CONTACT (1997) Explained

Contact is a 1997 science-fiction drama directed by Robert Zemeckis, adapted from the novel of the same name by the legendary Carl Sagan
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To purchase a copy of the Novel and Movie, head to -
The film - amzn.to/2PgOmi1
The novel - amzn.to/2Eb5pRi
ABOUT ME
Hey there folks!! My name is Niyat and this channel was created to assist in answering all your questions about Films, Comics and Popular culture in a fun and engaging way!
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to any of the source materials I used in this work, appealing to allowance made for "fair use" purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research, under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.

[@ShepardOfficial]

"If it is just us..... it seems like an awful waste of space" So simple yet so efficient.

[@muP8085]

This space seems too big for us....but it might be microscopic for someone else out there..

[@fellon8019]

Are you talking about Congress?

[@Johninadelaide2022]

And a brilliant quote

[@moonglow6639]

It's just us but there is a problem.. or not ?

[@moonglow6639]

@@muP8085 yes indeed. It's a matter of perspective I guess.

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

Contact is unequivocally one of the finest and most intellectually challenging sci-fi films of all-time

[@shapst3838]

siddharth nagar until the end

[@Winter-gf9nt]

@@shapst3838 the ending in all good films is normally rubbish

[@robloughrey]

@PhotoGeorge Naw, I love the ending. Its exactly what would happen. Politicians exploiting the situation for gain? Check. Crazy conspiracy theories? Check. People shrugging their shoulders and going back to their lives? Check. Aliens deciding we need to grow up a bit? Check.

[@Wanderlandstories17]

@PhotoGeorge No they didn't botch the ending. It was meant to show that looking deeper is the key to understanding.. and looking deeper is to look inside yourself for understanding. We will never be handed the answers to our place in this universe, we have to realize what is real isn't what our senses see but is truly our inner connection to all that is.

[@metalmk6839]

It did a very good job analyzing how a society would react to alien contact.

[@johnta17]

This movie had a huge influence on Christopher Nolan's Interstellar. Not just the casting of Matthew McConaughey either.

[@wasimskhan]

A valid observation, dear John. 👍

[@kirathekillernote2173]

Also arrival

[@johnta17]

@@kirathekillernote2173 no, I mean it is the same story structurally, thematically, spiritually…

[@vishnunair7623]

And the question protagonists from both movies are puzzled with " What Happens Now ? "

[@gandolfwhite7323]

Alright alright alrighttt

[@endofsociety]

Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying. Arthur C. Clarke

[@joshuagarner1654]

Meaning not at all?

[@joroc]

If we are alone we can create other and war. If we are not alone we can war already 👁️👄👁️

[@val13c59]

It’s terrifying to this life existence. But how can that effect the mystery beyond death.

[@val13c59]

Feeds Ravens myself being an Agnostic . I would accept Extraterrestrials, before I ever accept anything biblical.

[@abesoto84]

What if I told you a 3rd possibility exists?

[@oteatimeo]

Mr Sagan said something like, "So much blood spilled over such a small piece of land. Look how big the universe is." The man had a beautiful mind. Rest in peace sir.

[@joesimon2018]

To be fair....it's not that much blood in the grand scheme of the universe.

[@charlesc106]

@@joesimon2018 Oh shut up.

[@KKirbyWho]

did you say zeros and Is? not zeros and ones? 0I looks different from 01 11:00

[@esecallum]

it was an HOUR long program. How did you manage to watch such a long program .it must have been hard

[@FGBFGB-vt7tc]

@@KKirbyWho Mr. Kirby, I could be wrong since I haven't watched the film in a long while nor did read the book, but i=SQRT(-1) as in the square root of -1. Since such a number doesn't exists it is "i" for imaginary. Maybe it is what they were speaking of...

[@DavidKnowles0]

I have a different interpretation of the ending. The aliens weren't saying we weren't ready. The alien was telling her they have a set procedure for introducing a race to the galactic community. An humanity has taken step 1 on that road and one day they will be ready to take step 2 on that road. A road they won't rush or cut corners for us.

[@twoscarabsintheswarm9055]

So, we aren't ready? It's just we aren't ready until we finish walking down a road

[@shieldmaidenarreh4265]

Exactly, like in star trek, a specie wasn't ready until they passed the pre-warp civilization.

[@DavidKnowles0]

@@twoscarabsintheswarm9055But we were ready to start walking down that road and we have taken the first step. We don't know how long that road is or how many steps there is. For all we know the first and last step all take place in less than a hundred years.

[@twoscarabsintheswarm9055]

@@DavidKnowles0 and for all we know the galactic community could've died out in the time it takes us to get to that point. It's obvious that their time is slower than ours, so for us it could take a hundred years but for them it would take thousands.

[@sfappetrupavelandrei]

It's like God who doesn't show Himself and doesn't fix all the unjustices in the world when we want. Yet nobody seem to have a problem when imaginary aliens don't fix our problems and don't show themselves.

[@xBloodXGusherx]

I love movies from 1995 to 2000. They have this special look to them where you get a sense of adventure. Everything today is trying to thrill you with crazy graphics and drama.

[@Iybraesil]

No matter how many times I watch this movie I always get chills when she detects the signal.

[@UNSCPILOT]

Just starting to learn astronomy myself and the more I learn and look back at this movie the more I realize how beautifully accurate it is too. And just recently we had that signal from Proxima Centari just 4 light years away, it feels like a chillingly real parallel and I dearly hope that signal repeats

[@YouTuber-ep5xx]

I was an 'extra' in this movie. Watch for the scene where Jodi's character exits cab and walks past freaks (including one played by Jake Busey) on way to ballroom scene with McConnaughey. She walks past limo driver, bellhop and cop - I played the cop!!! KZbinr's finest, and only, performance...

[@erikaarnold4780]

SWEET! You were part of one of the most beautiful SCI-FI''s ever. Well done!

[@YouTuber-ep5xx]

@@erikaarnold4780 Yeah, I stared straight at the camera!

[@pentfold6534]

You Tuber Nice one! Fame at last

[@RedVelvetRabbit]

Awwwe! No matter how brief your involvement was, you're forever a part of history and a piece of work that has forever touched my heart. 💜

[@ioniacob9672]

Nice one. Great movie to be in!👍

[@paulakaye2108]

One of the most beautiful lines, "They should've sent a poet..." I've loved this film for decades now.... Thank you for reviewing it!

[@johncronin9540]

Paula Kaye I think the origin of that idea was expressed during Apollo, as test pilots are not usually poets, or are as gifted in trying to express not just their experiences (for instance looking back and seeing the entire Earth so small and so distant), but trying to express how those experiences made them FEEL). Many did try to write about this much later in their lives, writing books, and being interviewed by others.

[@johncronin9540]

Paula Kaye Oh, if you haven’t read the book, you should. There’s so much more there.

[@jbro8934]

@Mike Studmuffin Interstellar was ok but it was more technical. Contact was more philosophical.

[@daffidavit]

@@johncronin9540 Yes, even during Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin said things as "magnificent desolation" and "one small step for (a)man. One giant leap for mankind". A few astronauts even became artistic painters. I think it was either Alan Bean or Ron Evans who took up painting lunar landscapes with such accuracy that they called their fellow astronauts just to get the colors and hues correct. They might have been scientists but they were also artists.

[@jbro8934]

@Alexander Supertramp Is that the one with Charlie Sheen? I've heard of it. Is it really good? Aside from Contact my other favorite alien film is an older one with Jeff Bridges called Starman. Check it out if you haven't seen it.

[@haweater1555]

Reading the book is recommended. Hadden recalled is early backstory: he first gained noteriety by inventing a popular device to automatically avoid having to watch commercials on TV. The networks tried to sue the pants off of him but were unsuccessful. He then sought to sell it on TV with ads, and the networks refused. He turned around and sued the pants off of them, and won. Thus the seed capital for Hadden Industries.

[@tshidi129]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 I will definitely read the book. Hadden seems like someone I'd hang out with in real life

[@totchj]

That's the best book advertisement ever!!!😂😂😂

[@animateddepression]

Good thing he wasn't selling pillows on TV then using that capital to gain favor with the US President. That'd be a creepy as hell story.

[@trumpialightning1691]

I believe he was murdered by the government because he knew too much about

[@eliasgough4069]

my grandpa is in this movie. he plays her lawyer

[@dumbslum597]

My dad works for microsoft

[@HumanPhilosopherPatriot]

@@dumbslum597 I know people on the internet can make shit up. But sometimes they can tell the truth. Keyword 'sometimes'. And this could be the case.

[@toothless2250]

@@dumbslum597 my dad owns microsoft

[@logicalfallacydetector5196]

Toothless my dad sold Microsoft to your dad

[@NightmareCourtPictures]

​@unknown and drake is my son. So.....

[@michaelmitchell5380]

I don't think ANY film has moved me so deeply as CONTACT. The questions it raised were only surpassed by the possible answers it provided. Every aspect of this movie was suburb. I watch it over and over again and never tire for a moment.

[@burstcity3832]

Man from Earth! try it.

[@DarkCode]

I just watched it again for the many many times :)

[@jzj2212]

Me too

[@jzj2212]

I hate to say it. With what’s going on in the world it’s gonna take something drastic to happen to bring humanity together.

[@lawsonransom8318]

Superb.

[@RedVelvetRabbit]

This movie has me in tears every damn time. When i watched it as a kid it blew me away, now as an adult there's so much emotion and nostalgia wrapped into it, it's truly one of my favourites. It'll be with me forever.

[@metallurgy3586]

Read the book it's better!

[@firehorse5206]

Same here , seen it a few times and keep forgetting what it does to me lol

[@EonSound]

I just saw it after reading some recommendations. Can't believe I've never heard about this movie before. I was surprised to see so many big time actors and fucking Bill Clinton in the movie.

[@vickiherman2746]

Ditto! One of my favorites too.

[@jameshailstone9525]

This film had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. One of THE best films EVER. And couldn’t have picked a better cast. One of my favourite sci-fi films to date.

[@stantonsasaki9348]

One of my favorite movies ever, so underrated. Probably have seen it 50 times.

[@TheVirusOfHumanity]

I was 20 in 1997 and I saw this in the theatre with a friend. Completely changed how I thought about things since then. It’s so captivating on so many levels.

[@supertuesday600]

I saw this when i was a teen with a close friend too. He was so impressed with the "poet" line. I then rent a laser disc of it and watched it again a year later at home. It still took my breath away. I then watched it again few years later, and I'm sure this is one of the best films ever made. And i will require my baby daughter to watch it when she grows older to be able to understand. Someday i will pass. And my daughter will remember my love for her.

[@reaper_exd7498]

Then the art did its job beautifully

[@frantix22]

and I was 10 ;) loved it back then...wish the contact scene went on for ever

[@MrRezRising]

Watch 2010 next (and 2001 too, I guess 🙄)

[@ZR1Terror]

I was 15

[@charlesbaldo]

The movie left out the most important part of the book. Transcendental Numbers. In the book transcendental number Pi was resolved. It graphed out to a circle. The circle was suppose to be proof of an intelligent creator that created the the scientific and mathematical laws that govern the universe. Random chance could not make a graph.

[@realMaverickBuckley]

Wow that really would have added ALOT for a little and it would've shown more why Mcconaughey's character was around.

[@charlesbaldo]

@@realMaverickBuckley No doubt. The movie instead portrayed him as a man of faith with questions about it. Sagan was himself agnostic. As a scientist he saw no proof of God. But wondered with the vast universe and infinite space that we knew too little to make a determination

[@SRN1850AN]

@@realMaverickBuckley Do you not also think it is interesting, that the terrorist had religious fervour! It is one of the most stunning films of all time, because it asked the question that everyone seeks the answer to, Even when they don’t know they’re looking!

[@browonmb]

I worked for Waldenbooks when Contact, the Novel, came out, I read it, since I had read every other Sagan book through High School (and beyond, hehe) I was disappointed as well by the ending of the movie over the fictional novel, but I read later that an agreement was made that the general public would not understand the reference to Pi (sadly I agree, both then and now)

[@kylefenwrick5706]

@@charlesbaldo but an agnostic isn't an atheist. Agnostic means you don't know if there is a God. Atheist means you live as if there is no God. But both believe there is something greater and more "divine" and intelligent than we humans at play.

[@davemiller6055]

Jodie Foster is a great actress, intelligent, and beautiful.

[@travisgrant5608]

You got that right ... that's why she has two best actress Oscars under her belt! She's stunning!

[@wmgthilgen]

@Djas M Not that it really matters, you left out she's gay.

[@spacewolf_dan8794]

@@wmgthilgen you're right, it really doesn't matter.

[@davemiller6055]

Yes she is gay, and no it doesn't matter.

[@steellegacy1984]

Not that much

[@elkaribbe]

“They Should Have Sent A Poet.” - The whole universe is condensed in that simple but deep sentence.

[@rexbentley8332]

dumb

[@Fisky-ww6ee]

Rex Bentley freak

[@smokingbeetles5793]

Explain?

[@JasonChowTV]

poetry. not poet u idiot

[@nickpaine]

They did. Carl Sagan is that poet.

[@jeffreystroman2811]

This movie (for lack of a better word) has such a profound effect on me I get choked up just viewing still pictures from it. The flip at the end where she becomes the one who has faith in something few others believe is profound, to say the least

[@rutherjamesdumalanta4197]

Got this in recommended. Maybe I watch too much “UNHhhh”.

[@victormunhozzz]

@Maria s maybe you shouldn't have agreed to allow your cookies to crumble, Linda.

[@nicolaminotti6692]

Oh my god!

[@mickeyray9769]

@Maria s aaa 0 lol www2

[@piike_the_garbage]

Bitch, Katya talked so much about it that I decided to watch and I cried, I'm not the kind that cries watching movies but contact, idk what to say about this movie is just so good

[@rutherjamesdumalanta4197]

Honey, didn’t notice how much people do really watch our 2 biological women, honey. Gurr.

[@JoeOlle1952]

"If it is just us..... it seems like an awful waste of space" . Couldn't agree more.

[@MrWhiterunGuard]

What a great film, they don't make movies like this anymore.

[@steveharris1740]

I totally agree. Only superhero movies or rediculous, extreme plots will satisfy these days. One recent exception is the Arrival with Amy Adams. That one is a pretty good sci-fi film. Not nearly as perfect as Contact though.

[@MrWhiterunGuard]

Look into UFO(2018) with David Strathairn and Gillian Anderson.

[@Dreamer2go]

Interstellar.

[@manakin5]

I always laugh when I see or hear people say things "They don't make movies like this anymore." As if there were no awful or lousy movies in the theaters back in 1997.

[@noob94884]

the reason "They don't make movies like this anymore." is that there is less and less $$$$ about, and **everything** is more expensive now... and a lack of visionaries like Sagan about...

[@JolPil]

The movie made me aware of the criminal arrogance of governments whenever someone creates or discovers anything that upsets the paradigm. The enemy of true science is always the government itself! Without that private sponsor the state would have eliminated her work!

[@lunacouer]

Sagan brought so much reality to this. He took this one possible "What if?" and nailed exactly how humanity would react, including the US government. It's been decades since I read the book, but I highly recommend it. There were a lot more people involved in the project, and they all make the ending so much more hopeful.

[@timewarriorsaga]

Well tell that to the government space program that put people in space and on the moon.

[@thebeanbandit8259]

@@timewarriorsaga And for what? Just to have a dick measuring contest with another country? That government could have cared less if any real science was done, only that they proved that they were better than the other one.

[@jonathannesbitt]

After this excellent film was made, we found over 5k planets.

[@eyebidder]

Exactly! The government hates anything that is discovered by a non-government employee. All those movies have these bosses who can't accept discoveries! Make a movie that shows acceptance from scientists.

[@tednixon9326]

I showed this movie to my 8th graders every year. It is thought provoking, emotional and important to experience and consider.

[@harmonetheanimationaddict4419]

Finally, a first contact story where the aliens aren’t trying to kill us.

[@neothurmic3780]

Close Encounters E.T. Star Trek : First Contact Flight of the Navigator Pushing Ice Project Hail Mary Muppets in Space A.L.F Wot On Earth Mac and Me

[@banderas2000]

@@neothurmic3780 lol

[@nasilelelisselo2348]

​​@@neothurmic3780I think he meant big scale movie where aliens ain't trying to blow up the world. Then number two is Arrival.

[@clovisdacruz6078]

Killing is a human thought.

[@alanmorgan5472]

If the aliens where going to kill us, they'd have done it by now lol👍

[@danieljakubik3428]

Contact. One of the more intelligent and plausible science fiction films which tackles difficult subjects including social consequences, politics and religious faith.

[@ninersix2790]

WHAT UNIVERSE are you from!

[@williamanthony9090]

Plausible? Yikes! Not exactly the term I'd use.

[@noob94884]

you DON'T know plausible... do you realize that when the first locomotive train was made, people thought that the human body could not survive the incredible speed of THIRTY miles per hour??? They thought the body would liquidize or something!!!

[@charliebucket6247]

com nut so what's the point of ur train story have to do with this person not being a fan of the word plausible?

[@noob94884]

Depends how you define plausible (dictionary says 'maybe possible')... what do you think of 'star wars' ?? --- Do you think that in the future it would be possible to travel a distance of 5 light years in only an hour or so?? A hundred years ago it was considered impossible to get from UK to america in less than a month..

[@animalmother556x45]

............"Why build one, when you can build two for twice the price?" When I was young, I always thought "that doesn't make sense"........now, I have worked for the government for many years. It is fucking accurate. STILL doesn't make sense, mind you....but it is accurate.

[@jkm7983]

What are you trying to say

[@animalmother556x45]

@@jkm7983 Wasteful government spending. "Let's get two" "Do we need two?" "No, but let's get two...its only twice the price"

[@CuongNguyen-le5ic]

Probably means government always lie to people. There are so many unaccounted funding and who know what projects they are using those funds on. Seriously, government always work this way, when they don't have enough funding, they will say cut funds to say helping the poor, but does the money they save? No, that same money will be shift to the secret projects they want. Needless to say, cut little here and there and the people always get the blame while many of theirs pet projects here and there get to benefits not the people, but whatever would help them the most in theirs political career.

[@taustin0412]

In government purchasing, you may need two vans for a project. So you ask for five in the hopes you get two.

[@llaauuddrruupp]

Must be a pretty shitty government you work for. Maybe try a better one?

[@Sephiro12]

This is my favorite movie. I find that you have to be careful who you show it to because it is both a moving drama and a super intelligent film that rarely dumbs down the scientific content. But if you watch it earnestly it’s powerful, moving, exciting, awe inspiring, and full of hope.

[@neillynch_ecocidologist]

You've got to be careful who you show it to??? As a zoology graduate, I think the film sucks in many ways except at being just another,light-hearted, sci-fi flick. The claim that 95% of the planet is religious is both dumb and shockingly dangerous. If ever aliens did contact us, I'd like to think religious nuts would be way back at the end of the queue when it comes to opinions being heard on who candidates to represent humankind in any 'first encounters' should be. After all, religion has no evidence and is totally illogical - it's obvious it was created by capitalists to further exploit the poor, the desperate and the ignorant. Sagan should have known that. Then, you have the James Wood character try claiming that hallucinations can in some way be manipulated to give the Jodie Foster character the illusion that she'd done the journey when he was adamant she hadn't and couldn't have (until the 18 hours of static evidence gets revealed right at the end which supports her assertion that she did indeed leave earth). There's a good argument that it never stopped dumbing down science - except where nerdy SETI radio telescope operations speak was concerned. Which I have to assume (and hope) was accurate. It being so critical to the central theme of the story. Not a good film at all if you like your science fiction to be at least a little bit plausible (which many would argue it should be, minimum).

[@wysoft]

@@neillynch_ecocidologist You're so caught up in your skepticism of religion that you didn't even understand the theme of the movie, or simply refused to. Religion was "invented" by man long before capitalism or even the very concept of subjugation. It's existed since the time of human consciousness as a way to attempt to explain what we cannot understand. Even a species potentially millions of years more advanced than ours grapples with a lack of understanding or knowledge of who built the structures they use to link us all together, who made the universe itself, or even who set the rules and laws of physics. They readily admit that they felt lost and alone, a feeling that they shared with all the species they had met, a feeling that drove all of them to reach out to find anyone else who might be sharing this existence with us. I'm not a religious person myself, but I have to wonder about any person who is so arrogant that they believe they know without a doubt, based on our extremely limited understanding and knowledge of the universe we live in, that our very existence and everything around us is purely by chance. You cannot prove it one way or another. Despite all of our scientific prowess as a species, we still know nothing about how any of it came to be. Carl Sagan himself wasn't a religious man either, but he willingly admitted that the idea of intelligent creation is a distinct possibility, one which we simply don't know enough to positively discount. "An atheist has to know a lot more than I know. An atheist is someone who knows there is no god." I'll go with Sagan on this one. I don't know, and I likely never will.

[@neillynch_ecocidologist]

PMSL! That is a good insult. Even better, it brought me back to see what must be one of my very best ever comments on KZbin! :))@@dejuren1367

[@wysoft]

One of my favorite movies as a child, and oddly nobody else I knew at that age appreciated or even liked it. Still to this day I think this is one of the best movies of the 90s. I cannot understand why it's mostly been forgotten.

[@stvbrsn]

Young Jena Malone gives one of the best performances ever turned in by a child actor. And that shot of her running to get her father’s nitroglycerin tablets... pure cinematic genius. Oh yeah, not to mention the brilliant screenplay. Using accurate HAM lingo to create a deeply emotional moment is just damn good writing. “CQ: this is W9GFO here. Come back... Mom, come back.” Tears. Every time.

[@radar0412]

Drew Barrymore was better in ET

[@mallikonduri]

Yes the young one acted brilliantly, assisted by equally brilliant writing. Her loss, her longing, her search, her meeting on the 'beach' of Pensacola, and the conclusion where everything feels like a glorious question mark - the whole thing is so well conceived!

[@siddharthnaagar7028]

Contact is a fantastically, brilliant movie One of the smartest sci-fi I have seen

[@rogueascendant6611]

And yet after all this years, humanity are not ready yet to venture the furthest unknown. And sentient alien life out there would not welcomed us as they see us still toddlers, stone age folks who still goes bloodshed to each other and unto to our own world.

[@eng3d]

No, it's not sci-fi. It happens when you take a real science book + Hollywood and an easily digestible crap (she is the good girl and everybody else is the bad/stupid/white-man/what-ever but is bad).

[@jshepard152]

@@rogueascendant6611 We'll never be ready. It's beyond our reach.

[@waynelast1685]

good movie except it seems Sagan made God and religion the villain sometime.

[@JasonChowTV]

u need to watch more movies

[@gunthergiesl5185]

Loved the movie....I actually watch it several times a year because it's just that good...this movie also happened to be my brother's favourite movie as well and since his passing I'd like to think he is out there in the universe exploring everything he can. Thank you Carl Sagen for writing this...wish you could of seen the finished result because it definitely inspired my brothers love for the Universe and possible intelligent life out in the expanse of space.

[@UtahKent]

The name of the mysterious allie in the movie, billionaire S. R. Hadden is drawn from the name of the 7th century BCE Assyrian king Essarhaddon whose name means "Asher (an Assyria diety) has sent a brother." A fitting name because of what Hadden does for our hero in the story. Thank You, Carl.

[@xX-Anonymous-Xx]

So much complexity to the script of this film, which is what made it so damn good. Outside of Interstellar, The Martian, and Arrival, this is one of my favorite sci fi dramas.

[@lurkerrekrul]

Alien 1: So how did your contact with... what's it called... Earth go? Alien 2: Oh you know, the usual, they built the machine, sent a traveler, I gave her some cryptic information and then sent her back with no verifiable evidence that she was ever here. Alien 1: Hahaha! Her race is going to think that she's nuts! Classic! Alien 2: Yup, it'll be centuries before they waste their time trying that again. Alien 1: So did you make yourself look like one of her species? Alien 2: Even better, I turned myself into her father. Alien 1: Oh man, you really have a nasty sense of humor! That's going to mess with her head for years. Alien 2: I know! Hahaha! Alien 1: And imagine the reaction when she tells her people that aliens look like her father. Alien 2: Oh I'm sure they'll believe her. Alien 1: HAHAHA! Alien 2: HAHAHA! Older Alien: What's going on in here? Have you two been messing with inferior species again? Alien 1: Of course not. Hehe. Alien 2: Yeah, we'd never do that! Hehe.

[@filmcomicsexplained]

so much lol

[@lurkerrekrul]

Thank you. :)

[@rouge3031ify]

Prankster aliens at its best

[@BW022]

This was why I felt the movie's final acts were terrible. Why send a greeting message and plans on how to come visit you... if you aren't going to communicate with them? If you don't think they are advanced enough -- put a more complex puzzle into the message -- "The following 2048 byte key requires a quantum computer to unlock the secret of building a machine to come visit us." or just send Elle back with the message "We'll contact you in 1,000 years and in the meantime here's the plans for a fusion reactor. You are only 100 years away from discovering it and it would probably be useful. Try not to destroy yourselves as there is some really good things we'll share with you if you last another few millennia."

[@PabloYaos]

to what I remember the movie says they were not ready, and each species have to earn its right to be part of their galaxy community. To earn this they have to work together in harmony and not destroy eachother in the process, which is a difficult task. That's why the movie ends with the religious character and the scientist walking hand in hand, as they have reconcilied : they now have the same goal, and always have been. That was a great thing in the movie. Giving them technology blueprints would not help humanity's others problems and would accomplish nothing.

[@SaccoBelmonte]

Contact is one of my top ten movies. Highly underrated when it came. A wonderful breathtaking movie.

[@mallikonduri]

One of top best sci-fi movies out there. Eleanor's character was so beautifully conceived - her loss, her longing ('mom, come back!'), her search, her meeting on 'Pensacola beach', and the conclusion where everything feels like a glorious, star-studded question mark - the whole thing is so well conceived!

[@aaronsrok3422]

The film almost always gets me to the point of sobbing. The reason being that humanity is capable of wonderful things despite the horrible things we do.

[@searching4answers79]

I saw this movie on the big screen when it came out back in 1997. It will always have a special place with my heart. So visually beautiful and emotionally moving, Contact is a true Masterpiece!

[@andrewparker318]

6:13 I cannot get over how amazing the design of the machine is. From the very first shot it it stands out as something human's could never have imagined, let alone built.

[@Sanquinity]

Yet it is ironic that humans did design and build it, even if only in a small scale or through a computer. :P

[@Tyrannosaurus_5000]

I've seen something just like that at a carnival. Not that otherworldly to be honest.

[@jcbvortex22]

The soundtrack just gives me a lump in my throat. It’s poetic love with the movie!

[@Egobyte83]

What I love about this movie, despite it being such a fantastic movie in general, is also the fact that with this whole ongoing science-vs-faith debate between Ellie and Palmer, it's easy to want him to throw off the yoke of religion and open his eyes and whatnot... but then... at the end... he sort of redeems faith when he, literally, is the only one actually believing Ellie when everybody else, people of science, refuse to take her seriously. And he does this because he has total faith in her. It's like that old Babylon 5 saying, "Faith and reason are the shoes on your feet. You can travel further with both than you can with just one." Science, while pragmatic and tangible in it's gifts, closes our minds to anything but reality. Faith, while having no solid substance in what it gives us and being highly subjective, nevertheless opens our minds to possibilities and hope. And we're not talking religion now, religions are specific examples of faith; I am referring to human faith in general, the ability to dream and believe in the impossible.

[@R2BMusicCH]

As often the case with humans, logic and plausibility leave the building when anything comes up that reminds ever so slightly of religion and faith. The alien signal was received independently from opposite sides of the Earth, hence peer-reviewed and confirmed non-terrestrial from the neighbourhood of Vega. The blueprints of the machine clearly show that this is not terrestrial technology. Now logically thinking, what sense does it make for an advanced alien civilisation to send out blueprints of an arcane machine just for a couple of seconds free fall and 18 hours of recorded static? Besides the experiment can be repeated with someone else.

[@TTFerdinand]

@@R2BMusicCH Yes, one thing is that it can be repeated with (probably) similar results. But the thing everyone in the movie (even Jodie Foster's main character) missed, was the seat. There was no way that the seat could've broken free with her unbuckling herself in just the time it took the capsule to fall through the device. One could argue that she had unbuckled herself just a few seconds BEFORE the drop, but additionally, the analysis of the attachment bolts would've shown they had endured a period of of excessive vibration before breaking, thus confirming that whatever she experienced wasn't just a drop through.

[@R2BMusicCH]

@@TTFerdinand At some point physics kick in. She must have been in a strong gravitational field.

[@pradeepbalakrishnan3128]

it's been more than 20 years and Contact remains as the best movie I have ever seen.What an experience this movie was.

[@justbeconfidentbro1286]

It wasn't sexual looking enough

[@burstcity3832]

Only "the man from Earth" has a similar feel and the remake of "on the beach"

[@Delbays1]

yes, same for me.👍🏽☺️

[@martafiord]

@@justbeconfidentbro1286 wtf

[@ao2528]

The idea of 18 hours of recorded event compressed to a couple of second of falling capsule was perfect part of movie, very satisfying "Contact" story, at least for me.

[@zonxo]

In real science and for the time-space paradox....it should be happened reverse, not like this in the movie..Here on EARTH should be passed 20-24 months in after drop of the Capsule , not microsecond.!!....And to Jodie's Journey -- only 18 hours ...That in the movie Contact - was 1000 percents Pseudo-Science .

[@neorich59]

Contact is a fantastic film. Jodie Foster can do no wrong for me, OK maybe Elysium and Sommersby 😉 It's "adult" Sci-Fi and shows that there can be more to the genre, than endless star ship battles and alien invasions etc. etc. I've watched it countless times and have introduced it to any number of people, all of whom have loved it. The opening sequence is stunning and, for me, is a reminder of just how vast the universe is and of how tiny, insignificant and unimportant we are (though many think otherwise) in the scheme, if indeed there *is* a "scheme," of things, we truly are...

[@peterzabb8719]

'Contact' - the title diction-choice is to be understood on multiple levels. Masterpiece. Saying this as a non-native English speaker.

[@stevetomassetti4420]

The film is cinematically great and I’ve enjoyed watching it numerous times. But one thing I consider to be a fundamental flaw in its conception: they never even mention the idea of maybe sending another person through to corroborate Arroway’s story. You just spent a trillion dollars on an interstellar transport machine and you use it only once? The scientific process says you never rely on single point data and you get others to attempt to reproduce the experimental results. Sending someone else could have been a premise for a second movie.

[@morganshibby8941]

The ending and every meaning behind would have been so different and it would have "ruined" the mystery that still resolve around it.

[@digitalblunt]

I believe they sent five people at once in the book, but I dont know what the outcome of that was.

[@tuloca011]

@@digitalblunt the government basically claimed that all 5 of them created a hoax (from the received signal to traveling through a worm hole) iirc

[@Greenlove123]

Also radio signals don't travel at the speed of light

[@davidleipold593]

Don't forget the governments effort to prove it was a hoax and the cover up of the 18hrs of static recorded by her camera. It's clear that those in power here on earth would prefer things to stay that way rather than accept the notion that there are infinite civilizations with infinitely greater knowledge & wisdom. The reality of which would make those in power on earth seem relatively useless and their machinations pretty stupid.

[@Bleepurchin]

Silvestri’s score makes this movie - A masterpiece.

[@Brennan_Dale3169]

It's truly wonderful

[@ytcarol]

I love this. Your re-telling of the story, video clips and meaningful insights helped me understand aspects of the movie that were unclear. Thank you!

[@ORBITAMUSICAL]

My favorite SCI FI movie ever. I believe in evolution, not creation, and admire Carl Sagan's wisdom.

[@stevepd1]

God, I love this movie, period. I wish I had 5 more minutes to speak with my father. I love him.

[@stevepd1]

@@bandfromtheband9445 Thank you.

[@SparkyOne549]

I never met mine, he died before I was born.

[@stevepd1]

@@SparkyOne549 I'm sorry. Please know that you are loved.

[@1917VIL]

He loved you;)

[@bandfromtheband9445]

@@stevepd1 Namaste!

[@bostonmassacre508]

I love the beginning of the movie when the camera starts backing up and going past all the planets in our solar system and beyond...it opened my mind when I was a kid

[@stt5v2002]

Jeff Araujo Cool scene, but the science makes no sense. Of course you could not catch up to the signals to hear them. If you somehow could, you would hear everything in reverse. And all the signals sent more than a day ago are far outside the solar system now. I guess none of that is the point.

[@Straylight4299]

Of course the "science" makes no sense. This is not supposed to be an accurate representation of radio signals in space. It IS an artistic method to convey to the audience two things: 1. The gigantic amount of stars (and implied planets) in the universe. 2. The relation of the vast distances in space, and that even radio waves take a lot of time to travel these (which is important to understand for the Hitler scene). What that scene says, is that our existence on earth is represented by a thin shell of radio waves, broadcasted only since a few decades to the universe, and it does it beautifully. That scene is NOT trying to look like it was shot by the camera on a spaceship excelleration with exponetial speed, trying to catch up with old radio signals from earth. so relativistic arguments are pointless... You complain about the incorrectly represented speed of light, but you don't mention how the whole universe is contained in Ellies eye? You are correct, you missed the point.

[@shesaknitter]

Definitely my favorite movie intro. I love "Contact." I've lost track of how many times I've seen it. Thanks so much for the analysis!

[@schafn]

I'm only here because I was thinking of watching this movie with my kids (12 and 14) so I was checking to see what KZbin had to offer. I watched this movie when it first came out and also have it on VHS. I'm looking forward to sharing it with my kids to see what they think.

[@shadowfoxgirl]

I put this movie on in the background when im working a lot and no matter how many dozens of times ive seen it, when she says they should have sent a poet, i get chills up my spine and cry. Such a great movie.

[@filmcomicsexplained]

I agree Shadowfoxgirl. Watching the movie like listening to sagan himself is a beautiful humbling experience :)

[@JoshuaC0rbit]

Why have I never met a girl like you?

[@pravinodedra1239]

Shit went so deep man

[@shadowfoxgirl]

jon doe Definitely not alone since i stated I do it. Still do, will keep doing. Those qho think this is a boring movie dont have the capacity to think outside of what we know about our own universe.

[@tome57a]

Contact is a truly beautiful movie. Evocative, deep, full of compassion, compelling, thought-provoking. The music alone is moving, the imagery, especially of the beach of the cosmos, is unforgettable.

[@bigtiddyorcbf]

“I will not Jodie Foster this behaviour”

[@ItsEliza5]

That bomber stills scares the living daylights out of me

[@goldentaco4970]

Showing those clips at the end was a great touch. I had felt the urge to watch this but wasn't on any of my streaming services. I looked on KZbin and was brought here.

[@DATo_DATonian]

One of the shortest yet most emotionally affecting conversations in cinema: Willie: "Who are we going to call now?" Ellie Arroway: "Everybody."

[@MarsFKA]

Then the politicians arrive and the whole situation starts to go out of control.

[@mateusz3844]

'Who are you gonna call now?' 'Ghostbusters!'

[@CSM100MK2]

The soundtrack to this movie is phenomenal, hearing some of the pieces instantly takes me back.

[@trufflepudding4704]

When she discovered the signal first I got crazy massive goosebumps like I heard it before and I still remember it till this day after 25+ years. Crazy good movie shame that nowadays they dont make stuff like this anymore. Jodie is a Legend!

[@eddiewhistler7472]

This isn't explaining the movie, so much as giving a synopsis.

[@stormtrooper3381]

Did you really need someone to tell you what is was about lol

[@jp3813]

@@stormtrooper3381 Tell that to the uploader.

[@JasonsBasementBand]

Yo eddie i love your picture lol

[@dethmaul]

@@stormtrooper3381 Yeah dammit. This isn't an explanation, it's a transcript.

[@WestOfEarth]

@@stormtrooper3381 Well, as a curious person myself, I was interested in hearing the uploader's insights. I for one didn't click on the title because I needed someone to tell me what the movie was about. But Eddie is correct...this just a synopsis, a Cliff Notes version of the film which offered little value to the viewer. Clearly it was click bait.

[@tyler58701]

Out of every movie I have seen in my life I still rank this number 1.

[@Chris-es3wf]

Must be a short list. Ending was stupid. I'm one nostalgic bastard that thinks things typically age very well, but Arrival > Contact by a mile and it's still a young pup.

[@williamanthony9090]

Yikes!

[@shinseiki2015]

@@Chris-es3wf arrival ?? even tho i love linguistic stuff sapir_whorf like or Nietzsche version of it, the movie sucked, dont even compare it to Contact.

[@Spyder8561]

@@Chris-es3wf You sound very stupid.

[@LynxStarAuto]

Chris lol arrival was horrible. I can see how the ending of Contact is not for everyone, but Arrival was a cheese fest. That one scene with the scorpions had me uncomfortable in bed for months tho.

[@sdimartino]

This may just be my favorite movie of all time. I'll stop and watch it whenever it's on.

[@JillyBean860]

Same here. I could watch it over and over again

[@MrVegasTube]

Sergio Di Martino Better yet, get the bluray.

[@mutalix]

Forget the amazing actors, the special effects, the lines, just the simple cinematography is still dissected in schools today! This is as close to a perfect movie as you get! For anyone who hasn't, I implore you to read the book as well! It adds much more than the movie ever could. I'm sorry Carl didn't sew it before leaving this reality too soon. It is a pinnacle of cinema.

[@chrislau86]

I've had this idea in my head for a sci-fi book in which I try to contact my deceased mom on a parallel universe or something to that effect. This movie was as close to that idea that I've seen, and made me feel all the feels

[@davidh1958]

Carl Sagan was the greatest ambassador of science to the public!

[@captainultimo0001]

Nah. He was comprised early on. He actually wrote about contact being possible in his very early years then turned into what we know. As the man who vehemently denied the possibility of alien contact. He became a puppet for those who control the flow of information.

[@Glasgow_kiss]

*greatest ambassador of science to the american public.

[@liftlabperformance]

Neil DeGrasse Tyson followed up quite well.

[@smhhms2000]

​@* Comparing Sagan with Tesla is like comparing a bacterium with a whale. In my humble opinion. Tesla merely invented wireless transmission, alternating current, polyphase power generation, induction motor, and more. He described a smart phone in 1926 (because he invented wireless transmission and so much else). Sagan ... talked a lot.

[@christoohunders5316]

@@captainultimo0001 So true

[@MrMrMuhummad]

That beach scene Always makes me cry

[@TaiganTundra]

Seen?

[@MrMrMuhummad]

Psygnostic *scene

[@solosailor8799]

That is not a Pensacola beach.

[@brankind969]

The colorization technique of the cinematography for that scene was so dejavu. I imagined Paradise that way, myself. Yes, the scene was a tear-jerker. She was her father's daughter.

[@DragonHeart-cm1tx]

I start tearing up while she is on the way to the beach. The scenery of the Universe brings immeasurable emotion straight from my soul itself. Just hearing Carl Sagan's Cosmos's theme music, both beginning and end, does the same thing to me and always has since I started watching it at 3-4 years old when it was originally released. Carl Sagan's death was very hard on me since I owe what I have grown into to him. I am a scientist because of him. Cosmology, Astrophysics, Paleontology, Archaeology, and both Physical and Cultural Anthropology are my core disciplines.

[@KeithCooper-Albuquerque]

You did a great job in explaining this wonderful movie! Thanks for posting this!

[@EdwinvandenAkker]

Checking the time... an early day tomorrow... yep, still time to watch _Contact._ Thanks!

[@No_OneV]

One of my top 10 movies of all time. Watched it multiple times and still find something new each time. Carl Sagan never disappoints

[@williamanthony9090]

No One- Really? Could you list FIVE of those NEW things you discovered in this train wreck of a movie?

[@joefarah06]

I miss Carl Sagan so much. He was such a wonderful human

[@gunner678]

@deharleyva brian cox and tyssen continue in a similar role!

[@oohoohayy4538]

Yeah but he smoked pot.

[@richardshort4587]

Yeah BUT was he human mwaahahahhh

[@brain8484]

Joe Farah now u got trump

[@ninersix2790]

What a joke this movie was total crap.

[@JasonsBasementBand]

Yo that shot where she’s the younger version of herself running to the medicine cabinet to grab the meds and it’s shot through the mirror. Such a beautiful film. So underrated and not talked about. Also way ahead of its time as a movie.

[@bassmith448bassist5]

I like your videos man!!!! Thanks for posting.

[@thelokiway4478]

Every time I watch this amazing movie I get filled with such a sense of hope, hope for the future and what we can become and hope that we are not alone, I can't help but smile...

[@manifestgtr]

I feel like it’s “cool” to dislike this film after South Park goofed on it. Fuck that...regardless of the aliens, it’s one of the smartest, most interesting SETI scenarios in cinema history. Not only that but Jodie and Matthew are amazing...totally believable and painfully human.

[@imonymous]

I never heard any of this. How did they goof on it that would make people dislike the film?

[@jhonfamo8412]

that show.. its easy to break something down. lets see them build anything.

[@fgqgqlfqsfsffeff]

@@jhonfamo8412 They literally did nothing that made this movie look bad. I have no idea where you people get this from.

[@jac0m1n0]

Really enjoyed your accurate and helpful contrasts from movie to book. Nicely done...

Thanks for that wonderful review!

[@troydavis705]

I remember reading the book before the movie was made and I thought "this would make a great movie", and it was. One of my favorites. I wish Carl could have seen it and been able to comment on the adaptation.

[@ankida]

So many movies back then when I was a kid inspired in me curiosity for science. I loved this movie so much, and Stargate. I came across this video randomly and now I’m nostalgic. 😅

[@mightywarrior119]

What you think about comet C19 headed our way ??

[@poidmanero4317]

I remember Stargate, Independence Day and Contact were all made pretty close together. Ya know over 20 something years later i can't think of 1 sci-fi movie better than these 3 movies.

[@marcusmartin5758]

@@1Deejay7 how old are you 10?

[@1Deejay7]

@@marcusmartin5758 my son is 10 haha

[@1Deejay7]

@idoTyler so cringe

[@stephano8668]

Excellent video!! Thank you 😊

[@evosagan2877]

Brilliant Summary. Thanks for making this

[@PADARM]

Carl Sagan +Jodie Foster + Robert Zemeckis = Enough said!

[@eternitygay31]

One of my all Time Favourit Movies . So moving

[@cntrailrider]

Yours is the BEST review and explanation of this most wonderful film. Thank You!

[@BriarLeaf00]

Wow this was actually a really great synopsis of the film and book. Really well done.

[@ellieysama]

The soundtrack is so beautiful, it brought me to tears when I saw what Ellie saw -,-....

[@Livin4Jesus00]

Small Moves, Alan Silvestri

[@alexcastro7339]

LOVED this movie. An intelligent movie that like 2001, made you think about our existence in the universe.

[@jerryarcher6916]

Better than 2001...I was bored through the 1st half of 2001 until they got to HAL...now 2010 was much better.

[@jmr5059]

Another smart sci fi flick is 'UFO' which came out in 2018 I think.

[@jage5256]

We are more loved than u can ever imagine. Jesus died for each one of us. What other person would do that for you? Or me? God knew what He was doing and the ugly in this world is almost over ☺️

[@sy2590]

Jerry Archer 2001 was phenomenal you just don’t understand the art of the film.

[@HumanPhilosopherPatriot]

@@jerryarcher6916 Lol contact better than 2001? Dont get me wrong Contact is good. But better than the film that is agreed to be a classic masterpiece by most? Yeah no. Contact is often criticized for having cliches for it's minor characters and being inferior to the book in some aspects.

[@endlesslypictures]

Love the channel!

[@PuntodeGiroCine]

It's been a pleasure revisiting this jewel of the science fiction by your hand. Knowing that the Saga's Brain was behind, make me understand much better how accurate and deep this film is. Thank you very much :)

[@pr0ject_nihilist]

PS when you get plans to build an alien transportation device over FM radio and they don''t include a chair in the blue prints; don't put an FN chair in it.

[@wysoft]

that's why she got sent back so soon, the aliens were pissed off that we couldn't just follow the directions. they probably thought of us like a kid building a lego spacecraft who starts adding dinosaur blocks to it.

[@alysiamerdavid-wasser9165]

Thank You! Working toward this level of succinctness! 😍

[@karakas9905]

Should have added a nuke instead.

[@lukebalderose334]

@@karakas9905 why?

[@smb123211]

It was trying to follow the book which is somewhat different

[@eoghanleinster]

Really enjoyed this, great work explaining ,you now have a fan

[@damionpatterson9167]

Yes. Keep up the good work👍🏾

[@ohrusty]

I love this book so much. I agree with what you said -- Carl Sagan made topics like these understandable for us common folk, hehe. And def sparked a curiosity and love for anything space-related.

[@erikaarnold4780]

This film hit home for me on so many levels...I lost my father as a child (big one), also, I have always lived in wonderment at the prospect of being part of something immeasurably larger than myself, an absolute love for the cosmos...and also that sense of wanting to find SOMETHING...This movie still brings a single tear to my eye (as opposed to the blubbering mess I was the first time I watched it). Old-ass computers aside, every millennial should watch this. It is a beautiful contemplation on the dance between faith and science...and how they can both exist in the same space.

[@mbjac]

The shot of her running to the medicine cabinet is a work of art

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

That shot is mind-boggling. A tracking shot somehow turned into a mirror reflection!

[@anothereero]

I think it was just reversed footage.

[@russelschultz]

@@anothereero watch the extras on the dvd. there was a bit of CGI involved.

[@Homeskillet-mk6bj]

Right? I've read somewhere how they did it and I STILL don't understand it.

[@Trigormike]

@@russelschultz Non-intrusive, Zemekis CGI, like in Forrest Gump.

[@mavallarino]

This was the film that changed me... this and Event Horizon.

[@BeingGraceDivine]

thank you for this info!! great to know.