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Today's Date is:

Contact


Reviewed by: Tom Reynolds
Genre: Drama/Sci-Fi
Video: Widescreen anamorphic 2.35:1
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1, 2.0
Language: English, French
Subtitle: English, Spanish, French
Length: 150 mins.
Rating: PG
Release Date: December 16,1997
Studio: Warner
Commentary: Jodie Foster; Robert Zemeckis and producer Steve Starkey; visual F/X supervisors Ken Ralston and Steven Rosenbaum
Documentaries: "The Opening Shot," "The NASA Machine Destruction," "The Harrier Landing"
Featurettes: "From Novel to Screen," "Creating a Fantastic Event," "The Message," "Constructing the Pod"
Filmography/Biography: 6 cast members, Zemeckis, writers Hart and Godenberg, Carl Sagan, composer Alan Silvestri
Interviews: None
Trailers/TV Spots: Two theatrical trailers
Alternate/Deleted Scenes: None
Music Video: None
Other: Three segments of computer animated concepts.
Cast and Crew: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, David Morse, Tom Skerritt, Jena Malone, William Fichtner, James Woods, Angela Bassett, Jake Busey, John Hurt, Rob Lowe
Screenplay by: Written by James V. Hart, Michael Goldenberg, Carl Sagan (novel)
Produced by: Joan Bradshaw, Lynda Obst, Carl Sagan, Steve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Music: Alan Silvestri
The Review: This is a story of an obsessive relationship; a relationship between a young scientist named Ellie Arroway (Foster) and the infinite universe that surrounds us all. Since childhood, Ellie has been in love with the mysteries of the galaxies, and now, as a member of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), Ellie spends her time sweeping the skies for a signal from deepest space; it may be her job, but it's a labor of love, for Ellie is convinced that there is something, or someone, out there somewhere. Because otherwise, what a terrible waste of space it would be. Ellie may be a dreamer, but it's the dreamers who over the years have been responsible for making us evolve, making us learn and grow because they are the ones who take insane, foolish ideas and pursue them. Einstein asked all of his important questions before the age of twenty-five, then spent the rest of his life working on them. All of the greatest work by the greatest scientists has been done while they were very young, when they were stupid enough to believe that two-plus-two-equals-five, and pursued it instead of listening to all of those who were older and so much wiser and said "Oh, don't waste your time." Ellie Arroway didn't waste her time, and she held on to the belief that two-plus-two-was five. Or at least that it could be. And after fighting for years for the funding to keep her project-- and her dream-- alive, one day it pays off; in one magic moment she hears what she's been waiting for all her life. A signal from a distant end of the galaxy-- someone attempting to communicate, to make contact with the people of Earth. And it isn't long before Ellie not only ascertains that they are using the universal language of prime numbers in their attempts, but deciphers the code and discovers something monumental in the bargain. But it's a global message, bigger than she alone, and she soon finds herself fighting to remain a part of the drama that is only just beginning to unfold; the first interaction between human beings and an alien life form. With her portrayal of Ellie, Jodie Foster proves that without question she is one of the most gifted, talented and professional actors in the business. Her performance here is simply as good as it gets, and should have landed her an Oscar. Her Ellie is convincing and believable, and someone to whom you can genuinely relate, no matter who you are or where you're from, because there is something universal in Ellie's passion and longing to know the truth, to see beyond the veil of our limited mortal capacities. And Zemeckis did a brilliant job of allowing her the time to develop the character, of allowing that extra moment that ultimately says so much, and which too often winds up on the cutting room floor. Thoroughly engrossing and entertaining, this film is the result of a beautiful and successful collaboration between a group of artists who shared a vision, and had the courage and the ability to bring that vision to fruition.
Image and Sound This is about as perfect a transfer as I've seen; the picture is sharp and clear, with a depth that adds distinction to the images whether the scene is bright or bathed in shadows. The colors are absolutely brilliant, especially the deep blues of the ocean and the lush greens of the foliage during the island scene of Ellie's trip, and in the Puerto Rican scenes, and the blue-black of the night sky against which the stars appear luminous. And the opening scene, as the camera takes you through the galaxies, is alive with colors that are striking and fill the senses with their breathtaking intensity. The same is true for the bursts of light that explode beneath and around Ellie during her trip in the pod. There's a rich texture even in the more neutral shadings, like the off-white of the sand or the metallic grays of the "machine," and in the purple and red of the sunset as it falls across the canyons as Ellie reflects at the end upon all that's happened. The sound of this disc is of the highest quality as well, with excellent balance and separation and a clarity even in the smallest, most insignificant sounds, all which blend in perfectly with the dialogue, which is always distinct, even when surrounded by peripheral sounds and noise. The sounds of the "signal" are resounding and clear, even at low decibel range, as are those of the explosions during the destruction of the machine and the noises of the pod and all that surrounds it during Ellie's trip. The sound at times seems to come at you from all angles and fills the room. In short, the sound and picture of this DVD live up to and surpass the challenge of making this a real experience, and take you far beyond anything you could expect. The quality of this disc makes this journey absolutely transporting.
The Extras "From Novel to Screen" features written commentary from Carl Sagan, who talks about his novel, and from Robert Zemeckis who talks about working with Sagan on striking the "balance between human interest and science," and how Zemeckis had to protect the drama of the story, making sure it moved along without getting too technical. "Creating A Fantastic Event" is also a written commentary that addresses Zemeckis's goal to "create an absolutely realistic representation of a fantastic event." The locations used in the film are discussed (New Mexico, Arizona, Washington, D.C., NASA's Cape Canaveral, Florida and Arecibo, Puerto Rico, home of the world's largest radio telescope), and there is some information on the "Very Large Array," or "VLA" site, a field of twenty-seven linked dish-shaped radio telescopes located in the desert of Socorro, New Mexico, where the opening sequence of Ellie, sweeping the skies to intercept any messages from aliens, was filmed. "The Message" is a written discussion of how the filmmakers struggled to present the message, or "signal" that Ellie and her team ultimately received from space. Scientific advisors devised a seven page document about how it could be presented realistically in the movie, which was then forwarded to Carl Sagan for approval. "Constructing the Pod" is a written commentary on the challenge of creating a vehicle to represent a new type of intergalactic transportation. The series of mini-documentaries, "The Making of the Opening Shot," "The Making of the NASA Machine Destruction," "The Making of the Harrier Landing" and the "High Speed Composition Reel" are intrinsically more interesting than the brief, written featurette segments, and are presented with commentary by special effects supervisors Ken Ralston and Steve Rosenbaum. In this segment you get an in-depth and expanded look at many of the same things Ralston and Rosenbaum touch upon in their commentary track. In the "Opening Shot," they discuss the long and complicated opening shot of the galaxies at length, pointing out that they used "2001" as their jumping off point, but wanted to add as much detail as possible to the imagery. It took them six to eight weeks just to choreograph the sequence, with which their intent was to make the audience feel the scale of the universe. They studied the movements of the planets and stars, then layered in and tested different looks for the spheres and the asteroid belt through which the camera would pass. They admit to using creative license in strategically placing certain celestial bodies and formations in their galaxy for dramatic effect. 4,710 frames were used in the shot, the longest computer generated shot on film up to that point. At the end of the segment a printout of technical information is displayed, which techies, especially, will no doubt receive enthusiastically. "The Making of the NASA Machine Destruction" is basically a technical discussion of all that went into this particular scene, wherein the machine blows up and debris is scattered for miles around. They illustrate the use of matte shots to add dust to the shot, and discuss how they created the effects of the debris landing in the ocean. They also address the adding of sky, and of amassing hundreds of extras who they filmed reacting to the explosion and destruction that they would add to the film later on. "The Harrier Landing" takes you through some matting procedures, and they show how a freighter filmed in Long Beach, California established the scale for the ship they would create and insert into the film with special effects. The ship they filmed was removed, but the actual wake of the vessel was used in the film, and you can see it being created by the computer generated ship in the final cut. Ralston and Rosenbaum also show you the digital compositing tool used to piece scenes together, which is very much like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, layering together several shots of foreground and background and pasting it all together in the computer. The use of blue screen is demonstrated, as well, and the use of the matte to block out background so that it doesn't "bleed" through. These segments are all very well presented and interesting, but will appeal to those of a technical bent rather than the wider audience the commentary tracks (especially Foster's) will attract. "The Computer Animated Concepts," which includes three segments, "The Machine Fly By," "Hadden's Plane" and "NASA Control Room," are narrated by 3D computer graphics artist Tim Wilcox, and are interesting, but of very brief duration.
Commentary John Gabbard, the producer/director of this site, "DVDivas," a huge Jodie Foster fan, was eager to have this film reviewed and was especially keen on this first track of commentary, which features Foster. And, believe me, this is a track you do not want to miss. Jodie Foster is by far one of the most intelligent and articulate artists you're every likely to hear on a commentary track. Adopting a very conversational tone, she makes herself very accessible, and her comments and observations are not only interesting and entertaining, but extremely well delivered and astute. She discusses her character, Ellie Arroway, in depth, discussing Ellie's obsession since childhood with the planets and her insatiable curiosity, and the fact that that's what makes her so interesting-- because her obsession is also a psychological curse. Ellie simply is unable to settle for the imperfections afforded her on earth-- the human interactions and relationships that can be so messy; the fact that those whom you love leave you and hurt you-- so she immerses herself in her work, searching through the mysteries of the universe for something that is permanent and pure. Ellie, she points out, doesn't realize how afraid of intimacy she is, and that is why she escapes into her work, into the perfection of science. She discusses how after her "trip" in the pod, Ellie's greatest sadness is not wondering about whether it happened or not, but knowing that she has had an experience that nobody else will ever be able to understand, and that she is alone in that. She wishes that somebody else would be able to grasp that, and be able to believe her and believe in her, and would be able to be moved by the same spirit that she was moved by. But she knows that that is impossible, and it's something she'll have to hold inside herself that no one else will ever be able to understand. She loves the idea that Ellie's greatest mission in life (which is indicated at the end, when you see her talking with the group of children) is going to be about giving that sense of wonder and of curiosity to the next generation of scientists, because even if we don't understand the mysteries of our universe, of things that are out there, we have to keep the search alive, and we may never find out what the answers are, but the important thing is the search and the journey. Foster also likes the romantic, beautiful and poetic feeling the movie conveys about not only the mysteries of the galaxies, but the mystery and beauty of our own world, right down to the complexities contained within a grain of sand or a strand of hair. It says to you, "Isn't this wonderful and wondrous, how much we don't know?" And she goes on to talk about a great statistic Carl Sagan loved to share; the fact that all of the energy in all of the radio signals that have actually been perceived from the universe, is as small as the energy contained in a single snowflake. More than anything, she says, this film speaks in Carl Sagan's voice, and it does it with his spirit of poetry and romance and incredible adventure, and with his sharp and literary mind. She relates that her favorite moment in the film, the most exciting, is the retrieval of the message when the signal comes in loud and clear for the first time. The scene was done on the first day of shooting and was one of the most difficult of her career as an actor. It was a "Magic hour" shot, and it rained; it was a difficult camera shot of her driving her car through the field of radio-dishes, shot from a moving crane as the car was being towed. And through it all she had to recite lines of "techno-babble" that only someone with three or four degrees would understand. When they had to reshoot some of it on a sound stage, for the first time in her life she had to ask for cue cards. When all was said and done, she credits the genius of Bob Zemeckis for making what could've been a terribly boring scene one of the most exciting in the film. She loves the moment within the scene when they lose the signal-- and Zemeckis keeps the camera on her too long, which makes it so effective. And then when the signal comes back! She reflects briefly on a number of things, like doing twenty-five takes of a single shot because of a difficult camera angle that caused a reflection in her glasses; of the visible bump on her forehead, which she got from banging her head three times getting into the Harrier jet; of the incredible telescope in Puerto Rico, and of it being so dirty they had to "whiten" it up in post-production; of how scientifically accurate this film is, as in the scene in which they have only a certain window of time in which to receive the signal from space before the planet turns on it's axis, necessitating picking it up in another part of the world, in this case Australia-- just one of the little things that tell you this is a Carl Sagan film; and of more personal things, like meeting Jake Busey when he was ten-years-old while doing a movie with his father, Gary, then not seeing him again until this film, and now he's six-foot-two and looks just like his dad, right down to the teeth; and of Matthew McConaughey's good mood while they were in Puerto Rico, which had something to do with him going to the casino every night and winning big-- a mood, she points out, that is very apparent in the film during his Puerto Rican scenes. This is an exceptional track in every way; Foster is absolutely engaging, and her comments are often nothing less than profound, all of which makes this an invaluable addition to this DVD. The second track, featuring Zemeckis and producer Steve Starkey, isn't quite as impressive. The first problem, which is very distracting, at least until you get used to it, is the fact that although Zemeckis comes through loud and clear, Starkey's comments are muffled and barely audible; he sounds as if he's two rooms away speaking through a ventilator duct. And Zemeckis, though his comments are interesting, gives the impression that rather than speaking directly to you, he's talking to someone else and allowing you to merely eavesdrop, perhaps largely due to the fact that Starkey is inaudible. it's like being in a room with someone who is on the telephone; you can hear that person clearly, and his reactions and responses to whomever is on the other end-- but you aren't privy to that parties part of the conversation, so it gives you the feeling of being excluded. And that's the effect of this track. As far as the comments by Zemeckis, he tells of changing the concept of the opening sequence-- that originally the camera was going to zoom in towards Earth, giving the impression of the signal being on it's way, but it just didn't give the right sense of what they were trying to convey; it was just wrong somehow. So after brainstorming with Carl Sagan, they came up with the idea of doing the reverse, and pulling away from the Earth and fully exposing this huge galaxy that ultimately appears in Ellie's eye (which of course turned out to be extremely effective). He also discusses locations, and the necessity of "blending" certain scenes together from parts filmed in Puerto Rico and finished in L.A, and of how much of the radio dishes had to be computer generated. There was so much "background" or "backshots" that had to be inserted later, that he shot the film in 65 millimeter to insure that they had the kind of negative they needed in case they had to adjust something optically. Much of what Zemeckis shares is concerned with the technical aspects of the film, and while it is interesting to a point, the most engrossing parts of his commentary concern the story and the characters, like for instance when he talks about conceiving of the Hadden character as a Howard Hughes type, who in the future has lost his mind, but has power, money and intellect; what would he do? Or of how he likes to film the more intimate scenes (like the one with Ellie and Palmer on the terrace with the Washington Monument in the background), with as few editing cuts as possible, which he believes allows the audience to feel more like that "third wall" in the scene, which keeps them emotionally involved. it's also interesting to hear his views on using different camera speeds to enhance the drama of a scene, like the one in which the machine blows up. Just after the explosion, to capture that sense of Ellie's isolation, of the fact that she is aware of nothing more at that moment than her own heartbeat and that everything around her has stopped, he went from filming at twenty-four frames a second to seventy-two, which when played back in real time slowed everything down dramatically, and he was able to convey what he wanted to with that scene. Zemeckis feels that the whole point of "Contact" is as a metaphor for belief of any type, which seems to be a part of the human experience. It's about mankind pondering his place in the universe. The idea of "not knowing everything" being okay is what the movie is all about in the most simple terms. And that we have to live our lives connected to other human beings because we will never know everything. All in all, this is a decent track, aside from the distraction of the sound, and-- let's face it-- Jodie Foster is a tough act to follow. It would've been a bit more engrossing had Zemeckis addressed the story and characters more, rather than dwelling on the technical aspects (which are covered at length and in-depth in the documentary, featurette and third track of commentary), but still, this is worth a look, as there are some interesting bits that can be gleaned from it. The final commentary track, featuring Ken Ralston and Steve Rosenbaum, suffers from the same sound problems as on the previous track; Ralston is quite clear, Rosenbaum practically inaudible. This track is interesting, but it deals almost exclusively with special effects and the technical aspects of the film, much of which is covered in the shorter segments dealing with more specific areas of the project. Ralston is articulate, and obviously knows his stuff, but he has a distracting way of referring to things that do not coincide with the scene you happen to be watching at the time, like during the scene in Puerto Rico in which Ellie meets Palmer, Ralston is talking about the "machine" that doesn't even come into play until much later in the movie. I would have to say that this track, though well made, is definitely for die-hard "techies" only, those who know the language and enjoy reading technical manuals and blueprints and who want to know all they can about rotoscoping, computer generated images, blue-screening, compositing and all of the finer technical details that go into the making of a motion picture of this magnitude.
Final Words: "Contact" is much more than a just a movie, it's an experience. As Jodie Foster says near the end of her commentary track, "It took a lot of people and a lot of visions to bring this one vision to it's glory." And that about sums it up. Because this is, indeed, a visionary film, conceived, created and delivered by real artists, who have seen something beyond the constraints of mortal sight, and have-- luckily for us-- deemed it worthy of sharing with the world. It's an emotionally involving film with a memorable performance by Jodie Foster, and this DVD is of the highest quality that presents it in a manner worthy of it's content. This one gets my highest recommendation on all counts. This is truly the magic of the movies.


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 July 24, 2001