I've owned this movie on DVD for several months now, viewed all the commentary tracks, special features, and seen the main feature multiple times, but it would seem I have yet to make an official movielog entry for this one. Time to rectify that.

Contact is one of my favorite movies of all time; perhaps even my very favorite. Perhaps it should be referred to as The Best Scifi Movie Ever? ;)

Although I probably don't reference it as much here, and I haven't seen it as many times as, say, The Matrix, when I do get into this movie, it's just a joy. It might even be described as a spiritual experience. You gotta be in a certain mode to really appreciate it, but once you're there, and the disc is rolling.... wow.

I suppose just about any geek could in some way or another see the struggle of Dr. Arroway in their own life. A passionate interest in something the mainstream finds foolish, pointless, and looks down upon. "Little green men." The ever clueless and bizarre behavior by those in top positions of power when confronted with something that falls outside the realm of the familiar. The compulsion government seems to have to shield the ever-fragile populace from anything that might be construed as scary. And of course, the constant tendancy of the masses to cling to blind dogma, even when it comes from a dishonest but charismatic source.

[WARNING: spoiler below]

Of course, the real slam dunk comes at the end, after Ellie's great adventure is shown to be unprovable, and perhaps a total hallucination. Here she has spent the majority of the movie trying to convince Palmer, trying to convince the reporters, trying to convince the committees, trying to convince anybody and everybody who would listen that it's not about faith, subjective experience, or personal revelation. Those are not provable. What is needed is solid evidence. Science.

This makes Foster's emotional (Oscar worthy, IMO) delivery of those lines in the final scenes a hundred times more poingant. In essence, countering everything that she said prior to the experience. (Well, on the surface, at least.)

Bear with me as I quote a few lines. Investigative committee questioning Ellie:

"You come to us with no evidence, no record, no artifacts. Only a story that, to put it mildly, strains credibility. Over half a trillion dollars were spent. Dozens of lives were lost. Are you going to sit there and tell us we should just take this all... on faith?"

[Camera cuts to Palmer Joss for a moment] ...

[snip a few lines, to get to the real kicker]

"I had an experience. I can't prove it. I can't even explain it. But everything that I know as a human being, everything that I am tells me that it was real. I was given something wonderful, something that changed me forever. A vision of the universe that tells us undeniably how tiny and insignificant, and how rare and precious we all are. A vision that tells us that we belong to something that is greater than ourselves, that we are not -- that none of us -- are alone. I wish I could share that. I wish... that everyone, if even for one moment, could feel that awe and humility, and that hope. That continues to be my wish."

Delivered as only Jodie Foster could.

Now I know what every Lounge reader is thinking: Great, so this is what happens when Bitscape gets a DVD player. Now we not only have to put up with lyric after annoying lyric, but lines from movies too? What's next? Transcribing entire scenes? Entire acts? Oh great!

Ok, but this is simply an astounding movie, no matter how you look at it. From a technical level, the cinematography and effects are above and beyond any standard Hollywood release. So many long, lingering shots, which allow the audience to just sit, soak in, and ponder the multitude of both subtle and obvious statements that are being presented. No rush, but certainly no shortage of input.

In fact, I don't think there's a single scene in this movie that I couldn't just fall in love with in both a dramatic, and in a "Wow, can I do that with my computer too someday?" sense.

And the score, oh the score. I think with each viewing, when the end credits roll up, and I can focus my attention more exclusively on the music, I am affected more powerfully by it. Alan Silvestri... certainly a great composer.

So yes, this movie is one of the best in every conceivable aspect. Excellent, excellent, excellent.

[And a bit of history: I believe I saw this one three times when it was out in theaters during the summer of 97. All within the span of a couple weeks, as I recall. It was also the first movie I ever witnessed through the medium of DVD, on a visit to my computer science teacher's house with a gathering of students while at ucollege.edu. I was most impressed with the DVD technology, as you might imagine. And now, here I am, watching it again. Go figure.]