Contact (1997) First Time Watching! Full Movie Reaction!!

"Big names" eh? Bill Clinton is listed as an actor in this film. Several other real people played themselves. One of the best SF movies in my opinion.

Dave Carmichael

Great movie. I would also recommend Arrival, and Sunshine, two of THE best sci-fi movies

Odd Thomas

I was wondering if y'all recognized Hadden without a baby xenomorph ripping its way out of his chest at the dinner table?

Thomas Yanez

To me, this movie feels like one of the most realistic takes on what it would be like if a similar first contact scenario were to arise, with the political and religious roadblocks that would pop up. We see it all the time, where politics and religion force themselves into areas they don't belong and change narratives and influence outcomes. Now I'm going to go watch your "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" reaction, if I can figure out which version it is.

Thomas Yanez

Wow, Marty, agree with everything you wrote. I too am a former believer, now agnostic. Contact is one of my two favorite films of all-time, the other being The Shawshank Redemption.

Angel Pagan

Thank you for sharing, Samuel! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you, Marty and I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the film! I think that was our biggest misstep on this one was going in with completely wrong expectations of this film, but by the time we were done with our discussion, I think we realized what a great film it was because of how though provoking it was! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Haha sounds like a dangerous game! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Hahaha this whole comment had us cracking up! Yay! Hope you enjoy it and Merry Christmas! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Yes! Felt the same way for Drumlin! I guess I saw it more on the black and white side because I did side with Ellie for the entirety of the film and I really disagreed with Joss for most, if not all of the film. But all a matter of opinion for sure! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Haha! So much to process! Thank you so much! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

That is so sad! Omg I mis-read your comment and I thought it was going to be a few of the cables snapping, but not the final ones! That was so sad to see it go down! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you! Yes, we have both seen Signs already, but that would have made for a great reaction! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Definitely! I think our reaction was exactly how you were meant to feel after the watch! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you! It was very thought provoking, but yes, it definitely hit close to home with our current situation! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you for sharing! I'm sure the White House was not happy since he was the sitting President and he did make a good number of appearances! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! That is crazy! Honestly, it is crazy what they can do with CGI, especially in the 90s compared to today, but it was definitely a significant enough change that we noticed it! We also had suspected it may be her younger self! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

Haha it was a lot for quick trip! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

We have! We saw Gravity in theaters! Love Sandra Bullock and the film was stunning on the big screen! -Sam

TBR Schmitt

One of the better scifi films out there, and it's based off of the Novel Contact written by the great Carl Sagan, an amazing astrophysicist. I think it might be the only non-fiction he wrote. I recommend taking a look at his cosmos show.

Samuel Bruce

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. It is less a story about aliens and space travel and more about deep concepts such as faith and belief (truth) vs. science and discovery (fact). I feel like the ultimate conclusion of the story is that these things need not be at odds against each other. Ellie had a definite spiritual experience through the vehicle of science. As a former believer, now an agnostic, it was interesting to watch this from that perspective. I do think the story was a little harsh on the believer side other than Palmer. It portrayed religious fanaticism and the hypocrisy of those who use religion to control an agenda. I'm not saying this not realistic, but Palmer was the only somewhat "good" believer. I think the problem is that it was maybe marketed as a sci-fi alien contact thriller. I can't remember really. In reality that has very little to do with the story. I loved it though when it first came out, but other people I watched it with were very disappointed because it wasn't what the expected. Thanks for the reaction!!

Marty McGee

Want to have some fun...take a drink every time Jodie Foster is interrupted in the film.

The uncomfortable expression on Sam's face when the swastika and Hitler popped up was hilarious 😅 Also Tbr must have been in a cheerful mood the day of this recording,as it took a whole 56 minutes and 43 seconds to want a character killed 😄 Me and the fiancée will be watching your "Jingle all the way" reaction on Christmas day🎄🎁 super looking forward to it

Andrew

Finally was able to watch this through. Every time I watch this, I find myself wanting to strangle Drumlin. Then as they're burying him, I always think, "He was a jerk, but he didn't deserve this." I like the kind of role reversal, here you have the man of faith and yet he seems more rational and calculating while the scientist has what might be described as evangelical fire, borderline fanaticism at times. I've never seen this movie as black-and-white, there are times when i agree with Ellie and times I agreed with Joss. And there were times I wanted to give both of them a slap upside the head. He pulled that very uncool move at the hearing, but her obstinance really grated on me at times, and seems to have been her biggest stumbling block. She's very honest but a little lacking in tact with how she lays it down.

Texas Anla'Shok

Wow, you guys got BIG MAD watching this one, lol. Maybe my favourite discussion of yours afterwards. Great stuff.

Uncle 'Traveling' Matt

This is something I learned from Robert Zemeckis on the director's commentary on the DVD, so it's definitely true. But Jodie Foster's face is doing a lot of weird stuff in the scene, so I might go and listen again sometime to confirm which moment he actually changed.

Future Boy

The Arecibo Observatory, the radio telescope featured at the beginning of the movie, collapsed in December of 2020. Several structural cables had failed in the months prior so the telescope had been shut down and was declared too unstable to be repaired; then about a month later there was a cascade of failures and the dish collapsed. You can watch parts of it that were captured by a control tower camera and a drone that was inspecting damage. The drone actually captured the final cables snapping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssHkMWcGat4&ab_channel=NationalScienceFoundation

Murf

Great Reaction to a great Movie !!! Have you seen "Signs" with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phönix ... This is another very good Science Fiction Movie ... "Signs" from 2002

Florian Meier

I thought it was meant to be her younger self coming to the fore in wonderment, in a similar way that her thoughts manifested earlier in a ghost image of her face appearing next to her real face voicing thoughts. Thanks for the info

Aaron Barlow

A great movie. The frustration at the end was the film juxtaposing the persecution and mockery of people that believe in God against what she went through and how Palmer's assertions of scientific proof not having all the answers proved valid and it brought them together in as he termed it, the search for truth. An important character and philosophical evolution that only the frustrating ending could bring about.

Aaron Barlow

I loved your discussion as I remember having the same discussion when I first saw it. As you say, I wish we would all get together as one but sadly we have proven that’s not always the case.

Eric Frazee

I liked your comments about them using Clinton's speech. Reminded me that the White House made a formal complaint to the studio about them doing that. Clinton was the sitting president when this movie came out. Here's a short article about it: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/68241/why-film-contact-annoyed-bill-clinton

Nicotti

I've been waiting for this reaction since I saw the poll go up weeks ago, and it was worth the wait. Contact is one of my favourite films. It was a pleasure watching it with you guys! (By the way, you noticed that Jodie Foster's face looked strange for a moment at the end of her trip. Robert Zemeckis didn't like her reaction on that shot, so he changed her expression digitally months later. Apparently, Jodie Foster was mad when she realised he'd "changed" her performance.)

Future Boy

Hadn't seen this for years, so until now I never realized how unsatisfying the actual trip was. All that build up for a day on the beach with dad.

Mike Adams

Have you seen Gravity? It kind of starts the opposite way, there's this big buildup of sound then it cuts to a shot of Earth from orbit and absolute silence.

Texas Anla'Shok