Carl Sagan, the scientist, had a lot going for him. Apparently people cut Carl Sagan, the novelist, a lot of slack because of it. I can't think of any other reason that "Contact" wasn't resoundingly laughed out of bookstores, much less theaters. I know my friends and I were reduced to helpless tears halfway through.
The very notion that Jodie Foster is listening to the various frequencies that SETI is scanning for signs of extraterrestrial life is foolish enough, but then the flaws are compounded by repeated improbable meetings with priest Matthew McConaughey. Apparently, his character's dialogue with Foster's is supposed to be thought-provoking and challenging. Apparently, the screenwriters have never actually had a thought-provoking or challenging conversation.
The payoff to all this foolish mumbo-jumbo is a machine the alien message provides for communicating with them, followed by actual contact. Sagan boldly goes where few esteemed figures have gone before, and rips off John Varley's novel "The Ophiuchi Hotline" for the idea of the aliens giving out plans for an interstellar communication device. Then we get the note-for-note theft of the climax of "2001: A Space Odyssey." Space turns out to be Heaven, where lonely little girls can meet aliens-shaped-like-Daddy. It was a foolish concept in "2001" and it doesn't smell any better second-hand.
I urge everyone dazzled by this film to pick up works by Arthur C. Clarke and John Varley. At the very least, you should be enjoying the (far superior) original source material, rather than regurgitated nonsense.
Carl Sagan, the scientist, had a lot going for him. Apparently people cut Carl Sagan, the novelist, a lot of slack because of it. I can't think of any other reason that "Contact" wasn't resoundingly laughed out of bookstores, much less theaters. I know my friends and I were reduced to helpless tears halfway through. The very notion that Jodie Foster is listening to the various frequencies that SETI is scanning for signs of extraterrestrial life is foolish enough, but then the flaws are compounded by repeated improbable meetings with priest Matthew McConaughey. Apparently, his character's dialogue with Foster's is supposed to be thought-provoking and challenging. Apparently, the screenwriters have never actually had a thought-provoking or challenging conversation. The payoff to all this foolish mumbo-jumbo is a machine the alien message provides for communicating with them, followed by actual contact. Sagan boldly goes where few esteemed figures have gone before, and rips off John Varley's novel "The Ophiuchi Hotline" for the idea of the aliens giving out plans for an interstellar communication device. Then we get the note-for-note theft of the climax of "2001: A Space Odyssey. " Space turns out to be Heaven, where lonely little girls can meet aliens-shaped-like-Daddy. It was a foolish concept in "2001" and it doesn't smell any better second-hand. I urge everyone dazzled by this film to pick up works by Arthur C. Clarke and John Varley. At the very least, you should be enjoying the (far superior) original source material, rather than regurgitated nonsense.