Contact 1997
7.5 / 10
Contact
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.
Videos & Photos
All 4 Videos & 47 Photos
cast
Full Cast & Crew
... Ellie Arroway
... Palmer Joss
... Michael Kitz
... S. R. Hadden
... David Drumlin
... Kent
User reviews
See All 3 Reviews23 Jun 2021 by talisencrw
I would readily admit this is one of my favourite science fiction films from the 90's. It's intelligent, well-acted and directed, and the special effects it has HELPS the story rather than IMPEDES it. Though she hasn't done much lately, either in the director's chair or acting, Jodie Foster is one of my favourite contemporary American actresses, and it's intriguing how her great talent's been utilized of late (ie., 'Elysium', and I'm still very mad at Spike Lee for having Christopher Plummer call her a 'cunt' in 'Inside Man'). Personally, I must admit that I myself have worried what other worlds' inhabitants would think of our civilization from the messages it might get from Earth. Though I thankfully haven't lost any sleep over it (I have 'Thumper' in the apartment above me to thank for that), as Led Zeppelin would say in the classic 'Stairway to Heaven', '...and it makes me wonder'. As what happens in most of these movies, it's rather anticlimactic once the different cultures meet. I'll say to my dying day that the most difficult thing to do in cinema is end a film. Here (unlike perfect sci-fi masterpieces, like '2001: A Space odyssey' or the more recent 'Children of Men') the decent but otherwise unspectacular ending makes me avoid a perfect rating here. But it's awfully close, worth both owning and rewatching, and provides fairly early evidence (which would come to bold fruition in 'Killer Joe') that Matthew McConaughey could actually act. It's also a tossup between this, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Back to the Future' for my favourite Zemeckis moment.
Genres:
Release Date:
Jul 11, 1997 (United States)
Run Time:
2hr 30`
MMPA Rating:
PG
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United States
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:
Related Movies To
Contact
I would readily admit this is one of my favourite science fiction films from the 90's. It's intelligent, well-acted and directed, and the special effects it has HELPS the story rather than IMPEDES it. Though she hasn't done much lately, either in the director's chair or acting, Jodie Foster is one of my favourite contemporary American actresses, and it's intriguing how her great talent's been utilized of late (ie., 'Elysium', and I'm still very mad at Spike Lee for having Christopher Plummer call her a 'cunt' in 'Inside Man'). Personally, I must admit that I myself have worried what other worlds' inhabitants would think of our civilization from the messages it might get from Earth. Though I thankfully haven't lost any sleep over it (I have 'Thumper' in the apartment above me to thank for that), as Led Zeppelin would say in the classic 'Stairway to Heaven', '...and it makes me wonder'. As what happens in most of these movies, it's rather anticlimactic once the different cultures meet. I'll say to my dying day that the most difficult thing to do in cinema is end a film. Here (unlike perfect sci-fi masterpieces, like '2001: A Space odyssey' or the more recent 'Children of Men') the decent but otherwise unspectacular ending makes me avoid a perfect rating here. But it's awfully close, worth both owning and rewatching, and provides fairly early evidence (which would come to bold fruition in 'Killer Joe') that Matthew McConaughey could actually act. It's also a tossup between this, 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Back to the Future' for my favourite Zemeckis moment.
Random viewing but decided to finally watch after its been in my to-do bin for a while now. It didn't strike an emotional cord that I thought it would but Jodie Foster was quite good as were a respectable supporting cast. Never quite bought into the relationship between Foster and McConaughey though in fairness, probably due to the lack of screen time together (felt like maybe 15 minutes in a 2.5 hour movie). Some of the effects were alright for its time including integrating Clinton footage with the cast and the sci-fi specific visuals were alright. In the end, never was bored and found it to be entertaining. **4.0/5**
Early on in Contact a character is introduced who goes by the name “Kent Clark,” and for the remainder of the film I simply could not get over the fact that no one ever even mentions that he is named after Bizarro’s alter ego. My theory is that this is a figurative wink to the audience, letting us know beforehand what we otherwise discover at long last: that the events that are about to unfold are nothing but an elaborate prank on the audience and, possibly, the cast. This movie exists in a limbo somewhere in between Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s unabashed childlike wonder and Ad Astra’s adult ‘we’re alone in the Universe’ pragmatism – which is a polite way of saying that Contact is neither fish nor fowl; the moral of the story, in a nutshell, is that there might be intelligent extraterrestrial life, but then again, there might not be. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with some ambiguity, but let’s consider this: untold amounts of money, physical resources and manpower are spent in the movie (but not by the movie, which prefers to cut corners and follow the unconvincing route of CGI – technology which, by the way, has not aged well nor improved a lot ever since), while we spent two and half hours of our precious time, and it’s all only to learn that, maybe, aliens don’t exist except in overly complicated hoaxes and the minds of impressionable people. That’s a lot of work to do as well as a long way to go to arrive at a conclusion that for many, myself included, is of the foregone variety. And even if the extraterrestrials in the film were real, they’d still be rather disappointing – though I shouldn’t speak in plural, since we only see one in the form of Dr. Ellie Arroway’s (Jodie Foster) long deceased father. The good news is that Ellie’s dad is played by David Morse, and you could certainly do a lot worse than that (and that goes for the rest of the ensemble cast); the bad news is that Ellie’s close encounter takes places on a beach that is supposedly meant to mimic a drawing she made when she was nine years old. This is bad because the drawing, which looks like an actual preteen might have drawn it, is a veritable Monet compared with the computer-generated beach where Ellie has a very anticlimactic meeting with the alien, who tells her nothing she, or for that matter we, didn’t already know or believe – which in turn doesn’t mean that the place itself has to be equally underwhelming; why not a real beach? Or, perhaps even better, a set made to resemble a real beach? This would doubtless speak to either Ellie’s imagination or the aliens’ handicraft much more than what we end up getting.
Cast & Crew of
Contact
Directors & Credit Writers
... Script Supervisor
... Second Unit Director
... Second Assistant Director
Cast
... Ellie Arroway
... Palmer Joss
... Michael Kitz
... S. R. Hadden
... David Drumlin
... Kent
... Ted Arroway
... Rachel Constantine
... Fisher
... Willie
... Richard Rank
... Joseph
... Mission Director
... Young Ellie
SC
Sami Chester... Vernon
... Davio
... Cantina Woman
... Minister
... Larry King
... Ian Broderick
Produced By
Videos & Photos of
Contact
Videos ( 4)
Original Theatrical Trailer
YouTube
Trailer
YouTube
Photos ( 47 )
Related Movies To
Contact
Final Destination Bloodlines (2025)
0 /10
Plagued by a violent recurring nightmare, college student Stefanie heads home to track down the one person who might be able to break the cycle and save her family from the grisly demise that inevitably awaits them all.
Run Time: 1hr 50` . MMPA: R . Release: 09 May 2025
Director: Carl Mason , Dominic Dobrzensky , Melissa Dotto
Producer: Alice S. Kim , Juraj Spisak , Toby Emmerich
Stars: Tony Todd , Melissa Barrera , Anna Lore , Renata Vaca , Quintessa Swindell , Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Tarzan (1999)
7.3 /10
Tarzan was a small orphan who was raised by an ape named Kala since he was a child. He believed that this was his family, but on an expedition Jane Porter is rescued by Tarzan. He then finds out that he's human. Now Tarzan must make the decision as to which family he should belong to...
Run Time: 1hr 28` . MMPA: G . Release: 18 Jun 1999
Director: Johan Klingler , Chung Sup Yoon , Kevin Lima
Producer: Christopher Chase , Mary Hidalgo , Bonnie Arnold
Stars: Tony Goldwyn , Minnie Driver , Glenn Close , Alex D. Linz , Rosie O'Donnell , Brian Blessed
Out of Exile (2023)
0 /10
Recently paroled thief Gabriel Russell tries to balance his life and mend a troubled family as an FBI agent hunts him down, along with his crew after a botched armored car robbery.
Run Time: 1hr 47` . MMPA: R . Release: 20 Jan 2023
Director: Kyle Kauwika Harris
Producer: Jacob Snovel , Karrie Cox , Kelley Gann
Stars: Adam Hampton , Karrie Cox , Kyle Jacob Henry , Ryan Merriman , Peter Greene , Hayley McFarland
Thunderbolts* (2025)
0 /10
After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap, seven disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts.
Run Time: 2hr 7` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 30 Apr 2025
Director: Jeremy Silveira , Jeff Okabayashi , Jake Schreier
Producer: John Burton West , Sarah Halley Finn , Allana Williams
Stars: Sebastian Stan , Florence Pugh , David Harbour , Wyatt Russell , Olga Kurylenko , Hannah John-Kamen
Conjuring the Cult (2024)
0 /10
After discovering his blood-soaked daughter dead in the bathtub, David Bryson attends a self-help group to help save him from his ghostly nightmares. But when a group of mysterious cult-like women offer to help him resurrect his daughter. David's choices will not just decide his fate... but the fate of his dead daughter's SOUL.
Run Time: 1hr 33` . MMPA: . Release: 01 Oct 2024
Director: Calvin Morie McCarthy
Producer:
Stars: Neil Green , Elissa Dowling , Chynna Rae Shurts , BJ Mezek , Jason Brooks , Brad Littlefield
Remnant (2024)
0 /10
Grace is a young woman whose life has been turned upside down by tragedy. When she returns home to the family farm to rebuild her shattered life, her world begins to unravel as a series of strange events haunt her, pushing Grace to the edge of madness. A mysterious figure lurks in the shadows and a ghostly woman appears in the darkness of night. Is Grace imagining these apparitions, or are they a warning of a nightmare still to come?
Run Time: 1hr 52` . MMPA: . Release: 30 Jun 2024
Director: Mike Horan
Producer:
Stars: Nicole Pritchard , Shaun Robert Foley , Tsu Shan Chambers , Remi Webster , Megan Bell , Martin Ashley Jones
Wicked Minds (2003)
5.3 /10
Holden returns home from college and is surprised to find his overpowering competitive father married to a much younger woman Lana. Holden quickly falls for the beauty and charisma of his step mother. A passionate affair begins between son and stepmother.
Run Time: 1hr 33` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 01 Mar 2003
Director: Jason Hreno
Producer: Vera Miller , Josée Mauffette , Nadia Rona
Stars: Angie Everhart , Andrew W. Walker , Winston Rekert , Amy Sloan , Frank Schorpion , Ellen David
Captain America: Brave New World (2025)
0 /10
After meeting with newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus Ross, Sam finds himself in the middle of an international incident. He must discover the reason behind a nefarious global plot before the true mastermind has the entire world seeing red.
Run Time: 1hr 59` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 12 Feb 2025
Director: James Young , Robert Alonzo , Julius Onah
Producer: Anthony Mackie , Patrick Rokn , Page Rosenberg-Marvin
Stars: Anthony Mackie , Danny Ramirez , Tim Blake Nelson , Liv Tyler , Carl Lumbly , Shira Haas
Front of the Class (2008)
8.1 /10
A boy with Tourette's syndrome overcomes criticism and discrimination to achieve his dream of becoming a teacher.
Run Time: 1hr 35` . MMPA: . Release: 07 Dec 2008
Director: Peter Werner
Producer: Andrew Gottlieb
Stars: James Wolk , Treat Williams , Dominic Scott Kay , Sarah Drew , Kathleen York , Joe Chrest
After (2019)
5.3 /10
Tessa Young is a dedicated student, dutiful daughter and loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart. Entering her first semester of college, Tessa's guarded world opens up when she meets Hardin Scott, a mysterious and brooding rebel who makes her question all she thought she knew about herself -- and what she wants out of life.
Run Time: 1hr 46` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 11 Apr 2019
Director: Jenny Gage
Producer: Alastair Burlingham , Mark Canton , Aron Levitz
Stars: Josephine Langford , Hero Fiennes Tiffin , Shane Paul McGhie , Khadijha Red Thunder , Dylan Arnold , Samuel Larsen
Breathing In (2023)
0 /10
1901, South Africa. As the Second Anglo-Boer War rages on, a wounded General seeks refuge in the small home of a woman and her young daughter. As the hurt man settles in, he begins noticing that something is off about the two women, particularly the daughter, and before long, he’ll learn the real reason for why they’ve invited him and for how they’ve survived on their own for so long.
Run Time: 1hr 45` . MMPA: . Release: 18 Oct 2023
Director: Jaco Bouwer
Producer:
Stars: Michele Burgers , Sven Ruygrok , Jamie-Lee Money , Lionel Newton
Karate Kid: Legends (2025)
0 /10
After a family tragedy, kung fu prodigy Li Fong is uprooted from his home in Beijing and forced to move to New York City with his mother. When a new friend needs his help, Li enters a karate competition – but his skills alone aren't enough. Li's kung fu teacher Mr. Han enlists original Karate Kid Daniel LaRusso for help, and Li learns a new way to fight, merging their two styles into one for the ultimate martial arts showdown.
Run Time: 1hr 34` . MMPA: PG-13 . Release: 08 May 2025
Director: Peng Zhang , Richard Graves , Shanna Roberts Salée
Producer: Jenny Hinkey , Ralph Macchio , Karen Rosenfelt
Stars: Jackie Chan , Ralph Macchio , Ben Wang , Joshua Jackson , Sadie Stanley , Ming-Na Wen