Contact (1997) - Full Reaction
Added 2024-01-07 11:15:00 +0000 UTCI don't want to spoil too much of the reaction, but I liked how this movie touched on more than just the science stuff, like feeling hopeful and not alone in the universe. I also liked how it mixed in some real human emotions with the whole space exploration stuff!! I feel like I'm becoming a space exploration expert with this and all the Star Trek I've been watching recently :) Anyway, hope you enjoy!
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Jodie Foster: I recommend TAXI DRIVER (1976) [AFI Top 100] which has a 12-year old Jodie Foster and a young Robert De Niro. --Nominated for Best Picture Oscar. --De Niro and Foster were each nominated for an Oscar. --Jodie Foster's older sister (age 19) was Jodie's body double for “more suggestive” scenes.
Clay F
2024-01-28 02:22:55 +0000 UTCThe movie is fairly compressed version of the book. Hadden is a much more developed and less mysterious character in the novel, and Palmer's role is significantly larger. In the book, Rob Lowe's 5 minutes on screen as Richard Rank is a character named Billy Joe Rankin, who is presented as a standard-issue fiery televangelist, again with a much larger role, alongside Palmer's more reasonable take. The book takes place over a period of time about 3x longer than the movie, and the ending (both the journey and the aftermath) are significantly expanded compared to the movie.
p0sthum4n
2024-01-14 05:56:03 +0000 UTCHope you enjoy it. It's even better than the movie, if sometimes a little thick with exposition.
p0sthum4n
2024-01-14 05:53:03 +0000 UTCThis was my second time watching and I think it made less sense. Honestly, the Palmer Joss character skeeves me out. As a person of religious faith I find him to be manipulative and overbearing. He wants Ellie to be more open minded, yeah dude, she’s literally risking her life to test her theories and adjusts her worldview based on changing evidence meanwhile you finish the movie not having challenged yourself or had any kind of change. I suspect the problem lies with the filmmakers not wanting to offend anyone. I appreciate it being a big ideas film but Contact falls short of Solaris and 2001, and Interstellar and Arrival, because it doesn’t really have much to say. Don’t Look Up (2021) is a comedy featuring Timothée Chalamet. It’s not a romcom but he has a sweet romantic subplot with Jennifer Lawrence. It’s a parody of Deep Impact with one of the best casts in the history of movies. Also, Mark Rylance’s eccentric billionaire character is clearly riffing on John Hurt’s performance here.
Jacob King
2024-01-13 10:12:33 +0000 UTCThis is a frustrating movie. The story by Carl Sagan is very intriguing. I have no idea if it follows the novel faithfully or not. But I find the first hour or so very slow and not very interesting. I did like to see Ellie with her father, that interaction is probably my favorite in the film. My favorite performance is John Hurt as Hadden, the eccentric rich engineer, but we see very little of him. I also enjoyed Tom Skerritt as Drumlin. We can debate some of the things he did but he was right about Ellie and her career. Many scientists have devoted decades to SETI with little to show for it. It is fun to debate but becomes trite compared to more serious research. The Joss character was mostly unnecessary. He was the theologian love interest. He worked better as the latter. The irony that faith became the fulcrum for Ellie, the empirical driven scientist, whose nexus never intersected with faith before is driven home in a decent final scene. I do enjoy James Woods. It is the trip to Vega and beyond I find less than satisfying. They go to the trouble of sending us instructions to build an incredible machine that will allow a single occupant transportation to the middle of the galaxy and when we get there they tell us almost nothing and provide no insight into anything. Why even bother? It was a tease on the grandest possible scale and a major reason I give this film only 7/10. By the way, the commentary by Jodie Foster for the film blu ray is very interesting. Most thespians are eschew such undertakings since they are much more comfortable with someone else writing what they need to say. Foster can hold her own and provides some fascinating insights.
thansen
2024-01-13 03:23:49 +0000 UTCI love this movie for the very same reasons. I didn't know it was based on a book, much less one by Carl Sagan! Instant must-read. Thank you.
Esther Boogie
2024-01-12 19:25:39 +0000 UTCI cast another vote for Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In the genre of "first contact" movies, it and Contact are essentially tied for me as favorites.
p0sthum4n
2024-01-12 06:51:17 +0000 UTCJust paid to join your Patreon so I could watch this as it's one of my favorite movies and books. The footage of Bill Clinton is from the incident in the 90s when scientists thought they had possibly discovered a microscopic fossil in a Martian meteorite. The White House wasn't very happy about it being used in this film. This movie is based on the 1985 novel Contact by astronomer Carl Sagan. Carl Sagan is probably the single greatest science educator who has ever lived — the man had an incredible depth of humility, passion, and love not only for science but for people and for humanity. In the 80s he had a miniseries on TV called Cosmos which he used as a platform to gently and diplomatically educate people about science, unapologetically including aspects which for some proved and still prove controversial. He disdained the proliferation of misinformation and of superstition and the many ways in which they are used by demagogues and fanatics to sow division and hatred. He passed away from cancer in 1996, about 7 months before the movie came out. The novel is even wilder and deeper than the movie, taking place over a longer period of time (about 12 years) and including an ending with even more profound implications. Importantly, the book explores the dramatic changes that knowledge of alien intelligence creates in human societies across the globe with a newfound sense of oneness among all people as humans instead of people of different nations and creeds and so on. As a person completely devoid of religious faith, without a spiritual bone in my body — and also a huge space nerd — this story depicts the closest thing I can possibly imagine to a religious experience. It's the sort of thing I deeply wish I could experience, the sort of thing I think our species desperately needs to break through the increasing morass of divisive nonsense ripping us apart. It'll always be one of my favorites.
p0sthum4n
2024-01-12 05:22:48 +0000 UTCThis is honestly one of my all-time favorites. I saw this movie when it first came out. I was in my early 20's and went with some friends. They were all disappointed that it wasn't your typical alien action movie, but it hit something deep inside of me. My own spiritual journey has evolved over the last 25 years since it came out. I have been on Joss's side. I have been on Ellie's strictly science side. And I have been on Ellie's side where she is at the end. I love that for the aliens, all they want is connection. It really is a beautiful movie that always hits me in the feels. Glad you got to experience it.
Marty McGee
2024-01-12 03:57:18 +0000 UTCThis is such a good movie. It remains one of my favorite comfort watches. No huge special effects or battle sequences or anything. Just a heartfelt story about the human need to connect with something beyond ourselves. whether by faith or science, in the end, they share the same goal. Contact. And ultimately, that’s all the aliens want as well. Simply to make that connection. I don’t know if you noticed, but the beach at the end is their recreation of the beach she drew for Pensacola. It wasn’t just her father on her mind, but that moment where she first reached out and found something outside herself.
Singing Wordwright
2024-01-11 04:27:49 +0000 UTCI don't know if you noticed. Her father at the beginning said it would 'be an awful waste of space". The reason why the gov't didn't officially give her credit because it's more important for them to be in control than it is for her to be 'right'. I'll bet anything they officially said "we'll take a chance on her".
3dbadboy1
2024-01-11 01:21:41 +0000 UTCI thought I'd seen this movie before, but I had it mixed up with another one. That was good.
Eddie Perkins
2024-01-10 16:46:10 +0000 UTC"small moves... small moves..."
Mannygogou
2024-01-10 12:47:54 +0000 UTCNoice :-)
Larry Darrell
2024-01-10 04:37:19 +0000 UTCSuch a good movie. It really makes you think. And such a good reaction Ladies.
Rick Williams
2024-01-10 02:57:15 +0000 UTCLet's explain why the opening was "noisy." 🙂 1) we begin with the speed of light. Space out there is so "mindbogglingly big" that it takes light a long time to reach other planets, other stars. It takes hundreds of years, thousands of years, tens of thousands of years (more). The star system Vega... it takes 25 years for a signal to reach there - mentioned in the movie. It will be hard to communicate because it will take 25 years for them see or hear what we send, then we wait another 25 years for the reply. 2) astronomy - we usually know astronomers using telescopes to view and study planets, stars, galaxies. Ellie in the movie is a radio astronomer. This means she's using radio signals to study space... and to "listen" for any evidence of intelligent life (SETI). "Radio" and also "light" are part of the electromagnetic spectrum - and so radio signals also travel at the speed of light (it's actually the speed of causality which is a cool concept!) 3) the movie begins on our planet at present time... and we hear how "noisy" our planet is because it's broadcasting in all kinds of frequencies... sending out noise into space, radio signals and stuff. Then the camera slowly and quickly flies away into space farther and further away... so fast and so far that it represents chasing the ever expanding sphere of noise (electromagnetic radiation) coming from our planet. The noise becomes quieter and quieter as we get further away... and we are going back in time... years and decades in the past until it gets very quiet and we only hear the signals from long ago such as older broadcast music... until that first powerful signal that was sent out which was at the Olympic games in 1936. 4) the opening is describing radio signals from Earth - it's noisy today but much "quieter" in the past. Also in radio astronomy we are searching for radio signals from other intelligences from other planets. These signals takes decades to travel to reach us. The opening sequence also depicts stars and space and galaxies and the cosmos... and how big it really is. It's difficult to comprehend.
Mannygogou
2024-01-10 02:17:04 +0000 UTCThis is the "unedited" version... and in the editing I presume it's easy to blank out the mic noises. I'm pretty sure the mic audio is separate from the movie audio - being independent of each other an editor could just blank out the unwanted mic noises - lol yes perhaps this comment is not easy to understand 🙂 I don't see a mic problem, I see this as an unedited version where the noises weren't edited out.
Mannygogou
2024-01-10 01:35:41 +0000 UTCvery nice. On the thought of "maybe it's not a waste of money" - no it isn't a waste. What is money for anyway? Let's imagine we're all dead... we've passed on. Let's even say generations after us have also passed. What next? Did humankind never aspired to be more? Now that would have been a waste. To have no ambition other than to wallow around... and never even looking up.
Mannygogou
2024-01-10 01:23:21 +0000 UTCIs Cassie a short for Cassiopeia ?
René Ferland
2024-01-10 00:55:17 +0000 UTCYet another movie that I can't find on any streaming service... this is getting frustrating.
Story Archer
2024-01-10 00:44:35 +0000 UTCInteresting premise ruined by insufferable characters. Thumbs down.
Silver Machine
2024-01-09 17:37:45 +0000 UTCDidn't love it but really liked it. Jody Foster is good in just about everything she does. Wasn't all in on the Foster / McConaughey romance as much as I wanted to be. Plus, I don't think it needed to be 2.5 hours long. It's a science fiction story that deals more with people and their faith which is great. And it persuades you to think about are we alone and of course space exploration. It's very interesting and cerebral. Side note, the bald guy is John Hurt from the first Alien movie. He was the one who had a small alien burst through his chest while everyone was eating. The actress who played the younger Elle was Kelly Preston's daughter in For the Love of the Game and Lydia Bennet in one of your favorite movies I'm sure, Pride and Prejudice.
Shawn Kildal
2024-01-09 04:53:44 +0000 UTCWhen I first saw it, well, game changer. I have since taught my daughter to always look up. We are not alone.
Matt Mabry
2024-01-09 04:31:16 +0000 UTCFor me, I think that the movie is great and keeps on building... right up until the part where she meets her father. Something about the aesthetic look of it and Silvestri's score makes it feel more anti-climactic, rather than provocative. I know they were going for something that looked hyper-real to blow away the audience, but I think they went so far that it hurt the plausibility of the story. It's still a good movie for me, but that beach scene just didn't quite stick the landing for me.
WastedPo
2024-01-09 02:29:37 +0000 UTCtouche my friend
Cassie
2024-01-09 00:43:34 +0000 UTCwe didn't think anything changed, but i think something might have accidentally, thought we fixed it after st3 but thanks for letting me know, well keep playing with it
Cassie
2024-01-09 00:43:09 +0000 UTCi want to know what you t hought!
Cassie
2024-01-09 00:40:30 +0000 UTCHonestly , I always found this one a bit underwhelming. Upon rewatch my opinion didn’t change. However I'm glad Cassie enjoyed it.
Anthony V Petty
2024-01-08 23:48:14 +0000 UTCThe movie left out the amazing ending the book posed. Ellie had set a task to a super-computer to calculate π (pi). After a long analysis, she received notice……..there is another message in π (pi)😵💫
Mark D
2024-01-08 18:37:28 +0000 UTCI'm thinking the request for new mic settings came AFTER this reaction at home.
Philip Alan
2024-01-08 07:06:14 +0000 UTCSo funny... as that scene was coming up... all I can say was "Watch this scene girls! WATCH IT!" I was amazed at the theater when I first saw it. Woah!
Philip Alan
2024-01-08 07:05:15 +0000 UTCI love this movie. Loved the reaction! What a great ride!
Philip Alan
2024-01-08 07:01:56 +0000 UTCThats a bummer, its definitely one of the more interesting shots I've ever seen in a movie, ever. It really blows your mind if you are watching her throughout the whole run as you should be
Astraeos
2024-01-08 06:31:01 +0000 UTCI'm gonna second this, if only because something definitely seems to have changed. I've watched my fair share of PiB on Patreon, and I've never noticed before these loud clunks and gulps and all that. Its definitely like they have a mic right up against their throats or something. So yeah, this one wasn't too bad, but its noticeable that something audio wise has changed with your setup or with processing.
Astraeos
2024-01-08 06:29:07 +0000 UTCYeah the mic is still picking up all the sounds in the environment, fortunately no popcorn bags were being rustled this episode
Hail to the King
2024-01-08 04:22:26 +0000 UTCI love this movie! I always felt that Jodi Foster did more acting with her eyes than with the dialog. I mean that as a compliment, so expressive.
George G
2024-01-08 04:03:56 +0000 UTCI disagree. And I don't think it matters that it dates the movie. The computers do a perfectly fine job of dating the movie. 😂
Caomhan84
2024-01-08 03:28:45 +0000 UTCI agree about the Clinton footage. The movie's one major misstep imo.
Stick Figure Studios
2024-01-08 02:08:35 +0000 UTCAlright alright alright
Canadianant
2024-01-08 01:52:39 +0000 UTCI actually forgot I’d seen this movie until the scene with Ellie and her “Dad” and when I saw that transport machine they built, the phrase “Beam me up Scotty” popped into my head. 🖖🏼 Good movie. I wish everyone could have seen what she did
Tara
2024-01-08 01:14:18 +0000 UTCYeah, as others have pointed out, Clinton did not take part in this movie. (Footage from other speeches/appearances was integrated into the movie with tricks.) However, his inclusion in it stirred up a bit of controversy when the movie was released, as it ostensibly made it seem like the President of the U.S. was endorsing something he actually wasn't. I personally wish he'd never been included. Not for any of the above ethical reasons, but because it's distracting and pulls the viewer from the story, and it dates the movie. I know that Robert Zemeckis did similar tricks in his previous movie, Forrest Gump. However, in that case, having Hanks interact with presidents from various eras worked, because it was played for comedy, no one in the audience ever questioned if it was real, and it was *intended* to date the era that Gump lived in.
WastedPo
2024-01-08 00:12:12 +0000 UTCOH DANG!!!! I forgot that Contact starts suddenly and REALLY REALLY REALLY LOUD!!! Sorry for that! I understood what you guys heard immediately when I saw the beginning! hahahahahaha
YodatheHobbit
2024-01-07 23:42:20 +0000 UTCI think I heard in an interview that Tom Holland WANTS to make a rom com, like REALLY badly. So good news there. He's great at young hero/adventure roles, but I want to see more of his range. Harrison Ford has done a few romcoms and lighter films that I don't think you guys have seen yet. Working Girl isn't quite a rom com but I think you'll like it. And of course 6 Days 7 Nights is VERY much rom com.
YodatheHobbit
2024-01-07 23:13:15 +0000 UTCI had forgotten how much I love this movie. Jodie Foster is great and the debates between her and Matthew are so enthralling. I remember watching this in science class at a catholic highschool i attended when it first came out on vhs and we discussed both sides of the debate. Wonderful. Thanks for your videos.
Ian A
2024-01-07 22:47:10 +0000 UTCThis was a great movie that really makes you think. I loved it and loved your reaction and thoughts about it. I hadn't seen it since it first came out and it was fun watching it again with you.
Phillip Bates
2024-01-07 22:45:13 +0000 UTCI will never get tired of rewatching this film, which I've done most years since it was released. It was great getting to see it through fresh eyes with your reaction!
Future Boy
2024-01-07 20:37:55 +0000 UTCGreat reaction to a long time favorite. Although I chuckled at Ellie’s answer to the question about what she would say to the aliens, because ‘how did you do it?’ would basically be my question for Cassie (her output lately seems to be off the charts - and during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, no less ).
2-Can
2024-01-07 20:21:20 +0000 UTCI’ve never understood the argument of Science v. God (Higher Power). It always seemed obvious to me that Science was the Proof of God. Look at Photosynthesis. Look at the 4 stages of the Water Cycle. Look at a human’s Nervous System. Look at a Periodic Table. Us, Humans, are made with the same Elements that you find in the Ocean. Some of the same materials used to make your Coffee Table can be found in Us. An Amoeba in a body of water… millions of years later… Two Sisters sitting in a bed, watching a movie, horrified at the sight of a child handcuffed to a bed or gushing over Matthew McConaughey. Listening to people try to explain Our World and Evolution, without God, reminds me of the Dad in Blast From the Past trying to explain to Adam why a Runner went to Third when it’s a Force Out. Because, “He Must.” Folks like to use Science as an excuse for everything. Evolution happened because it “had” to happen. You could respond with “Why?” until the cows come home, but you will never be able to dig deep enough. I believe in the Soul. I believe We all have one, and it is there for a Purpose. Every Emotion, Every Feeling, Every Experience we have in Life is Fuel for your Soul. When our Soul’s time on Earth is over, it goes somewhere that not even Science can tell. Some Things are above Science. That’s where Faith comes in. If you don’t believe in that, well… one might think Life was an awful waste of time. ———————————- Also to note… I don’t think James Woods’ character, Kitz, ignored the fact of 18 hours of Static just to further his personal attack. It was to further the Cover-Up of what really happened. Think of how our Government has, or hasn’t, covered up previous Contacts with Extraterrestrials. If there had been some concrete proof that Ellie had gone to Vega, then there would obviously be no way of hiding it. But a video recorder recording 18 hours of Static is no way near enough proof enough for all of the United States Government to publicly back Ellie. And if they aren’t going to Back her, then they have to tear her down. Too much money and too many lives had been lost for the Conclusion to be left in the Grey. ——————————— Edit: I Love this movie. In case it wasn’t clear at this point. Very smartly done, thanks to Carl Sagan and Bob Zemeckis. I 100% agree we should continue Space Exploration. I feel it’s our Duty as humans. If we weren’t supposed to care about Space or the Universe, then why would we be teased with one of the Most Beautiful Sights our Earth has to offer, no matter where you stand on it… Every Damn Night. (Cloudy nights do happen, but that’s God and Science at work, telling you to look elsewhere at the moment. ;-) I sent Cassie a Blu-ray copy of the Discovery Channel docu-series, When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (2008). It chronicles the history of NASA from the Mercury Missions to Modern Day. It also shows, that Amazing Night Sky… and what the Earth looks like from outside it. This show may help someone to understand what Ellie was talking about when she said, “…just how tiny and insignificant--and at the same time how rare and precious we all are. A vision... that tells us we belong to something greater than ourselves... that we're not--that none of us--is alone.” ———————————- Lastly… I think Cassie and Carly should just go ahead and watch Dazed and Confused (1993). It’s not like picking one from the middle. It came in Last place, but from a list of Top 50 movies. Cassie’s going to watch it anyways sometime. Break them off a piece of that McConaughey Bar. I think they need it. ;-)
Larry Darrell
2024-01-07 20:19:27 +0000 UTCHe also did this in Forrest Gump, and it rubbed me wrong there as well (even though it was clearly more satirical). I generally cringe over the potential for deep fakes.
2-Can
2024-01-07 20:13:25 +0000 UTC“See how great a love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God. And we are” 1 John 3:1
Hail to the King
2024-01-07 19:46:42 +0000 UTCIt's sad to think that we are most likely trapped within our tiny Galaxy cluster. Between Andromeda, Messier 33, and the Milky Way galaxies we'll have to do with only having about 1 trillion, 140 Billion stars to search through for life. And if we happen to be the leading life form in that cluster, that's cool. I've got faith that we'll get our act together in time. It's nice to think that we could be the big brother and sister to younger life forms. The growing pains we're dealing with now could be used as lessons to help other races.
Powers209
2024-01-07 19:43:39 +0000 UTCWe may even have encountered one in the form of ʻOumuamua. Its trajectory very much resembled a gravity assist maneuver from its origin of Vega, and strangely it did pick up additional speed leaving our solar system indicating some additional propulsion. Although the accepted theory for that is outgassing due to solar radiation, many think this should have resulted in a visible trail and resulted in an uncontrollable spin, neither which have been observed. So, it still remains a fascinating mystery.
Gábor Árki
2024-01-07 19:13:20 +0000 UTCUndoubtedly, one of Carl's greatest contributions to humanity was his simple suggestion for Voyager's' final look back 'Pale Blue Dot' photo
Terry Yelmene
2024-01-07 19:05:20 +0000 UTCSo hyped to start this. Easily one of my all time favorite movies. Can't wait to see what you think of it.
dave
2024-01-07 19:02:12 +0000 UTC@Gabor The “Great Filter” theory is indeed one popular answer to the “Fermi Paradox.” The more positive take on the great filter, the one that does not suppose that advance civilizations wreck themselves, is that even though scientist Tim Drake calculated there are likely many planets in our galaxy that can support life, the jump from single celled life to multiple celled life is theorized to be extremely difficult. For this reason, we might hope we never encounter multiple celled life elsewhere. That means it is more common and would lend credence to the more dire interpretation of the great filter theory. Personally, I don’t think it’s a huge leap of faith to suppose that in a couple million years we could build self-sustaining ships, manned by AI to explore the galaxy. So, we will find out one day if we take care of each other well enough on this planet. 😊
Steve Holton
2024-01-07 18:54:50 +0000 UTCFor me the story told in this movie, and Carl Sagan's book that inspired, 'Contact', is one of the most profound to reveal the foundational 'spiritual need of conscious' that uniquely defines the human species. Further, the story delicately contrasts this deep human need as more true and apart from the largely assumed religious belief that is only partially able to address the human spirit. I love this movie. And I'm so incredibly happy that Cassie and Carly have experienced it now too. BTW, though Alan Silvestri has scored many films, I personally think this... the music contributed here... is equal to the best of Williams and Zimmer. ~ For Carl
Terry Yelmene
2024-01-07 18:53:59 +0000 UTCCarly would know Mr. Hadden from Harry Potter. He was Mr. Ollivander of Ollivander’s Wands.
Larry Darrell
2024-01-07 18:48:45 +0000 UTCAgreed… never understood the argument.
Larry Darrell
2024-01-07 18:46:13 +0000 UTCDefinitely should watch Cosmos (1980). 13 Part Miniseries.
Larry Darrell
2024-01-07 18:45:03 +0000 UTCContact is in my top 10 favourites of all time. But as for my favourite Robert Zemeckis film, I'll let my username/avatar speak for me!
Future Boy
2024-01-07 18:44:04 +0000 UTCThe film's one misstep imo.
Stick Figure Studios
2024-01-07 18:37:33 +0000 UTCThe premise of this paradox relies on a huge leap of faith, that interstellar travel at speeds close to the speed of light can be achieved. This is far beyond our current technology level. We have only sent a handful of spacecrafts out of the solar system. Even if we consider only probes, it would require very advanced and complex engineering to build such devices that can sustain, fix and refuel themselves somehow autonomously for hundreds of thousands or millions of years. Moreover, the value of sending such probes to gather data from such vast distances that may only reach back with their information on such large timescales could be hard to justify by any society. Even if we use radio waves, which travel at the speed of light, we would need to send very powerful and focused signals to specific star systems. Otherwise, they would be too weak or too scattered to be detected by other civilizations. And we would have to keep sending them for a very long time, because the galaxy is also very old. We have only been listening for radio signals from space for about 60 years. That is a blink of an eye compared to the billions of years that the galaxy has existed. Maybe we missed some signals that came to Earth before we had the technology to hear them. Also, there is the theory of the Great Filter. There are many barriers that prevent life from evolving and spreading throughout the galaxy and the universe. For example, only a few planets may have the right conditions for life, only some of those life forms may develop complex ecosystems, only some of those ecosystems may produce intelligent beings, only some of those intelligent beings may develop space technology, and so on. Furthermore, some of these barriers may be self-imposed, such as wars, pollution, or overpopulation, that could wipe out a civilization before it reaches the stage of interstellar travel. You don't really have to look further than our planet. We may potentially wipe ourselves out sooner than we can achieve interplanetary transportation and colonization.
Gábor Árki
2024-01-07 18:32:54 +0000 UTCI'm afraid you can't call yourself a space exploration expert until you have seen 2001 A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and for fun The Last Starfighter.
Joseph H Searles
2024-01-07 18:27:16 +0000 UTCIt's interesting to note, writer/director Francis Ford Coppola, together with Carl Sagan, wrote a treatment of this project for television in 1975, suing Warner Bros. and Sagan's estate, but his lawsuit was dismissed because he took too long to file it, as the book Sagan wrote was released in 1985.
JPDotCom23
2024-01-07 18:11:43 +0000 UTCZemeckis decision to splice in real-world Bill Clinton was controversial at the time. There's a whole section on it at in the Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_(1997_American_film)#Bill_Clinton
Marcos
2024-01-07 17:52:15 +0000 UTCContact certainly deserves a spot among the best sci-fi movies. It delves into some deep philosophical and existential questions about the nature of existence, the meaning of faith, and the role of humanity in the universe while also examines the relations between science, religion and politics. I love that beginning with the zoom out from Earth to the vastness of space, revealing how our radio signals just fade into the vastness and barely made a dent in cosmic distances, and how insignificantly small we are in the scale of the universe. It is a movie that stays with you long after the credits roll. I'm glad you also enjoyed it, and it was a good reaction. You may not have realized that two-way communication is impossible over such vast distances. Radio communication travels at the speed of light, which means it takes about one second to reach the Moon, and between 5 and 20 minutes to reach Mars, depending on its orbit. The closest star to our solar system, Proxima Centauri, is 4.2 light years away, so light (and any other electromagnetic signal, like radio) takes 4.2 years to get to us. Vega is much farther, at 26 light years away. So, the signal they received took 52 years to travel back and forth. I personally like to believe that we are not alone and there is life, intelligent life elsewhere. Indeed, it would be the waste of space otherwise. There are an estimated 100 billion (10^11) stars just in our galaxy alone and there are an estimated 2 trillion (2 * 10^12) other galaxies in the universe. So, the number of stars is around the magnitude of 10^23. It is an inconceivable number and to put it in context, there is an estimated number of 7 * 10^18 grains of sand on Earth, meaning there are a million times more stars in the universe than grains of sand on this planet.
Gábor Árki
2024-01-07 17:50:02 +0000 UTC@AdrianF what some scientists after Fermi have pitched is that we should be able to cross those vast distances even if we just have an AI do it within a few million years. Even if it took us 20 million years, the universe is billions of years old. There has been time for other intelligent life to develop and do this. 🚀
Steve Holton
2024-01-07 17:45:57 +0000 UTCOne runs out of adjectives describing Cassie's, and Carly's, reactions, but this was another great one. I hadn't seen this movie in probably 15 years or so, it isn't one I tend to rewatch, so I had no memory of what happened later in the story. I find it now not to be so strange, because Ellie's voyage tended to seem like a dream, and one tends not to remember dreams. That Robert Zemeckis can make some good movies. Cassie and Carly seemed to want this to be a more romantic movie, but I found it just romantic enough.
Mike LL
2024-01-07 17:36:08 +0000 UTCOne of Robert Zemeckis' best...very cool.
Steve Mercier
2024-01-07 17:22:23 +0000 UTCDon't know if you changed your mic setting, but everytime you move, eat or drink it's almost like an ASMR session and it sounds really loud :-)
Kim Brink
2024-01-07 17:17:35 +0000 UTCSad you seemed to have missed "the shot," please go back and watch again carefully the scene after her father died and she runs to get his medicine as this is an awesome camera trick they did.
Andrew Roach
2024-01-07 17:01:03 +0000 UTCWhen Cassie returns to the Hitchcock films, she should also do modern day Hitchcockian themed films. Panic Room is definitely one of those 👍, another one is Don’t Say A Word (2001) with Michael Douglas.
Zane From Canada
2024-01-07 16:55:06 +0000 UTCIt 'probably' is teeming with intelligent life, unfortunately it's also teeming with unfathomable 'space' notwithstanding Fermi's 2m years thing. And if we all evolve at even a slightly similar pace, no-one has had the time. Yet.
AdrianF
2024-01-07 16:44:49 +0000 UTCPlease watch Clara. And also, please watch Clara.
AdrianF
2024-01-07 16:42:51 +0000 UTCIn the early 1950’s students at the University of Chicago described the movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still” to their professor Enrico Fermi. They marveled at how in the opening scene of the film a visitor from outer space lands in Washington and wants to meet us. Professor Fermi challenged his students “Why hasn’t that happened in real life yet?” His students seemed puzzled. It was just a science fiction film. Fermi went on to explain. At our current level of advancing technology, even if we never travel faster than the speed of light (Warp speed, etc.), it should only take our species a maximum of 2 million more years to travel all through our galaxy. And if the universe is many billions of years old why hasn’t any extraterrestrial species done that? Where is everyone? Where are the obvious signs that has been achieved? This became known as the “Fermi Paradox” and well frames the debate about the search for extraterrestrial life. Why isn’t the universe teaming with intelligent life?
Steve Holton
2024-01-07 16:18:12 +0000 UTCGoogle search: "They did the math, and it turns out that a little more than half a penny of every federal tax dollar ends up at NASA. " I can think of so many reasons to add a few more pennies to this effort. I love this movie. As a child, it was Carl Sagan talking about us... humans... the universe that caught me with wonder. It was Carl with a simple spot on PBS that had me thinking of meeting an alien or traveling to the stars. I believe this movie is Sagan's idea of how contact might be handled and a hope that we don't muck it up. Funny how this movie showed me, we can have hope and faith while being a scientist looking for facts. That faith in humanity and the love for our future can be as warm and welcoming as any sermon. We all have hope for the future that we will never see and yet still be a part of that future because we are all Earthlings. Each one of us is so lucky to be alive. We are made of stardust. We are the universe itself come alive. For me... it happened to be Carl Sagan who explained how lucky we all are. ...to live ...on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. Everyone should watch Pale Blue Dot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wupToqz1e2g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5FwsblpT8 Thanks, Carl.
Powers209
2024-01-07 16:10:27 +0000 UTCLove this film! Looking forward to watching your reaction Cass!
Robert da Spruce
2024-01-07 16:03:29 +0000 UTCI hate to admit this, but I've never seen Contact. After reading Cassie and everyone else's comments, I'm finally going to sit down and watch it tonight.
Shawn Kildal
2024-01-07 15:55:24 +0000 UTCOoh this is one of the big ones I've been waiting for. Now we just need Sunshine (2007) and Highlander.
Odd Thomas
2024-01-07 15:54:01 +0000 UTCAnd its both of you guys! Even freakin better!
Astraeos
2024-01-07 15:51:34 +0000 UTCOh what a nice surprise to wake up to, a reason to rewatch one of my favourite movies!
Aaron Ritchie
2024-01-07 15:35:39 +0000 UTCRobert Zemeckis never encountered a nail he didn't hit squarely on the head. It's what makes him such a workmanlike carpenter.
Carol_White
2024-01-07 15:18:25 +0000 UTCYou'll know Tom Skerrit (Drumlin) from Alien where he played Dallas and Top Gun (the first one) where he played Viper. Hadden was played by John Hurt who was also in Alien. He played Kane who get's attacked by the facehugger and subsequently has the Xenomorph burst out of his chest.
Eric
2024-01-07 15:12:40 +0000 UTC“If it is just us, it’s an awful waste of space.” I adore this movie, loved it since theaters, but it’s a real challenge to share with others because of the theming - science v. faith when the truth is both can exist and both are equally important. Good luck with that thought in this day and age. Regardless, the movie is a gem even if it’s a bit of a guilty pleasure for me and I’m looking forward to watching.
Matthew Periolat
2024-01-07 15:01:16 +0000 UTC"Two possibilities exist: either we are all alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying " Arthur Clarke
Zachary K. (Verified Swiftie)
2024-01-07 14:45:34 +0000 UTCLoooooong time no see 😃😃 Yeah it's a great movie 😃😃
Björn Karlsson
2024-01-07 14:17:57 +0000 UTCI absolutely love this movie, but I love the book more. The book is by Dr. Carl Sagan who was a genius, as was his constant companion and partner Ann Druyan. Other than my parents they are the humans I look(ed) up to more than anyone else. Carl Sagan did more for science education and especially space science and exploration than anyone else, and he "always did it with a marvelous grace". I must say that I also must name and give gratitude to Bill Nye The Science Guy, and Mr. Wizard, and Neil Degrasse Tyson, for forging my love of science. In the Late seventies Dr. Sagan did a PBS mini-series called Cosmos which again is based on his book with Ann Druyan. This mini-series to me is the greatest of them all, and is still relevant today, with very few small updates to science knowledge. My personal favorite book of his is "Pale Blue Dot" about the Earths place in the Universe. He was a person who I wish was still around today, I miss and love my father and him nearly everyday. You should definitely watch "Cosmos" and read his books with your little family, as they are great knowledge and full of hope. Keep up your amazing work.
Damien beatty
2024-01-07 14:08:35 +0000 UTCHaven’t seen this one in like 20 years so looking forward to the reaction…I do remember that I really liked the ending, and Jodie Foster was terrific as always; FYI: voice of Elastigirl is Holly Hunter
JL_83
2024-01-07 14:00:48 +0000 UTCAbsolutely cannot wait to watch this one with you Cassie, this is gonna be great.
Astraeos
2024-01-07 13:47:25 +0000 UTCThis has always been in my top 10. I see it now from a different perspective than when I saw it as a teenager. And even though I don’t have kids yet, the theme of Ellie calling out through time and space for her father resonates with me ever since I lost my own father. As I’ve gotten older and and with my worldview I love the part of Ellie’s journey of a scientist discovering the power of faith. Of how Palmer and Ellie are just two sides of the same coin.
Blake Evans
2024-01-07 13:21:08 +0000 UTC"Alright", I'm rescheduling my afternoon. This movie has been in my top 10 for so long, I just can't wait to watch this reaction right away. PS: regarding Jodie Foster, after that RANSOM reaction I just had to put the PANIC ROOM higher up on my list. 😉 Also, she is the lead in the 4th season of TRUE DETECTIVE starting to air on January 14th, and the reviews are promising so far, making me excited for this season.
Gábor Árki
2024-01-07 13:05:37 +0000 UTCFor the longest time, this was in my top 5 and it did not move. I saw it with a friend of mine who was actually in the movie as an extra (in the background in the DC shots) and he met both Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. I suppose these days it feels very 1990s, but for me it's one of those movies that just is an experience. It was Interstellar before Interstellar.
Caomhan84
2024-01-07 11:58:10 +0000 UTCI love it. And of course everyone can disagree with me. But I just think contact is brilliant from start to finish.
djKENTO
2024-01-07 11:28:46 +0000 UTCBack To The Future though...?
pkleo73
2024-01-07 11:27:29 +0000 UTCdam. I just into something else! lol. I LOVE this movie! Been a favorite since it came out. Cant wait to watch it with ya! Great concept, and the effects are awesome for the time. Thnx guys!
pkleo73
2024-01-07 11:27:05 +0000 UTCOne of favourites going to be epic!
Du-Wayne Rood
2024-01-07 11:18:04 +0000 UTCThe best Robert Zemeckis movie by miles.
djKENTO
2024-01-07 11:16:54 +0000 UTCI love this movie. Cannot wait to watch it again “ with you”. I love the opening shot. Such a great movie. Great FX some of which are really subtle. You do not realise you just saw one, like Ellie running up the stairs to get the medication and you realise it has all been from the cabinet mirror perspective. Also the subtle face morphing when she is trying to describe the beauty of what she is witnessing. The zooming out of Ellie’s eyes from the opening shot and the eyes are that of Jodie Foster. When she runs in to the tower after discovering the single. When she gets out of the car and goes up the stairs,it is filmed as one continuous shot, but it is actually shot in 3 different locations. The story is great as well. I love how the movie ends up being all about a persons faith.
Brian McGovern
2024-01-07 11:16:38 +0000 UTC
