Contact

Rating:
Summary: Versimilitude
Review: Contact is the most satisfying science fiction movie I have ever seen. It avoids the pitfalls of being a shoot 'em up like Starship Troopers, or being coldly intellectual like 2001. It is also one of those rare movies that gives the scientific aspect of the script proper respect, without being pedantic or sacrificing character developement.

For me, what makes the movie work is the versimilitude with which the story is handled. Using CNN reporters, celebrities, and even President Clinton, the story comes off as very realistic. (Clinton was said to be offended to have had his image used in this movie. He should have been honored that Contact presented him in such a positive light, considering how his administration has gutted the space program.) Certain details from the book would have made the ending a but less ambiguous--i.e the fact that sand was found in the pod seemed to indicate that Ellie really did visit another world. Apparently, the producers wanted to keep the ending more ambigious, which is understandable, since one of the themes of the film is faith. Ellie's lack of faith in organized religion ironically comes back to haunt her when she realizes that for people to believe her journey actually took place, they must accept her statement--on faith. (Incidentally, the book makes clear that Ellie is not an Athiest, but rather an open-minded Agnostic.)

This is one of the few films in this genre to have truly first class acting. Foster does her usual excellent job, as do the supporting players, especially Tom Skeritt.

The visual effects in this film are in a class of their own, and they are placed at the service of the story.

This is one of the first DVDs I purchased, and it remains my demo-disc. Warner has simply packed it with extras, inclusing three commentary tracks and a French translation. There are also extra materials explaining how the visual effects were achieved and how the Machine was designed.

This is a DVD everyone should have!

Rating:
Summary: An intelligent view to a threshed subject
Review: The film is one true realistic and accesible view to the big question: are we alone in the universe? Here we see all the crash of so many disciplines mostly it's religion VS science. I liked all the intrigue, the memorable quotes (some were quoted by Carl Saggan before his death), but mostly I liked the human part of each character, because I found it very accurate, we see at the end that faith is always a fundamental part of the human being, even if you're very rational. And from my point of view Science and Religion aren't completely incompatible after all, 'cause they both come from the same root: philosophy. That was my favorite message of this film.

Rating:
Summary: Plotline is great, screenplay was juvenile
Review: Conceptually, it sounds like an incredible story. And it is. However, the war mongering NSA guy, the new age holyman, and the incredibly self assured scientist are just way too stereotypical to be taken seriously. Maybe if the characters involved were a bit more real, rather than comical. I don't know if this was based on a book or not (I haven't read many reviews), but I would definitely give the concept huge thumbs up. It was definitely a believable approach to the concept of "contact".

Rating:
Summary: A favorite
Review: Contact is among the few films today that actually require you to "think" while you are viewing it. The story is very unconventional compared to the other science fiction films of today, in that it deals with actual SCIENCE. The only major flaw in this movie is that the ending is very disappointing, and leaves the movie feeling very unfinished. Contact is by no means a classic, but a favorite nonetheless.

Rating:
Summary: Contact; One of the best ever...
Review: TRU Drew: You obviously don't know a great film when you see one. "Contact" is one of the best movies ever made with excellent screenplay by superb actors. Not only a science fiction movie, but also a good look into humanity. Buy or rent this movie.

Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful
Review: I remember walking out of "Contact" struck by how unusual a film it was for a summer release. Not an action film, not a romance flick, not a comedy, "Contact" was a serious exploration of the roles faith and science play in our daily lives, and it asks a good question of us- how compassionate are we really? Do we accept the beliefs of others, or do we stay to our own narrow beliefs? (Appropriately, I saw the movie in our nation's capitol, just a block or two away from where numerous scenes take place in the film.)

The short and sweet of the plot is this: Jodie Foster plays an atheist scientist whose quest to find life on another world is rewarded with a signal one day carrying instructions on how to construct a machine capable of transporting a human being. I won't give away too much else. Suffice to say I was impressed by how the film handled the message and the response- it was not melodramatic and seems quite plausible. The viewer gets the feeling that if mankind does ever make contact, this would be how it was done. The question of whether there is extraterrestrial life out there is a daunting one- to put it mildly it would be the greatest discovery in the history of mankind and would fundamentally challenge virtually all of the assumptions mankind has made about our place in the universe.

Foster is quite good, but I found Matthew McConaughey's role as Foster's love interest and a religious thinker to be a little hard to swallow. He's a talented actor to be sure (he was terrific in "A Time to Kill"), but he was miscast here. James Woods and Tom Skerrit don't impress as the film's two villains, but the story and Foster are strong enough to carry the movie along despite some weak characters.

Does the movie demonize religion? For the most part: no. The unfortunate casting aside, McConaughey's character has an important role to play here in making it abundantly clear that faith and reason need not conflict and that mankind can believe in god and still be able to question the world around ourselves. A good message, but one that the film only half-heartedly makes.

In terms of technical execution, "Contact" has much going for it. It all looks plausible, like we are watching a documentary instead of a fiction film. The sequences involving CNN reporters and clips of President Clinton (re-edited to make it appear like he was commenting on events in the film) blur the line between fiction and fact.

On the balance, well done. This is a film that will impress and make people think. Good work.

Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: This is the film you have been waiting for

Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOOOORRRRRING!
Review: This is the most boring movie I have ever seen! Do yourself a favor and never see or buy this movie! I'm not kidding!

Rating:
Summary: There is something special here
Review: This film is deeply moving. Foster acts with sincerity, and the depth of character and thought in this film is truly unique.

There are so many beautiful moments in this film. Oh, I agree with several of the reviewers who mentioned that the "alien encounter" near the end all but dripped with cliches, but that doesn't bother me. This movie isn't about the alien; this movie is about us.

The scene in which Alloway looked out of the pod at that vast, beautiful scape--that was a very human moment. And the scene on the balcony, and the scene at the end, when the astronomer and the priest truly understand each other, and are connected--the clasping of hands there is so beautifully symbolic.

I am rather disappointed at the number of negative reviews scattered below. I see a review from an empiricist who felt that the film was advocating "taking science on faith," and I see reviews from theists who feel that the movie was somehow anti-religion.

I can only feel that these reviewers have misunderstood the film at the most fundamental level. First Contact is the first film I have ever seen that gave such an open-minded and compassionate treatment of both science and faith. The storywriters truly understood why empiricists and men of faith have seldom seen eye to eye. And they understood--and respected!--both men of faith and men of science.

They even understood that science and faith don't have to be mutually exclusive. If science was not a crucial part of what it means to be human, then we would all be living in the woods, feasting on raw chipmunks for breakfast. If faith was not a crucial part of what it means to be human, then we would have no poets, no artists, no storytellers, no sculptors, and we would no doubt be living cold, precise, efficient, mathematical lives. Both the search for knowledge and the search for truth are part of what it means to be human.

First Contact is not a film about scientists and priests. It is a film about human beings.

As for myself, I am a Christian, and I have to say that First Contact was the best treatment in film of my faith and my view of life that I have ever seen. And frankly, if I were an atheist, I suspect I would feel the same way.

Rating:
Summary: Overwhelming
Review: Absslutely amazing video and sound quality, one just has to ask...If this is the quality you get on a dvd, what is George Lucas waiting for? Contact asks the second basic question of space exploration (The first being Are we alone?)What would a contact be like? Penned by Carl Sagan and his wife, the master direction of Zemeckis brings to life a space travel we have never seen and some exotic scenarios combined with real life locations make this movie very believable. The effects were done with great wizardy and if you turn your living room lights off while watching this, you will really feel like you're in deep space at times...Let your soul fly free, get this...