Contact (1997)
Director:
Robert Zemeckis
Tagline:
« Get ready to take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history… of history. »
Actors:
Young Ellie
Ted Arroway
Ellie Arroway
Fisher
Kent
Rating:
(315’590 votes)
(315’590 votes)
Quotes:
« Alien: You're an interesting species. An interesting mix. You're capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so lost, so cut off, so alone, only you're not. See, in all our searching, the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other.
»
[last lines]
« Ellie Arroway: [to a group of children] I'll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It's bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it's just us… seems like an awful waste of space. Right?
»
« Young Ellie: Dad, do you think there's people on other planets?
»
« Ted Arroway: I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us… seems like an awful waste of space.
»
Trailer:
Contact
Runtime:150 minutes
Plots:
Dr. Ellie Arroway, after years of searching, finds conclusive radio proof of extraterrestrial intelligence, sending plans for a mysterious machine.
Astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) has long been interested in contact with faraway lands, a love fostered in her childhood by her father, Ted Arroway (David Morse), who dies when she was nine-years-old, leaving her an orphan. Her current work with SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is based on that love and is in part an homage to her father. Ever since funding from the National Science Foundation (N.S.F.) was pulled from the project, which was referred to as “more science fiction than science” by some, including her N.S.F. superior David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt), Ellie and her rogue scientist colleagues have looked for funding from where ever they could get it to continue their work. When Ellie and her colleagues hear chatter originating from the vicinity of the star Vega, Ellie feels vindicated. But that vindication is short lived when others, including politicians, the military, religious leaders, and rival scientists, such as Drumlin, try to take over her work. After the mysterious messages from space are decoded by her anonymous millionaire donor, S.R. Hadden (Sir John Hurt), the project takes on a whole new dimension, which strengthens for Ellie the quest for answers.
The skeptical scientist Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) researches extraterrestrial life with her team in Puerto Rico. When David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt) shuts-down the project, Ellie seeks for private funds to reopen her research in New Mexico. An anonymous millionaire provides the necessary funds and Ellie proceeds with her work. Four years later, she is contacted by alien forms from Vega that send a coded message. The millionaire, S.R. Hadden (Sir John Hurt) that is financing the research deciphers the message and gives to Ellie the design of an intriguing machine. Ellie concludes that the equipment might be to transport a passenger to Vega. Now she needs to convince a commission formed by military, politicians, scientists, and religious leaders that she is the best candidate for the journey.
