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Contact | 
 enlarge | Director: Robert Zemeckis
Actors: Jodie Foster, Matthew Mcconaughey, Jena Malone, Geoffrey Blake, William Fichtner
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $4.44
You Save: $10.54 (70%)
New (59) Used (49) Collectible (2) from $3.48
Rating:  427 reviews
Sales Rank: 2634
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Special Edition, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled)
Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
DVD Layers: 2
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 153 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.5
MPN: WARD15041D
ISBN: 0790733226
UPC: 085391504122
EAN: 9780790733227
ASIN: 0790733226
Theatrical Release Date: July 11, 1997
Release Date: December 30, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: ******BRAND NEW****** ** Over 1.5 million orders shipped worldwide and more than 500 000 items in stock, BUY FROM A TRUSTED SOURCE, ESTABLISHED SINCE 1998 - INETVIDEO ~~~
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Product Description
Ellie arroway receives a radio message from the distant star vega from an unknown extraterrestrial source. Contained within the message are blueprints for a machine for intergalactic travel capable of transporting its passenger to deep space. Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/27/2005 Starring: Jodie Foster James Woods Run time: 150 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Robert Zemeckis
Amazon.com essential video
The opening and closing moments of Robert (IForrest Gump/I) Zemeckis's IContact/I astonish viewers with the sort of breathtaking conceptual imagery one hardly ever sees in movies these day--each is an expression of the heroine's lifelong quest (both spiritual and scientific) to explore the meaning of human existence through contact with extraterrestrial life. The movie begins by soaring far out into space, then returns dizzyingly to earth until all the stars in the heavens condense into the sparkle in one little girl's eye. It ends with that same girl as an adult (Jodie Foster)--her search having taken her to places beyond her imagination--turning her gaze inward and seeing the universe in a handful of sand. IContact/I traces the journey between those two visual epiphanies. Based on Carl Sagan's novel, IContact/I is exceptionally thoughtful and provocative for a big-budget Hollywood science fiction picture, with elements that recall everything from I2001/I to IThe Right Stuff/I. Foster's solid performance (and some really incredible alien hardware) keep viewers interested, even when the story skips and meanders, or when the halo around the golden locks of rising-star-of-a-different-kind Matthew McConaughey (as the pure-Hollywood-hokum love interest) reaches Milky Way-level wattage. Ambitious, ambiguous, pretentious, unpredictable--IContact/I is all of these things and more. Much of it remains open to speculation and interpretation, but whatever conclusions one eventually draws, IContact/I deserves recognition as a rare piece of big-budget studio filmmaking on a personal scale. I--Jim Emerson/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 422 more reviews...
 Fantastic Sci-Fi movie!!! October 24, 2008
Marco Aviles Benitez (Quito, Ecuador - SouthAmerica)
Looking back in time modern science fiction had one of its main scientists, writers, philosophers and visionaires in one name: Carl Sagan, the author of the novel in which is based the movie. br / br /The making of the movie gives a very near and sub-realistic intent in the searching of "green littles", all right that maybe means "live in Mars", "Aliens" or just "ET's" but in a very intelligent secuence. Jodie Foster who interprets the scientist Eleanor Arroway and in along the movie is the principal character (since the beggining when she was a child), gives a very strong image to those scientists who believes in science and in themselves. br / br /Another very strong mates in the movie are Matthew McConaughey as Palmer Josh, the religious adviser from the White House and the Arroway's semi-sentimental partner, but more impresive is how all the trama develops in a very realistic secuence and the world's looking for this kind of contact. br / br /But seriously Carl Sagan let think us about a vision who can happen maybe in the future, all the elements are teorically logical and his arguments are facts that could impact forever in the human kingdom history. Too seriuos is the history that Robert Zemekis and crew recluted a lot of existent talents with their own live characters as like in first place the same President of the United States Bill Clinton, Larry King, Jay Leno, Geraldo Rivera, Geraldine Ferraro, Kathleen Kennedy and others who plays their role as the same real life. br / br /But the rest of actors as Tom Skerritt, David Morse, James Woods, Rob Lowe, Angela Bassett (how you remembers me a lot to Mrs. Condoleeza Rice girl!) and John Hurt (impactant character for S.R. Hadden) gives more credibility to this genius and intrigant sci-fi state-of-art movie. br / br /Highly recomended to see this movie again and again, you'll never be bored, you'll be contacted.
 A brilliant treatment of the hypocrisy of religion and establishment. October 21, 2008
Peter F. Ward (San Diego, USA)
Contact is avowed atheist Carl Sagan's glorious swan song, a brilliant treatment of the hypocrisy of religion and establishment. Jodie Foster is characteristically excellent as Dr. Ellie Arroway, the gifted astronomer whose discovery of an alien beacon sets off a frenzy for control of how the discovery should be handled. Dr. Arroway is slapped down at every turn by those who do not appreciate her independent thinking. Her dilemma reflects the logical fallacy at the heart of all religion. When she will not accept on faith the "truths" imposed on her by religious zealots, she is denied the chance to be a part of a mission based on her research. Later, she is ridiculed for asking others to accept what she has seen with her own eyes. Purists among us will quibble over some of the film's science, particularly in an early scene where Dr. Arroway, a brilliant mathemetician, miscalculates the odds of finding advanced civilizations in the universe by orders of magnitude. But the film has many worthy diversions. Matthew McConaughey, as Palmer Joss, is supposedly the good guy among the religious right. He is cunning and calculating, and like most religious fanatics, he is willing to do anything to get his way, especially if it includes a chance to punish nonbelievers. But Rob Lowe is priceless as Richard Rank, a thinly veiled version of Ralph Reed, a bigoted, hateful power monger who wields his flock as a sword to further his political interests. Tom Skerritt's Dr. Drumlin lacks dimension, but is right on as the Machievellian politician exploiting Arroway's discovery. The supporting cast is sterling, including Angela Bassett, Jake Busey and David Morse, as Dr. Arroway's father. But the gem of the supporting cast is John Hurt. He is utterly magnificent as the ominous S. R. Hadden, the Howard Hughes-like scientist who lives on an airplane and funds the research that leads to the discovery of the alien signal. Trivia note: one of Dr. Arroway's colleagues is Dr. Kent Clark, and I can't help but wonder what Sagan implies by that, aside from the obvious. Far better than the typical Sci-Fi fare, Contact is a thoughtful and challenging look into the relationship between science and religion. It isn't hard, from watching the movie, to determine which side of the conflict Sagan came down on.
Awesomw Movie October 21, 2008
Debra K. Barz
This is such a great movie. Jodie Foster is really good in this. It Makes you think
 Foster makes it fatiguing October 19, 2008
Mark Wilsonwood (Grapevine, TX)
For starters, it suffers from a common problem with modern movies: Carefully constructed political correctness. Most of the white males are over-reacting military men, not very bright political consultants, fundamentalist religious figures (some harmless except for being stupid, others terrorists), and scientists willing to take credit that rightly belongs to their female colleagues. Women and minorities, of course, are a different matter. The star is of course a brilliant female scientist. The most level-headed political advisor is a black female. The "flight director" for the machine is a black male. br / br /But putting aside the political correctness, the element that really prevented me from enjoying this movie was Jodie Foster's performance. I guess it's really good acting. Her delivery is intense, passionate, and earnest. Really, really earnest. There are scenes where every muscle in her face is working overtime to express the -- well, earnestness of the character. Whether commanding her troops in the tracking station, dealing with less intelligent people in the multiple committee interrogation scenes, or repeating "Okay to go" over and over and over and over, she is -- really, really earnest. Watching her performance was literally fatiguing. br / br /There was a minor character at the beginning of the movie, an Australian astronomer whom Foster's character contacts to confirm the signal they're tracking is real. He's much cooler and calmer than she is. I found myself thinking the movie would have been much easier to watch if he had been the main character.
 Great story......awful production. September 1, 2008
Timothy Mikolay (Pittsburgh, PA)
One of the outstanding movies of modern times, both good and bad, Contact is a production of the Carl Sagan novel of the same name. br /What makes it one of the most irritating productions of all time (only Twister surpasses it), is Zemeckis' idea that the major players, James Woods, Angela Bassett, and Tom Skerritt all have to act like nannies to properly convey the script. br / br /In one the worst performances of his career, James Woods is downright ridiculous from beginning to end. His obnoxious portrayal of a babbling and blabbering government agent about US national security interests and agendas not in line with his own has no depth and totally lacks personality. One of THE WORST scenes in the movie is when he notices a nazi swastika beginning to appear in the alien video transmission discovered by Dr. Arroway (Jodie Foster). He then motions for AK-47 armed guards to enter the room from which Dr. Arroway had asked them to leave not 5 minutes before. Does Zemeckis really expect us to believe that such stupid nonsense as AK-47-wielding personnel are going to correct, or secure a video transmission of a swastika?? The scene is revoltingly, insultingly stupid. Hollyweird at its worst. br / br /And Angela Bassett was thinking what? A striking actress of incredible talent, Ms. Bassett looks like a fool in this film. She hardly ever communicates her official position with any more clarity and professionalism than that of a kindergarten teacher talking to a bunch of 5 year olds. Sad performance. Again, blame Zemeckis. br / br /Tom Skerritt has some interesting things to say, especially when he acknowledges that Dr. Arroway got a raw deal throughout the discovery process, but it's wasted on his pathetic facial gestures and teenaged competitiveness. Hello? Are you there Zemeckis? br / br /Rob Lowe's performance? If this is the actual personification of America's moral majority, then our present day inability to stop waging war, enacting capital punishment, and refusing stem cell research shouldn't be that difficult to understand. Lowe made his character's credibility look like swiss cheese, full of holes. br / br /The only events that save this movie are the work of Jodie Foster, David Morse (Dr. Arroway's father), and John Hurt (Mr. Haddon) and how the scene with the Vegan (disguised as Arroway's father) transpires. br / br /Morse envelopes the dying father notion with exquisite care, never acting more than he needs to, but making certain that we know how deeply he cares for his daughter and her intellect. (This is something Zemeckis communicates effectively, strangely, because he makes the religious zealots in this movie look like total morons because of their undying contempt for anything scientific). Plus, Morse's reappearance as the "Contact" is to say the least touching. The scene on the beach is astonishing. br / br /John Hurt provides excellent work as an eccentric business mogul who is also a mechanical engineer. (I enjoy this admission because it gives weight to his character). He respects Dr. Arroway and gambles on the notion that her attempts at alien contact may prove fruitful (he grants her money to lease a satellite array in New Mexico), and he certainly makes sure he's there for her when he needs to be. br / br /Jodie Foster is incredible in this film. Her unflagging determination to follow her dream of contact over vast distances is something we get to experience WITH her. She takes us to the heart of her frustration with the government and the pathogen of religious zealotry; she also shares with us the incredible excitement of discovering the newest contact with alien intelligence. I'm guessing Zemeckis either had nothing, or everything to do with Foster's performance. If not, then Foster must have known a great deal about Carl Sagan's passion for science. It suits her very well. br / br /The alien transport that is built to communicate with the Vegans is extremely well done (especially in the scenes with Dr. Arroway) and the story itself is incredible. While I didn't comment on McConaughey's performance or Arroway's colleagues, they do well enough to provide the tension required and help to make this fiction somewhat believable. br / br /Zemeckis had quite an undertaking with this film and while some of the twists he included were needed to breath life into Sagan's novel, the personae in conflict with Dr. Arroway were completely off the mark overacting and at best making the human race at the highest echelons of government and religion look like complete jerks. br / br /If contact with aliens was ever made, it would be interesting to compare what might actually happen to the preposterous suppositions made by this film. A good film with some enjoyable moments but also a bizarre film because of some terrible over acting.
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