was weighed down by sappy music throughout. It wasn't possible to take "Contact" seriously after the tedious second act. The main character was diminished by the filmmakers' unimaginative reliance on crudely caricatured antagonists. The sets and special effects were well done, but there was no need to dwell on them. Big Moments happened every 7 minutes, and the story's power was diluted by the time Dr. Arroway began the space voyage. When there was no turning back and her face was at maximum contortion, I thought she finally understood the true meaning of the cryptic Vega message: It's a cookbook!
Rating:
Summary: SUBLIME SPECTACLE
Review: CONTACT is one of the most thoughtful and compelling science fiction films ever made. Everyone involved is working at the top of their game, from Zemeckis, who covered some of these ideas before in the delightfully silly BACK TO THE FUTURE series, to the performers, who are each exceptional and truly moving. Jodie Foster once again plays a loner, with a deep wound she must heal, and McCounaghey, who has never been more appealing, plays the insightful spiritual man who loves her. If you are looking for cheap thrills and lots of action, CONTACT is not necessarily your sci-fi; you will not be disappointed by the mind-boggling effects and surprisngly sublime alien encounter(s), but this movie has a lot more on its smart mind. The experience of CONTACT is emotional on every level, from the petty games people in power play, to the grief we feel over the loss of loved ones, to the difficulty each of us has in making that one true connection with someone we love. I for one cannot get enough of CONTACT. One for the ages.
Rating:
Summary: The Commentaries Make This DVD GREAT!
Review: The movie is already incredible to watch. Listening to Jodie and others tell you the details of each shot and how things were done to accomplish this movie make it fun and interesting. The weather, Jodie's bumps and bee stings, Carl Sagan's advice and the clarity on scientific detail are all discussed. It sheds new light on the movie and respect for the work done.
Rating:
Summary: Modern Day 2001
Review: This is a really fantastic movie that blows away most "first contact" type stories. It is done in such a way that the viewer actually believes that it really could happen this way. I agree with most reviewers that there is a slight cheese factor involved, but hey, that's Hollywood! I love the entire journey that is undertaken here: a journey of mankind on so many different levels. This film is very deep and entertaining at the same time. It is almost a "2001" aimed at the mass audience and made more practical (don't get upset, I LOVED 2001, too). I agree that this movie is not about religion vs. science. Rather, it is about how the two are connected and how there is no "right" or "wrong" side of the fence to be on. I think it is a bold and enlightening statement. Also, this is only a background theme to the bigger tale of man's journey into the next era. Stunning and engrossing. You should enjoy it if you view it with an open mind...
Rating: 
Summary: I think some people are missing the point . . .
Review: Contact is a film about the battle to get to space, and what we might find there. It's not attempting to prove or disprove God, or the value of science. It's not trying to tell us that all politicians or priests are bad. And it's not trying to be "Lost in Space". What "Contact" is: a moderately thoughtful and carefully constructed essay on possible first contact and problems therein. It's got some cheesy mechanics in it (love-story, arbitrary ending), but, frankly, you expect that. It does provide beautiful and, more importantly, integral special effects, and some nice acting from a few cast members. Not all, mind you. I find it difficult to believe that anyone who watches this film with tolerance and an open mind could object to it. Obsessive Christians' only complaint might be that there are atheists in the movie. Grow up - there are atheists in real life. Obsessive scientists might have trouble with depictions of science as faith. Get real - the issue isn't science, but personal belief. If you can shed a few preconceptions, and are willing to watch something a little deeper than "Batman and Robin", then you should enjoy "Contact". If not, then just don't watch it. But you'll be missing out on an important debate.
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: 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.
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