Contact (1997)
Actors:
Rob Lowe (actor),
Martin Luther King (actor),
Larry King (actor),
Ming Lo (actor),
Bryant Gumbel (actor),
Jake Busey (actor),
John Hurt (actor),
Adolf Hitler (actor),
Bill Clinton (actor),
Jay Leno (actor),
Neil Armstrong (actor),
William Fichtner (actor),
Robin Gammell (actor),
Marc Macaulay (actor),
Douglas MacArthur (actor),
Plot: Astronomer Dr. Ellie Arroway has long been interested in contact to faraway lands, a love fostered in her childhood by her father, Ted Arroway, who passed away when she was nine years old leaving her then orphaned. Her current work in monitoring for extraterrestrial life is based on that love and is in part an homage to her father. Ever since funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) was pulled on her work, which is referred to some, including her NSF superior David Drumlin, as more science fiction than science, Ellie, with a few of her rogue scientist colleagues, have looked for funding from where ever they could get it to continue their work. When Ellie and her colleagues hear chatter originating from the vicinity of the star Vega, Ellie feels vindicated. But that vindication is short lived when others, including politicians, the military, religious leaders and other scientists such as Drumlin, try to take over her work. When the messages received from space are decoded, the project takes on a whole new dimension, which strengthens for Ellie the quest for the truth. Thrown into the mix are the unknown person who has up until now funded most of Ellie's work and what his motivations are, and Palmer Joss, a renowned author and theologian, who despite their fundamental differences in outlook, is mutually attracted to Ellie, that attraction based in part on intellect and their common goal of wanting to know the truth.
Keywords: airwaves, alien, alien-contact, alien-intelligence, alien-technology, altered-version-of-studio-logo, amateur-radio, astronomer, astronomy, atheist
Genres:
Drama,
Mystery,
Sci-Fi,
Thriller,
Taglines: Get ready to take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history... of history. From the Academy Award-winning director of "Forrest Gump" and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "Contact" take you on a journey to the heart of the universe A message from deep space. Who will be the first to go? A journey to the heart of the universe. If it's just us, it seems like an awful waste of space. Get ready for human's biggest discovery ever!
Quotes:
Dr. Kent Clark: [Kent is blind] Nice to smell you again, Mr. Kitz.::Michael Kitz: You too.::Dr. Kent Clark: [aside] Wouldn't have pegged him as a Polo man.
David Drumlin: I know you must think this is all very unfair. Maybe that's an understatement. What you don't know is I agree. I wish the world was a place where fair was the bottom line, where the kind of idealism you showed at the hearing was rewarded, not taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we don't live in that world.::Ellie Arroway: Funny, I've always believed that the world is what we make of it.
Ellie Arroway: Occam's razor. You ever heard of it?::Palmer Joss: Hack-em's Razor. Sounds like some slasher movie.
Executive: We must confess that your proposal seems less like science and more like science fiction.::Ellie Arroway: Science fiction. Well you're right, it's crazy. In fact, it's even worse than that, nuts. [angrily slams down her briefcase and marches up to the desk] You wanna hear something really nutty? I heard of a couple guys who wanna build something called an "airplane," you know you get people to go in, and fly around like birds, it's ridiculous, right? And what about breaking the sound barrier, or rockets to the moon, or atomic energy, or a mission to Mars? Science fiction, right? Look, all I'm asking, is for you to just have the tiniest bit of vision. You know, to just sit back for one minute and look at the big picture. To take a chance on something that just might end up being the most profoundly impactful moment for humanity, for the history... of history.
Ellie Arroway: I'm okay to go! I'm okay to go! I'm okay to go...
Young Ellie: [after the funeral] CQ, this is W9GFO, do you copy? [sniff] Dad, this is Ellie, come back?... This is Eleanor Arroway, transmitting on 14.2 megahertz. [pleading] Dad, are you there? Come back? Dad, are you there? Dad, this is Ellie...
Michael Kitz: Your having sent this announcement all over the world may well constitute a breach of national security.::Ellie Arroway: This isn't a person-to-person call. You can't possibly think that a civilization sending this kind of message would intend it just for Americans.::Michael Kitz: I'm saying you might have consulted us; obviously, the contents of this message could be extremely sensitive.::Ellie Arroway: You want to classify prime numbers now?
Palmer Joss: What are you studying up there?::Ellie Arroway: Oh, the usual. Nebulae, quasars, pulsars, stuff like that. What are you writing?::Palmer Joss: The usual. Nouns, adverbs, adjective here and there.
Palmer Joss: [Ellie challenges Palmer to prove the existence of God] Did you love your father?::Ellie Arroway: What?::Palmer Joss: Your dad. Did you love him?::Ellie Arroway: Yes, very much.::Palmer Joss: Prove it.
Young Ellie: Dad, do you think there's people on other planets?::Ted Arroway: I don't know, Sparks. But I guess I'd say if it is just us... seems like an awful waste of space.