Contact (1997)

Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster), after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

James V. Hart (screenplay by), Michael Goldenberg (screenplay by)

Stars:

Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerritt

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 14 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Max Martini	...	Willie (as Maximilian Martini)
Larry King	...	Larry King
Thomas Garner	...	Ian Broderick
Conroy Chino	...	KOB-TV Reporter

Storyline

Astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway has long been interested in contact to faraway lands, a love fostered in her childhood by her father, Ted Arroway (David Morse), who died when she was nine-years-old, leaving her orphaned. Her current work in monitoring for extraterrestrial life is based on that love and is in part an homage to her father. Ever since funding from the National Science Foundation (N.S.F.) was pulled on her work, which is referred to some, including her N.S.F. superior David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), as more science fiction than science, Ellie, with a few of her rogue scientist colleagues, have looked for funding from where ever they could get it to continue their work. When Ellie and her colleagues hear chatter originating from the vicinity of the star Vega, Ellie feels vindicated. But that vindication is short lived when others, including politicians, the military, religious leaders, and other scientists, such as Drumlin, try to take over her work. When the messages received ...

---

Plot Keywords:

message from outer space | religion versus science | wormhole | first contact | nasa | 

---

Taglines:

If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.

---

Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish German Russian

Release Date:

11 July 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Contact

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,584,908, 13 July 1997

Gross USA:

$100,920,329

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$171,120,329

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., South Side Amusement Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

150 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eleanor is Greek for "shining light". Ellie Arroway points the way to enlightenment.

---

Goofs

When Dr. Arroway first hears the alien signal at the VLA, she shouts into her walkie-talkie the Right Ascension and Declination that the signal is emanating from. Twice, she says, "Declination plus 36 degrees." When she repeats it the third time, she says "Declination 36 hours."

---

Quotes

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

---

Crazy Credits

"For Carl"

---

Connections

Referenced in 1st Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review (1997)

---

Soundtracks

Dallas
(uncredited)
Written by Jerrold Immel
Played briefly during the opening sequence

User Reviews

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.