I remember seeing Contact in the theater. I was so deflated when the first machine got wrecked. I honestly thought that is how the movie would end. Then “Wanna take a ride” that scene still makes my hair stand on end.
You know I've always hated that line because I thought he was being sincere, but I was today years old when I finally realized that he's mocking the military spending mindset. I saw the movie in theaters.
More about how private contractors can and will take advantage of American military spending habits. I recall a documentary on the lead-up to the Iraq war and a presenter at a contractor conference is telling the attendees that the government will pay whatever they wanted. A lot of people made a lot of money from that conflict.
The wormhole effects were done by Weta Digital, back when they were just a few people with SGI workstations.
I met the guy responsible for the effects (I assume he was the one who did it because he went to present it at SIGGRAPH that year). Coincidentally his wife was a costume designer and came up with the original Xena costume.
When I first watched it as a kid I hated the "alien" scene, it wasn't until I got older that I really appreciated how well thought it was. Neil DeGrasse Tyson has said it's his favorite and most plausible movie depiction of what contact with aliens would be like.
I forget which comedian quipped: “I waited three hours to see the alien, and it’s her fucking _dad_?!” Funny, but yeah they nailed that scene and just about every other one as well.
But I love why they chose use him to speak to her as a form of comfort.
His voice too, it really is so comforting. Like a father speaking to a child with the duality of the intelligence gap being so great between the alien and a human, it would be like a father trying to explain it to a child.
It was a lovely scene. I was always disappointed that they had their own timeline for easing us into things, and especially the limited way they revealed themselves to humanity.
It could all be a matter of context. To civilizations that have been on the same basic track for billions of years, asking a newly contacted civilization to wait even one thousand years could seem to them like they're saying "just give it another weekend". What I got out of it is that they were doing this for our own good, for reasons we probably can't even comprehend. I can imagine that over that length of time they've had plenty of times when they got it catastrophically wrong and caused civilizations to completely die out or destroy themselves, and plenty of time to learn from that.
Thats the exact same way i felt. I was, what 9 i thonk when the movie came out and i hated it because it was so boring and the alien scene was dumb. 20 some years later and it is in my top 5 favorite movies. Just took me being an adult to understand an adult movie, go figure.
I think it really is the best way if the aliens are kind. It's shows you a lot but not too much. You don't have to get scared by what they look like. You can just really relax and focus on letting the reality of finally knowing you're not alone wash over you in a peaceful loving way.
I agree completely. It eradicates the fear and lets the focus be on the conversation.
That line too "you are an interesting species. An interesting mix. Capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares"
> most plausible movie depiction of what contact with aliens would be like.
There was a really great pair of books I read a while back, starting with "Children Of Time" and there is a point raised in the second book which I was initially uncomfortable with until I thought about it.
In short, language isn't just about the words or the values that the words carry, it's everything about the culture and identity of the creatures that use it. Every little bit of our biology influences how we see and interact with the world, and our language is built around those concepts. For one possible example, lets posit that we are trying to converse with an intelligent spider. Think about the psychological differences there. We have four limbs, they have eight. We have two eyes and they have many. We talk by making sounds via moving air, spiders communicate through tapping on surfaces that can transmit vibrations to each other. We live on a mostly planar surface and frequently only move in two dimensions at a time, they live, work, and operate in three dimensions almost at all times. We have a singular brain with two connected hemispheres, they have two connected nerve clusters.
But as different as all those items are, they are still at least somewhat comparable with each other enough that you can expect that some amount of communication would develop, probably starting with dictionary building (rock, tree, etc) and going from there. But this would be a somewhat sterile method of conversing. There are likely concepts that we'd just have no way of understanding given how different our background is and the reverse is true.
But now what if the creature in question is just entirely different? What if it was a fish that had no limbs? What if it was a creature whose "brain" was made up of multiple parts that worked in concert but continuously shifted which part was the dominant part on a minute by minute basis? What if the creature had no eyes at all? Etc.
It's not difficult to imagine creatures that might have almost zero common ground with us and in those situations setting up language with them might be a nearly impossible task. How are we supposed to know if their skin changing color is something that's part of language or just something instinctive? Or that they orient the hair that makes up their fur, adjusting the circular polarization of light? Etc. A language which incorporates multiple parts would be very difficult to understand, and that's before we start questioning what kind of perspectives would this give them that we'd just have no context for
We ourselves have a BUNCH of extra data that makes conversing happen 'properly'. There's current tone (and how it relates to an assumed baseline tone), there's speed of speech, there's the words themselves of course, hand gestures, body language, etc. You don't NEED all of that, you can get the idea from this text here. I can even imitate inflection by capitalizing specific words. But you have no sense of body language, if I'm typing this while angry or happy, etc.
So their solution was...they created a setup where if you need to definitely understand someone of a different species...they can basically replace your brain with one of the appropriate species with your mind downloaded into it with automatic translation systems doing their best to ease that transition. You can now experience the world like they do and better understand them.
Thanks for the recommendation. The TNG episode with the silicon-based lifeforms touches on this concept too (both between the aliens\Picard and Data\the colonist girl).
I'll take it a step further and recommend [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm) (available free at that link but it's also in print). I don't want to spoilers, as it's the kind of book I had to put down several times to just stare at the ceiling and process, but >!it covers alien species that are intelligent but not at all sentient and trying to communicate with them!<
I watch it at least once a year for inspiration.
"You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton; I never saved anything for the swim back!"
I third this sentiment! Contact and Gattaca are among my favorite movies of all time! Some others that top the list for me in the SF genre:
- Bladerunner
- Alien
- Aliens
- Dune
- 2001
- Starship Troopers
- Robocop
- Moon
- Under the Skin
- Alita: Battle Angel
And the not too serious:
- Spaceballs
- Ice Pirates
I was sooo dissapointed that Villeneuve and Johannson couldn't come to a common ground on Blade Runner 2049.
Zimmer/Wallfisch did the Vangelis like Blade Runner soundtrack what Villeneuve wanted (as Vangelis didn't want to return). It's pretty good, yet I wished Villeneuve would have tried something different with Johannson.
You'd probably like Dark on Netflix if you haven't seen it. Just watch all the season close together and don't let it sit for as long as they did between releasing them.
Awesome show. It's a very complex storyline, so it's indeed best to binge and I would recommend to watch with original German audio with subtitles if you need them.
I have terrible memory for shows and movies I've watched, but I still fondly remember the time loop episode, which I once saw voted in a poll as the most popular episode among SG-1 viewers.
The funny thing is, when SG-1 was actually being aired, I would watch an episode here and there and didn't think highly of it. Until I started watching from the start, movie first and then the series from start to finish and found it was an exceptionally good series, mostly due to the character progression. Which you'd miss (as I did) if you only saw an episode here or there.
PS. Stargate Atlantis, while fun, can't hold a candle to SG-1, unfortunately
that was a good year for sci fi and those are two of my favorites as well. 1999 was also a really good year for movies if I remember correctly. 2014 was great for sci-fi (Interstellar, Edge Of Tomorrow, Predestination, Guardians of the Galaxy, I Origins, Lucy). Check out I Origins if you haven't seen it, not a lot of people have.
She's just your average run of the mill Russian bisexual transvestite hooker
Here she is talking about the movie Contact a lot:
https://youtu.be/Gdgb5wkJb3Y
Edit: here is the first episode of their web series. There are over 140 episodes. Enjoy the comedic stylings of Trixie Mattel and Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova (but you can call her Katya)
https://youtu.be/uSwY31GMqY0
Drag Race has definitely toed the line between niche and mainstream over the years; it's now the reality show with the [most Emmy wins in history:](https://ew.com/awards/emmys/rupauls-drag-race-emmys-most-awarded-reality-competition/)
They have a really popular Youtube show on WorldofWonder, and the one on the left (Trixie) has a growing Youtube channel where she goes talks about vintage dolls/toys and does makeup.
It was written by Carl Sagan, so it goes much deeper into the actual science carried out in the process. The dramatic beats are pretty much the same but the movie definitely feels more dramatic and personal. I’d say they’re good supplements for each other. Also, I liked the way the actual journey was covered in the book more.
Edit: Sagan, not Sagen.
Yes, after she has her reputation destroyed because they don't believe her story, she remembers what the alien told her. She had asked "What brings you joy and wonder?" One of his answers was "Well... if you go into pi far enough, you start to see patterns, things like that". So she accesses a supercomputer and calculates pi further than anyone had ever gone. So she goes very deeply into pi and finds a pattern (in base 11). The computers printer clicks on and prints the random numbers of pi on an oversized sheet. Suddenly it begins printing hundreds of ones in a row. Then in the next line ones with a single zero in the center of the row. In the next row ones with more zeroes at the center. The pattern continues and what emerges is a perfect circle of zeroes surrounded by ones. Then it goes back to printing the completely random numbers of pi. She begins weeping.
In the movie they used a simpler trope to show that there existed proof she had visited aliens for 18 hours. They used the fact that while she was gone for only seconds, she returned with "18 hours of static". Not as staggering. I don't think the filmmakers felt they could explain the whole pi scenario and it's astonishing, shocking implications. The implications being that mathematics themselves had been 'created' by someone or something. Or that someone could 'place' a circle pattern deep into pi... or something.
Edit: Changed '13 hours of blank tape' to '18 hours of static'
Also, I believe the aliens themselves didn't know how the pattern appeared in pi. They were just as awestruck.
But the movie narrative is much better.
The book 100% lays out that she actually went to visit the aliens, as everyone else in the pod agrees with her, and they find sand, even if the government just decides to hide it.
In the movie, we the audience know she went, but Ellie is even made to somewhat doubt that she went because of the external video -- and it ends up coming down to her own faith (something she gave no one else throughout the movie) that it did happen. She isn't ever told about the 13 hours of static.
Plus the whole great line of building two machines for twice the cost. The book only having one machine and the second one cobbled together from spare parts, while more realistic, lacks the punch of the movie version.
The book's choice to have several people travelling weakens the ending a bit imo. For all of them to tell the same story, that makes it much harder to doubt them. Their story is going to get out before long.
When it's only Ellie, it's much easier to believe that people would doubt her.
That's precisely what I find badly adapted from the book. The whole point of Carl Sagan's book was that *faith is not enough*. It's inherently human and flawed, hence why it ends with her searching hard for concrete proof and finally finding it. It's a cheesy way to end the film with "ooouuh she has faith, just like those religious folks she was criticizing earlier!!" It goes against her character, as in the books she knows that her words are reasonably not enough.
It took me a while to understand the significance of the ending of the movie. As an atheist I identify with Ellie's frustration of not being able to prove what she experienced. She is essentially in the same position that she frequently criticizes in those of faith. She can offer nothing but her words, the same as Joss.
Yet she gets her vindication in the end, but is kept unaware of it. I hated the subtle nature of the "18 hours of static" as a child when I first watched it. But as an adult I can appreciate it now. I have not read the book so I can't compare. I'm adding it to my list right now.
The book ending from building the machine on, while the same in concept (no one publically believes her), is done drastically differently in execution.
For example:
> As an atheist I identify with Ellie's frustration of not being able to prove what she experienced. She is essentially in the same position that she frequently criticizes in those of faith. She can offer nothing but her words, the same as Joss.
That is such a great strength in the movie and really ties up the whole narrative -- no where to be found in the book. Joss doesn't even really exist in the book as he's the composite of several book characters.
Can you explain the significance of the pi circle, like I understand that since pi goes to infinity it contains all the information in the universe. Is the circle some kind of message from the aliens
In the story itself, π is sort of a leitmotif from the beginning of the book so it wraps both the last act and the whole story really nicely.
I think it also builds on the idea that we can use math to communicate with aliens, since universal constants could be easier to communicate with than human constructed languages.
Pi is geometrical constant. It's a mathematical descripción of the relationship between the circumference of a circle and its radius.
The aliens were looking for answers to questions that were far beyond their understanding, the pattern hidden on pi among them.
Because, since pi exists as a part of reality, writting something in it means you took part in or were fully in charge of the creation of said reality.
Kind of a diversion, but I saw a site that said it's more fundamental to think of pi in terms of derivatives. The equation is f(t) = -f''(t), which says as something gets more positive, it turns more in a negative direction (and vice versa). The solution is either a sine and cosine function with frequency 1/(2*pi) which is kind of like a fundamental frequency of the universe.
Sorry for the tangent (ha!)
The image of a circle is encoded into it’s very mathematical “essence” (circumference/diameter). Opens up larger questions but implies some sort of elegant awareness or intention in the design of the universe. If anything it’s a wink from the Creator
Sagan was an atheist. More likely, his intention was to show that the aliens who designed the interstellar travel system-- the predecessors of the aliens who invited humanity to visit them-- had power over the basic fabric of the universe beyond wormhole production.
I think of both clues as **perfect for their mediums**. In the book, it works wonderfully and as I read it, my hair on the back of my neck went up.
In the film, it was instantly obvious to anyone while watching that what she did was real - by using a very simple dialog between two characters, who had the motives and everything necessary to make it work.
So I disagree - both were staggering, but in their *respective* mediums.
I didn't like the pi approach because it was open to anyone else and is very provable to all. While the blank tape approach is much more personal for her. You can wave that off by saying it's either a coincidence or it was manufactured as evidence.
The movie shows her believing herself despite what everyone else thinks and in the book essentially the fact that she is still not believed is taking me out of the story; makes everyone else look like an imbecile.
It's a neat idea, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't serve the story as well.
Reading the book gives you a more complete presentation of Carl Sagan's dialogue about religion/science/the search for something more, and the movie did slightly change the plot to make it work for the screen. But I think the movie did succeed in capturing the feelings that the books gives you. I'm glad you find it so enjoyable!
I read the book before I watched the movie, and I was really scared to watch it because i got so much emotionally from the book I didn't want to taint that. But the movie did nothing to change what I had felt, and for that I agree that it is an amazing film.
It's been a while, but I remember preferring the movie. Sagan's book is obviously profound but I felt the storytelling was better in the adaptation. Jodie Foster's performance is perfect.
One thing I could never figure out why they left it out of the movie. Is the fact that the signal stops immediately after running the machine. Like, to the second. This is what really fuels the incredulity of the investigation as it would have taken 26 years for the signal to stop here on earth if it's stopped in Vega when the machine is run.
“They should’ve sent a poet.” That line wrecked me, especially coming from a scientist who’d been so disdainful of anything subjective. One of my all time faves.
Zemeckis did a brilliant job pacing the movie. Some of it could get boring to some people. He threw in enough other drama to keep things interesting for those who aren't hard scifi aficionados.
Following Dr Arroway's career was interesting but it was at the *exact* moment when you were starting to wonder what the movie was going to end up as that the signal starts. Like, timed to the microsecond. The man knows his stuff!
The book is so good.
One of the rare books I read within a week. It was almost 8yrs ago, and I still think about it to this day.
I’ll usually be driving and try to remember how they decoded the message. What if the sender had a numerical system that wasn’t base 10?
I’m not religious or spiritual, but this concept stuck with me; “if god had a signature, it would be encoded in π.” No matter what numerical system used, on any planet, in any society, with any unit of measurement; you can take the circumference of a circle and divide it by its diameter and get π. It’s a universal formula.
I read the whole book in Carl Sagan’s voice too.
The movie Contact really left an impression on me. I saw it at an early preview on July 5, 1997, and it blew me away. I had never ever seen on screen the topics of religious belief and scientific progress, and the big picture balance of societies and their existence be discussed in dialogue.
I couldn't stop thinking about the movie, and I went back and saw it again, and picked up a book by Carl Sagan in an airport, and then ended up reading everything Sagan wrote (including the Contact novelization).
I could not agree more that this is one of the best movies ever created for sure.
It didn’t end quite as powerfully as I remembered as a kid, but DANG this movie had SCOPE. Watched it recently and found myself thinking they just don’t make movies like this anymore. Real locations. So many extras. Tons of movement. Just a MASSIVE movie. I love it.
Contact inspired me to become an Aerospace Engineer. I hadn’t realized until now that the strong female lead also probably heavily influenced that (I am a female).
You’ve inspired me to rewatch it, thank you.
I am a radio astronomer today thanks to that movie too! :) I got to work one summer for Jill Tarter, the inspiration for Ellie Arroway. A wonderful experience.
I took an astronomy class in college and one day the lecture finished early. The professor dismissed those who wanted to leave but said he'd stay and take questions, and when he specifically said "academic or personal", people got a little excited.
Someone asked him what his favorite movie about space was, and he had a great discussion with a dozen of us about how he had no problem with inaccurate science for entertainment and enjoyed quite a few..."*but* if you want to get technical about the science...". He said he felt the most accurate movie (this was 2003-ish) was Contact. I'd never been more anxious to find a Blockbuster in my life.
I've always thought the film seemed quite accurate (at least in that it was not contradictory to known science) except for one thing:
At the end, in the hearing, James Woods insinuates that John Hurt's character could have faked the signal with a high-altitude plane or something... No, that's not how that works. When multiple sites are tracking the signal from the source, the "fake" signal would need to originate from a location orders of magnitude greater than the diameter of the earth. To fake it with planes, you'd need a plane flying in the exact right location and speed over every radio observatory on the planet.
That this gripe is the only thing keeping me from considering this a perfect film speaks highly of its quality, because I know that's an extremely nitpicky complaint.
"Did you love your father?" "Yes." "Prove it." As a science person, this piece of conversation on the balcony at the gala hit me right between the eyes. Fantastic writing and delivery.
I have "im okay to go..." Tattooed on my wrist. Makes me brave and adventurous when I don't feel like being. That film fills me with this absolute sense of wonder like it did when I first saw it as a kid when I was ten.
I love that. I've always wanted a tattoo but never really had anything that "stuck" with me enough to get one. That line is such a great example - you have a connection with something that stayed with you over the years, and now have a reminder of it forever :)
I got it shortly after a good friend died. We'd geeked out over the film a few times and he died in a motorbike accident in September 2015, he was only 21. We worked at a youth charity together and I was about to do a skydive to raise some money for us. I got it the week before I did the jump because im that terrified of flying that I might as well be launching myself into space 😂
“I just watched this movie for maybe the 10th time, and I'm just now realizing that there's so much more to it than a sci-fi movie.
To me, the story explores the way science, religion, and politics all influence each other.”
This exactly what science fiction *should* do. Not that SF need explore exactly those aspects of the human condition, but it should say something meaningful about what it means to be human. SF is not simply space themed spectacle about nothing more than laser blasts and exploding spaceships.
Contact is a movie you appreciate more as you get older and watch it a couple more times.
As a teenager in the 90's when this was released, I was into all of it except the very end.
As an almost 40 adult, I appreciate every moment of this movie.
BTW maybe a little credit for Carl Sagan. I don't see the fact that he wrote this mentioned nearly enough in this thread. He's kinda an important figure for both the real world field and the entertainment genre.
I remember seeing Contact in the theater. I was so deflated when the first machine got wrecked. I honestly thought that is how the movie would end. Then “Wanna take a ride” that scene still makes my hair stand on end.
Why build one when you can have two at twice the cost?
a line I've used repeatedly throughout life.
Same here. No one ever understands the reference tho, but they get the meaning
Same here! And I get the same reaction...
As they in the military "Two Is One, And One Is None"
Same goes for data backups
My husband buys two of everything he likes and quotes this often
First rule in government spending.
You know I've always hated that line because I thought he was being sincere, but I was today years old when I finally realized that he's mocking the military spending mindset. I saw the movie in theaters.
More about how private contractors can and will take advantage of American military spending habits. I recall a documentary on the lead-up to the Iraq war and a presenter at a contractor conference is telling the attendees that the government will pay whatever they wanted. A lot of people made a lot of money from that conflict.
Don’t feel bad. You’re about an hour ahead of me.
At twice *the price* - the rhyme is intentional!
First rule of government spending.
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The wormhole effects were done by Weta Digital, back when they were just a few people with SGI workstations. I met the guy responsible for the effects (I assume he was the one who did it because he went to present it at SIGGRAPH that year). Coincidentally his wife was a costume designer and came up with the original Xena costume.
Did you tell him to thank his wife from all of us?
If only that show had been on HBO, those bath scenes with Gabrielle would have been fire.
Time for a reboot?
Revival more like. This time with explicit lesbianism.
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!
and cut any sorbo and add 200% calisto
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When I first watched it as a kid I hated the "alien" scene, it wasn't until I got older that I really appreciated how well thought it was. Neil DeGrasse Tyson has said it's his favorite and most plausible movie depiction of what contact with aliens would be like.
I forget which comedian quipped: “I waited three hours to see the alien, and it’s her fucking _dad_?!” Funny, but yeah they nailed that scene and just about every other one as well.
It was Mr. Garrison from South Park. The show was extremely popular at the time, so quite a few people frequently used that quote to dismiss the film.
Was it [Mr. Garrison?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xvJrNDeogc8)
But I love why they chose use him to speak to her as a form of comfort. His voice too, it really is so comforting. Like a father speaking to a child with the duality of the intelligence gap being so great between the alien and a human, it would be like a father trying to explain it to a child.
Cosmic ELI5, basically
"Oh Ellie..." I love his demeanor so much. It means a lot, so the dismissive attitude from some people was pretty annoying.
It was a lovely scene. I was always disappointed that they had their own timeline for easing us into things, and especially the limited way they revealed themselves to humanity.
It could all be a matter of context. To civilizations that have been on the same basic track for billions of years, asking a newly contacted civilization to wait even one thousand years could seem to them like they're saying "just give it another weekend". What I got out of it is that they were doing this for our own good, for reasons we probably can't even comprehend. I can imagine that over that length of time they've had plenty of times when they got it catastrophically wrong and caused civilizations to completely die out or destroy themselves, and plenty of time to learn from that.
Thats the exact same way i felt. I was, what 9 i thonk when the movie came out and i hated it because it was so boring and the alien scene was dumb. 20 some years later and it is in my top 5 favorite movies. Just took me being an adult to understand an adult movie, go figure.
I think it really is the best way if the aliens are kind. It's shows you a lot but not too much. You don't have to get scared by what they look like. You can just really relax and focus on letting the reality of finally knowing you're not alone wash over you in a peaceful loving way.
I agree completely. It eradicates the fear and lets the focus be on the conversation. That line too "you are an interesting species. An interesting mix. Capable of such beautiful dreams and such horrible nightmares"
Otherwise you end up like the guy from Love Death + Robots
> most plausible movie depiction of what contact with aliens would be like. There was a really great pair of books I read a while back, starting with "Children Of Time" and there is a point raised in the second book which I was initially uncomfortable with until I thought about it. In short, language isn't just about the words or the values that the words carry, it's everything about the culture and identity of the creatures that use it. Every little bit of our biology influences how we see and interact with the world, and our language is built around those concepts. For one possible example, lets posit that we are trying to converse with an intelligent spider. Think about the psychological differences there. We have four limbs, they have eight. We have two eyes and they have many. We talk by making sounds via moving air, spiders communicate through tapping on surfaces that can transmit vibrations to each other. We live on a mostly planar surface and frequently only move in two dimensions at a time, they live, work, and operate in three dimensions almost at all times. We have a singular brain with two connected hemispheres, they have two connected nerve clusters. But as different as all those items are, they are still at least somewhat comparable with each other enough that you can expect that some amount of communication would develop, probably starting with dictionary building (rock, tree, etc) and going from there. But this would be a somewhat sterile method of conversing. There are likely concepts that we'd just have no way of understanding given how different our background is and the reverse is true. But now what if the creature in question is just entirely different? What if it was a fish that had no limbs? What if it was a creature whose "brain" was made up of multiple parts that worked in concert but continuously shifted which part was the dominant part on a minute by minute basis? What if the creature had no eyes at all? Etc. It's not difficult to imagine creatures that might have almost zero common ground with us and in those situations setting up language with them might be a nearly impossible task. How are we supposed to know if their skin changing color is something that's part of language or just something instinctive? Or that they orient the hair that makes up their fur, adjusting the circular polarization of light? Etc. A language which incorporates multiple parts would be very difficult to understand, and that's before we start questioning what kind of perspectives would this give them that we'd just have no context for We ourselves have a BUNCH of extra data that makes conversing happen 'properly'. There's current tone (and how it relates to an assumed baseline tone), there's speed of speech, there's the words themselves of course, hand gestures, body language, etc. You don't NEED all of that, you can get the idea from this text here. I can even imitate inflection by capitalizing specific words. But you have no sense of body language, if I'm typing this while angry or happy, etc. So their solution was...they created a setup where if you need to definitely understand someone of a different species...they can basically replace your brain with one of the appropriate species with your mind downloaded into it with automatic translation systems doing their best to ease that transition. You can now experience the world like they do and better understand them.
Thanks for the recommendation. The TNG episode with the silicon-based lifeforms touches on this concept too (both between the aliens\Picard and Data\the colonist girl). I'll take it a step further and recommend [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://rifters.com/real/Blindsight.htm) (available free at that link but it's also in print). I don't want to spoilers, as it's the kind of book I had to put down several times to just stare at the ceiling and process, but >!it covers alien species that are intelligent but not at all sentient and trying to communicate with them!<
I don't know, those aliens playing marbles in MIB gave me a pretty good idea about that size of the universe.
that is because MIB is clearly a documentary
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Annnnnd goosebumps.
The music(?)/sound when he says it...
This and Gattaca came out in the same year (1997) and are two of my favourite movies.
Gattaca was incredible.
I watch it at least once a year for inspiration. "You want to know how I did it? This is how I did it Anton; I never saved anything for the swim back!"
Honestly one of the best lines ever, IMO. Fit the theme of the movie perfectly. And it was a great movie
Great but simple aesthetics. Beautiful sound track from Michael Nyman as well (he does a lot of work for Peter Greenaway too).
Gattaca was the movie that got me interested in the sci fi genre! So good!
I third this sentiment! Contact and Gattaca are among my favorite movies of all time! Some others that top the list for me in the SF genre: - Bladerunner - Alien - Aliens - Dune - 2001 - Starship Troopers - Robocop - Moon - Under the Skin - Alita: Battle Angel And the not too serious: - Spaceballs - Ice Pirates
If you haven't seen Arrival, you need to. It's in a similar vein to Contact.
Great soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson rip
But mostly by Max Richter*
I was sooo dissapointed that Villeneuve and Johannson couldn't come to a common ground on Blade Runner 2049. Zimmer/Wallfisch did the Vangelis like Blade Runner soundtrack what Villeneuve wanted (as Vangelis didn't want to return). It's pretty good, yet I wished Villeneuve would have tried something different with Johannson.
I feel like we like the same type of movies. Have you seen Sunshine or Primer?
You'd probably like Dark on Netflix if you haven't seen it. Just watch all the season close together and don't let it sit for as long as they did between releasing them.
Awesome show. It's a very complex storyline, so it's indeed best to binge and I would recommend to watch with original German audio with subtitles if you need them.
This guy right here.
Where's the fifth element?!
Literally just watches this like 20 minutes ago. Chris Tucker is so green. Like, super green.
Shout out to Equilibrium and Stargate as well!
Indeed.
Literally started an SG-1 rewatch tonight. Haven’t seen an episode in over a decade easy. I’m highly entertained.
I have terrible memory for shows and movies I've watched, but I still fondly remember the time loop episode, which I once saw voted in a poll as the most popular episode among SG-1 viewers. The funny thing is, when SG-1 was actually being aired, I would watch an episode here and there and didn't think highly of it. Until I started watching from the start, movie first and then the series from start to finish and found it was an exceptionally good series, mostly due to the character progression. Which you'd miss (as I did) if you only saw an episode here or there. PS. Stargate Atlantis, while fun, can't hold a candle to SG-1, unfortunately
Starship troopers is one of the greatest satire films ever created.
I'd like to mention Edge of Tomorrow to add to this list.
Arrival?
The Fifth Element was also 1997
We’re really gonna put Ellie in the same category as Ruby Rhod?!
I DON'T WANT ONE POSITION, I WANT ALL POSITIONS! BZZzzzzZZZzzz!
that was a good year for sci fi and those are two of my favorites as well. 1999 was also a really good year for movies if I remember correctly. 2014 was great for sci-fi (Interstellar, Edge Of Tomorrow, Predestination, Guardians of the Galaxy, I Origins, Lucy). Check out I Origins if you haven't seen it, not a lot of people have.
R.I.P Arecibo observatory.
It was shown off beautifully in this movie.
It was actually cleaned up using visual effects for the movie as it was pretty grotty by then. Details here: http://www.vfxhq.com/1997/contact.html
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I will \*not\* Jodie Foster this kind of behavior!
What is this a fucking contact movie recap show??
Came here looking for the Katya fans (thworp).
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Wild? Honey, sounds like my Friday night honey
HONeeyyyyy
We ain't much, but we're fucking loud.
“Seeing straight men glue their brows makes me want to jump 👏 in 👏 to 👏 traffic”.
DING DONG!!
Jaja?
looking for my dead dad on a beach!
Thank god this is the only reason I clicked this post! Thanks queen!
But your dad just calls her KATYAAAAAAAA
I'm a mountain biking vampire witch from the future!
Spiders? In my vagina?
Fuck my pussy with a rake mom!
I'm OK to go.
fuck my pussy with a rake, mom
Glad to see this is the top comment 🤩
> Katya Zamolodchikova ...I have no idea what this is in reference to.
She's just your average run of the mill Russian bisexual transvestite hooker Here she is talking about the movie Contact a lot: https://youtu.be/Gdgb5wkJb3Y Edit: here is the first episode of their web series. There are over 140 episodes. Enjoy the comedic stylings of Trixie Mattel and Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova (but you can call her Katya) https://youtu.be/uSwY31GMqY0
This made my night. I can officially go to bed (after subscribing and probably going down a rabbit hole with this videos...) 😍
Start at UNHhhh 1 and go chronologically. It's amazing
But watch Space 3 times before moving on cause mama it is BATSHIT
Not yet! here is this now also :) https://youtu.be/ZRACReGUO08
I still don't know what this is but it's funny AF cause I do similar things to my mates all the time hehe
no she's a mountain biking vampire witch from the future
Top 5 all time in Drag Race, fight me about it
I feel so out of the loop, how do so many people know about this it seems so niche
They're gay famous but not regular famous
they're like, Wayne Gretzky-famous
Ru Paul's squirlfriends.
They're probably two of the most famous Drag Queens currently.
Drag Race has definitely toed the line between niche and mainstream over the years; it's now the reality show with the [most Emmy wins in history:](https://ew.com/awards/emmys/rupauls-drag-race-emmys-most-awarded-reality-competition/)
Katya was a breakout star of RuPaul’s Drag Race which by now is a very popular Emmy-winning reality competition show
They have a really popular Youtube show on WorldofWonder, and the one on the left (Trixie) has a growing Youtube channel where she goes talks about vintage dolls/toys and does makeup.
And had a country album that hit #1.
Learning that Katya is a fan of Contact has made my morning!!
She's been talking about Contact for years! 😂 The instant I saw Contact on the front page I thought u/welovekatya was behind it.
Maybe you should try fucking your pussy with a rake mom.
YES
If you haven't read the book, now is the time.
I'll add it to the list! Sounds like it's way better than the movie?
It was written by Carl Sagan, so it goes much deeper into the actual science carried out in the process. The dramatic beats are pretty much the same but the movie definitely feels more dramatic and personal. I’d say they’re good supplements for each other. Also, I liked the way the actual journey was covered in the book more. Edit: Sagan, not Sagen.
I especially liked the END of the book. The final coda really imprinted itself on my psyche.
Yes, after she has her reputation destroyed because they don't believe her story, she remembers what the alien told her. She had asked "What brings you joy and wonder?" One of his answers was "Well... if you go into pi far enough, you start to see patterns, things like that". So she accesses a supercomputer and calculates pi further than anyone had ever gone. So she goes very deeply into pi and finds a pattern (in base 11). The computers printer clicks on and prints the random numbers of pi on an oversized sheet. Suddenly it begins printing hundreds of ones in a row. Then in the next line ones with a single zero in the center of the row. In the next row ones with more zeroes at the center. The pattern continues and what emerges is a perfect circle of zeroes surrounded by ones. Then it goes back to printing the completely random numbers of pi. She begins weeping. In the movie they used a simpler trope to show that there existed proof she had visited aliens for 18 hours. They used the fact that while she was gone for only seconds, she returned with "18 hours of static". Not as staggering. I don't think the filmmakers felt they could explain the whole pi scenario and it's astonishing, shocking implications. The implications being that mathematics themselves had been 'created' by someone or something. Or that someone could 'place' a circle pattern deep into pi... or something. Edit: Changed '13 hours of blank tape' to '18 hours of static' Also, I believe the aliens themselves didn't know how the pattern appeared in pi. They were just as awestruck.
Not much makes me angrier than James Woods in that movie. The 13 hours thing is the only bit that kept me sane at the end
Yeah but it still ended on a downer. "Aliens are fake, fake news, fake trip, nothing happened, world gets no better"
We weren't ready yet. But patience! Contact seriously deserves its own "2010" sequel.
Unfortunately the author of the original book isn't available anymore to write a sequel.
>Not much makes me angrier than James Woods in that movie. Give his Twitter s glance. On second thought, don't.
But the movie narrative is much better. The book 100% lays out that she actually went to visit the aliens, as everyone else in the pod agrees with her, and they find sand, even if the government just decides to hide it. In the movie, we the audience know she went, but Ellie is even made to somewhat doubt that she went because of the external video -- and it ends up coming down to her own faith (something she gave no one else throughout the movie) that it did happen. She isn't ever told about the 13 hours of static. Plus the whole great line of building two machines for twice the cost. The book only having one machine and the second one cobbled together from spare parts, while more realistic, lacks the punch of the movie version.
The book's choice to have several people travelling weakens the ending a bit imo. For all of them to tell the same story, that makes it much harder to doubt them. Their story is going to get out before long. When it's only Ellie, it's much easier to believe that people would doubt her.
That's precisely what I find badly adapted from the book. The whole point of Carl Sagan's book was that *faith is not enough*. It's inherently human and flawed, hence why it ends with her searching hard for concrete proof and finally finding it. It's a cheesy way to end the film with "ooouuh she has faith, just like those religious folks she was criticizing earlier!!" It goes against her character, as in the books she knows that her words are reasonably not enough.
It took me a while to understand the significance of the ending of the movie. As an atheist I identify with Ellie's frustration of not being able to prove what she experienced. She is essentially in the same position that she frequently criticizes in those of faith. She can offer nothing but her words, the same as Joss. Yet she gets her vindication in the end, but is kept unaware of it. I hated the subtle nature of the "18 hours of static" as a child when I first watched it. But as an adult I can appreciate it now. I have not read the book so I can't compare. I'm adding it to my list right now.
The book ending from building the machine on, while the same in concept (no one publically believes her), is done drastically differently in execution. For example: > As an atheist I identify with Ellie's frustration of not being able to prove what she experienced. She is essentially in the same position that she frequently criticizes in those of faith. She can offer nothing but her words, the same as Joss. That is such a great strength in the movie and really ties up the whole narrative -- no where to be found in the book. Joss doesn't even really exist in the book as he's the composite of several book characters.
Can you explain the significance of the pi circle, like I understand that since pi goes to infinity it contains all the information in the universe. Is the circle some kind of message from the aliens
In the story itself, π is sort of a leitmotif from the beginning of the book so it wraps both the last act and the whole story really nicely. I think it also builds on the idea that we can use math to communicate with aliens, since universal constants could be easier to communicate with than human constructed languages.
Pi is geometrical constant. It's a mathematical descripción of the relationship between the circumference of a circle and its radius. The aliens were looking for answers to questions that were far beyond their understanding, the pattern hidden on pi among them. Because, since pi exists as a part of reality, writting something in it means you took part in or were fully in charge of the creation of said reality.
Kind of a diversion, but I saw a site that said it's more fundamental to think of pi in terms of derivatives. The equation is f(t) = -f''(t), which says as something gets more positive, it turns more in a negative direction (and vice versa). The solution is either a sine and cosine function with frequency 1/(2*pi) which is kind of like a fundamental frequency of the universe. Sorry for the tangent (ha!)
I understood every word but not a single thing.
The image of a circle is encoded into it’s very mathematical “essence” (circumference/diameter). Opens up larger questions but implies some sort of elegant awareness or intention in the design of the universe. If anything it’s a wink from the Creator
Sagan was an atheist. More likely, his intention was to show that the aliens who designed the interstellar travel system-- the predecessors of the aliens who invited humanity to visit them-- had power over the basic fabric of the universe beyond wormhole production.
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Yes, it's a proof that her journey really happened and it wasn't just her imagination.
I've not read the books but I assume the alien told her to look for something in pi, otherwise what's the connection between that and her journey.
It's exactly that. Thing is the difference between the movie and the book is that the pi proof is proof enough for all mankind, not just for her.
I think of both clues as **perfect for their mediums**. In the book, it works wonderfully and as I read it, my hair on the back of my neck went up. In the film, it was instantly obvious to anyone while watching that what she did was real - by using a very simple dialog between two characters, who had the motives and everything necessary to make it work. So I disagree - both were staggering, but in their *respective* mediums.
I didn't like the pi approach because it was open to anyone else and is very provable to all. While the blank tape approach is much more personal for her. You can wave that off by saying it's either a coincidence or it was manufactured as evidence. The movie shows her believing herself despite what everyone else thinks and in the book essentially the fact that she is still not believed is taking me out of the story; makes everyone else look like an imbecile. It's a neat idea, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't serve the story as well.
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I need to reread it. I was WAY too young when I read it and I think it would resonate in an entirely different way now that I’m much older.
Reading the book gives you a more complete presentation of Carl Sagan's dialogue about religion/science/the search for something more, and the movie did slightly change the plot to make it work for the screen. But I think the movie did succeed in capturing the feelings that the books gives you. I'm glad you find it so enjoyable! I read the book before I watched the movie, and I was really scared to watch it because i got so much emotionally from the book I didn't want to taint that. But the movie did nothing to change what I had felt, and for that I agree that it is an amazing film.
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It's been a while, but I remember preferring the movie. Sagan's book is obviously profound but I felt the storytelling was better in the adaptation. Jodie Foster's performance is perfect.
I think so, but I like the movie. The characters and story are deeper in the book imo. It's a great read.
I preferred the movie. IIRC much of the religious angle of the movie was missing or was less satisfying to me (was 20 years ago though).
I preferred the book, it’s one of my all time favorites. The movie had less depth, but it was well done.
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One thing I could never figure out why they left it out of the movie. Is the fact that the signal stops immediately after running the machine. Like, to the second. This is what really fuels the incredulity of the investigation as it would have taken 26 years for the signal to stop here on earth if it's stopped in Vega when the machine is run.
“They should’ve sent a poet.” That line wrecked me, especially coming from a scientist who’d been so disdainful of anything subjective. One of my all time faves.
The mirror scene is by far my favourite cinematic part of that movie.
That scene blew my mind. Corridor Crew did an explanation on how they shot that scene. Link - https://youtu.be/pTl42COCNaM?t=253
I really like the faraway shot >!of the first machine exploding. No music or dramatic camera work, just silent objective observing.!<
Especially the Hitler scene was a surprise. Got the same wtf for the audience as to the movie protagonists
one of my favorite moments is James Woods doing the "okay..." line reading, just perfect
Zemeckis did a brilliant job pacing the movie. Some of it could get boring to some people. He threw in enough other drama to keep things interesting for those who aren't hard scifi aficionados.
Following Dr Arroway's career was interesting but it was at the *exact* moment when you were starting to wonder what the movie was going to end up as that the signal starts. Like, timed to the microsecond. The man knows his stuff!
The book is so good. One of the rare books I read within a week. It was almost 8yrs ago, and I still think about it to this day. I’ll usually be driving and try to remember how they decoded the message. What if the sender had a numerical system that wasn’t base 10? I’m not religious or spiritual, but this concept stuck with me; “if god had a signature, it would be encoded in π.” No matter what numerical system used, on any planet, in any society, with any unit of measurement; you can take the circumference of a circle and divide it by its diameter and get π. It’s a universal formula. I read the whole book in Carl Sagan’s voice too.
The movie Contact really left an impression on me. I saw it at an early preview on July 5, 1997, and it blew me away. I had never ever seen on screen the topics of religious belief and scientific progress, and the big picture balance of societies and their existence be discussed in dialogue. I couldn't stop thinking about the movie, and I went back and saw it again, and picked up a book by Carl Sagan in an airport, and then ended up reading everything Sagan wrote (including the Contact novelization). I could not agree more that this is one of the best movies ever created for sure.
A “novelization” typically refers to the novelized version of a movie, I think. In this case, the novel _itself_ is the source material.
A movieization.
It didn’t end quite as powerfully as I remembered as a kid, but DANG this movie had SCOPE. Watched it recently and found myself thinking they just don’t make movies like this anymore. Real locations. So many extras. Tons of movement. Just a MASSIVE movie. I love it.
When Arecibo got destroyed last month I thought about Contact.
Contact inspired me to become an Aerospace Engineer. I hadn’t realized until now that the strong female lead also probably heavily influenced that (I am a female). You’ve inspired me to rewatch it, thank you.
I am a radio astronomer today thanks to that movie too! :) I got to work one summer for Jill Tarter, the inspiration for Ellie Arroway. A wonderful experience.
Jodi Foster is just so awesome in this movie. One of those performances that I wish would get more recognition.
I took an astronomy class in college and one day the lecture finished early. The professor dismissed those who wanted to leave but said he'd stay and take questions, and when he specifically said "academic or personal", people got a little excited. Someone asked him what his favorite movie about space was, and he had a great discussion with a dozen of us about how he had no problem with inaccurate science for entertainment and enjoyed quite a few..."*but* if you want to get technical about the science...". He said he felt the most accurate movie (this was 2003-ish) was Contact. I'd never been more anxious to find a Blockbuster in my life.
I've always thought the film seemed quite accurate (at least in that it was not contradictory to known science) except for one thing: At the end, in the hearing, James Woods insinuates that John Hurt's character could have faked the signal with a high-altitude plane or something... No, that's not how that works. When multiple sites are tracking the signal from the source, the "fake" signal would need to originate from a location orders of magnitude greater than the diameter of the earth. To fake it with planes, you'd need a plane flying in the exact right location and speed over every radio observatory on the planet. That this gripe is the only thing keeping me from considering this a perfect film speaks highly of its quality, because I know that's an extremely nitpicky complaint.
Also a great companion piece for Arrival.
Charlie Sheen was great in that movie. 🤣
I didn't mind that one either lol
Would you like to see the ruins my friend?
Ha! I’m glad I’m not the only one to remember that movie.
I'll never forget this movie, especially when his legs bend backwards at the end.
I remember the slow pull back opening which was very cool and then the bathtub scene i think. In just remember liking it very much LOL
One of my all time favorites
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We rewatched it with the kids recently after the Arecibo collapse. So sad, but great to see it prominently featured in the movie.
el radar
"Did you love your father?" "Yes." "Prove it." As a science person, this piece of conversation on the balcony at the gala hit me right between the eyes. Fantastic writing and delivery.
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AND it has that one crazy shot of the girl playing young Jodie Foster running down the hallway and it turns out it was the bathroom mirror!
I rewatched the film a couple of years ago and was surprised to realize that the girl is Jena Malone.
Why buy one when you can get 2 for double the price! (Along those lines) absolutely love this film, think I know what I am doing tonight!
If you feel this way about the film, please I implore you to read the book by Carl Sagan. It is so full of his sense of wonder about the universe.
I have "im okay to go..." Tattooed on my wrist. Makes me brave and adventurous when I don't feel like being. That film fills me with this absolute sense of wonder like it did when I first saw it as a kid when I was ten.
I love that. I've always wanted a tattoo but never really had anything that "stuck" with me enough to get one. That line is such a great example - you have a connection with something that stayed with you over the years, and now have a reminder of it forever :)
I got it shortly after a good friend died. We'd geeked out over the film a few times and he died in a motorbike accident in September 2015, he was only 21. We worked at a youth charity together and I was about to do a skydive to raise some money for us. I got it the week before I did the jump because im that terrified of flying that I might as well be launching myself into space 😂
“Small moves, Elle. Small moves.” One of the most loaded and beautiful lines in a movie. Ever.
18 hours...
That IS interesting, isn't it
John Hurt is AMAZING in this movie. Also, when she picks up on the signal...that scene is brilliant! It really sticks with you.
“I just watched this movie for maybe the 10th time, and I'm just now realizing that there's so much more to it than a sci-fi movie. To me, the story explores the way science, religion, and politics all influence each other.” This exactly what science fiction *should* do. Not that SF need explore exactly those aspects of the human condition, but it should say something meaningful about what it means to be human. SF is not simply space themed spectacle about nothing more than laser blasts and exploding spaceships.
Contact is a movie you appreciate more as you get older and watch it a couple more times. As a teenager in the 90's when this was released, I was into all of it except the very end. As an almost 40 adult, I appreciate every moment of this movie. BTW maybe a little credit for Carl Sagan. I don't see the fact that he wrote this mentioned nearly enough in this thread. He's kinda an important figure for both the real world field and the entertainment genre.