CONTACT
The opening scene of CONTACT is the most awesome (in the sense of "fantastic") several minutes of great special effects as we are hurtled away from Earth at a huge speed. Our planet becomes a globe, getting smaller and smaller as we speed by the other planets of our solar system. Earth becomes a mere dot as we continue the speeding away from our solar system, past the Milky Way and on and on. Simply stunning. That alone is just about worth the price of admission.
CONTACT could not have chosen a better time for its theatrical release. While through the ages people have wondered about the stars and many have begun to wonder if there were possibly some kind of life in some distant solar system, the soft landing of our space probe on Mars must certainly have revived new speculation and interest.
While Carl Sagan, on whose book CONTACT is based, when asked if he believed in some highly-evolved life elsewhere in the infinitely vast universe, replied "The key word in that question is 'believe.' And in my view, you believe only on the basis of compelling evidence." In short, that evidence was never forthcoming to him.
Perhaps more important, however, was how he and his wife, Ann Druyan, felt about how such an event if it ever did happen would affect the inhabitants of our planet. That is what his book is about. What happens to religious belief if it turns out that "there is someone out there" when according to the Bible, God placed Man on Earth; that the stars and sun and moon are there only to give us light. Sagan also wanted us to realize the incredible, just about incomprehensible, vastness of the universe.
What happens to those who see aliens from another planet as potential enemies. In the film, Michael Kitz, (James Woods) is the head of government security, reacting to the news that we are getting a message form outer space as a time for increased security. Never mind that it is pointed out to him that it is more probably that "anyone" capable of contacting us must have a superior intelligence and would be unlikely to be warlike as we stupid Earthlings are.
Ever since Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) was a little child, she was interested in stars and space. Many were the hours she spent listening to her short wave radio hoping to hear something other than static from outer space. While still young, her father died. Ellie continued her studies and went on to become a respected scientist in the field of radio. Pretty nearly the whole scientific community looked upon her obsession as being on the kook side but her persistence got her some time to use the satellite antennas to search the heavens.
Hour after hour, day after day, Ellie listened until one day she heard something odd, something she had never heard before, and it had a pattern. It was coming from a distant star, Vega. Getting her fellow scientists to monitor the sounds, they discover that the noises (sounding like grunts from a Jurassic Park dinosaur) were in fact spaced to coincide with prime numbers. That was proof this was not some strange static. Idiots such as Michael Kitz wanted to know how come the messages were not in English. Ellie had to explain to him that English is not likely to be spoken in other solar systems but mathematics would be a universal language.
Quickly, all the nations begin to ponder the significance while the hucksters get busy with Vega fairs and people come flocking to them as if to a picnic . . . or looking at the antennas as they would when they believe a picture of Jesus is weeping. In short, the world is in a turmoil and so are their leaders. President Clinton gives some reassuring words on TV.
The story has many facets, all of interest. Jodie Foster give her usual wonderful performance. Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey), is a respected religious scholar and high up in the government hierarchy. He and Ellie are in love . . . more or less. S R Hadden (John Hurt), is an eccentric billionaire who takes an interest in Ellie's behalf to help her combat those who would thwart her. For instance, the first trip to VEGA is not given to Ellie who is most deserving, but to some other prominent scientist, David Drumlin (Tom Skerritt). Rachel Constantine (Angela Bassett) is the President's press secretary.
CONTACT is one terrific film. The sets, which include a space ship readied to visit Vega, are perfect. Many are the questions that are raised as various events unfold. These are answered in a most satisfying conclusion. There was one point where I thought there was a cop-out; I could not believe Sagan would have opted for that. However it turned out to be logical, not at all the cop-out I had feared and I sighed with relief. I wanted nothing to spoil this most entertaining, exciting and informative movie that will give you pause to ponder some of the questions it raised.
Directed by Robert Zemeckis who gave us FORREST GUMP.
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Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
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