virpi32

I mean, look at the cover. You know what you're getting into. It's trash and it's aware of being trash. The acting is horrible, the script is basically non-existent and almost the entire movie was shot in a few days in a dingy studio. But it's still worth watching if you're into really bad movies.

There's one hilariously out of place establishing shot in the first third of the movie. It's CGI, to be precise: It's mid 90s CGI on a very tight budget. It's utterly mind bending, especially when a pixelated car which consists of at least 20 polygons drives through the shot.

I almost died laughing watching this scene for the first time, because it feels both alien and stupid. Then the "plot" continues and the rest of the movie alternates between bad dialogue, terrible action sequences and excessive nudity. Just what you'd expect from a movie with a cover like this.

Still, there's something admirable about this film. I enjoyed it, but also felt violated by the sheer stupidity of this project. I mean, it's about repligators.

Does this movie have issues? Of course it does. There are some erratic jumps, some overly melodramatic moments and some unnecessary narrative elements. But these issues can't harm the movie's essence, its core message. "Contact" is a deeply optimistic film, I'm fairly sure everyone who's interested in astrophysics / astronomy will get a certain feeling watching it. This feeling you got as a child, when you looked up into the stars. Asked questions. Started to search for answers, only to find out that with each answer, a million new questions arise.

Jodie Foster is simply breathtaking in this. She's truly a gifted actress. A young Matthew McConaughey does McConaughey things and you just have to love him for that. The rest of the cast is mostly just there to move the plot from A to B, but the movie is cast well overall.

"Contact" doesn't need fancy effects, it doesn't need a barrage of loud noises to capture the audience. The use of sound effects is exceptional. From radio signals, to static, to nature, every sound has meaning. I love how little music there is, it's only used in the most important moments. And then it hits you like a truck.

I always cry watching this. It's such a wonderful depiction of humanity. Science doesn't work without determination. Faith doesn't work without humility. We all are searching for the truth. And we need each other to find it. That's what this movie is about.

And I love it.