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Contact

Contact Promotional Movie Poster
Directed byRobert Zemeckis
Produced bySteve Starkey
Robert Zemeckis
Written byJames V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg (screenplay)
Carl Sagan (novel and story)
Ann Druyan (story)
StarringJodie Foster
Matthew McConaughey
James Woods
John Hurt
Tom Skerritt
and
Angela Bassett
Music byAlan Silvestri
CinematographyDon Burgess
Editing byArthur Schmidt
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date(s)July 11, 1997 U. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, James V "Jim" Hart (born 1960 in Fort Worth Texas) is a screenwriter and author Michael Goldenberg (born 1965 is an American Playwright and more recently a Hollywood Screenwriter and director. Carl Edward Sagan ( November 9 1934 &ndash December 20 1996) was an American Astronomer, astrochemist, author Ann Druyan (born June 13, 1949) is an American Author and media producer known for her involvement in many projects aiming to popularize and Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19 1962 is a two-time Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe -award winning American Matthew David McConaughey (məˈkɑnəˌheɪ born November 4 1969 is an American Actor. James Howard Woods (born April 18 1947) is a two-time Academy Award -nominated Emmy Award -winning and Golden Globe -winning American John Vincent Hurt, CBE (born 22 January 1940 is an English Actor. Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an Emmy Award -winning American Actor who has appeared in over 40 films Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16 1958 is an Emmy - and Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning African- American Actress Alan Silvestri (born March 26, 1950, New York City) is an acclaimed American Academy Award nominated Film score Composer Arthur Schmidt (born 1959 is an American film editor who has won the Academy Award for Film Editing twice (for Forrest Gump (1994 and for Who Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Events 911 - Signing of the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple and Rollo of Normandy. The year 1997 in film involved some significant events Events Summer - Production begins on Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace S. release
Running time153 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$90,000,000[1]
Gross revenue$171,000,000[2]
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Contact is a 1997 science fiction film adapted from the novel by Carl Sagan. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The year 1997 in film involved some significant events Events Summer - Production begins on Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace Contact is a Science fiction Novel written by Carl Sagan and published in 1985. Carl Edward Sagan ( November 9 1934 &ndash December 20 1996) was an American Astronomer, astrochemist, author Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19 1962 is a two-time Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe -award winning American Eleanor Ann Arroway, Matthew McConaughey as Palmer Joss, James Woods as National Security Advisor Michael Kitz, and Tom Skerritt as Dr. Matthew David McConaughey (məˈkɑnəˌheɪ born November 4 1969 is an American Actor. James Howard Woods (born April 18 1947) is a two-time Academy Award -nominated Emmy Award -winning and Golden Globe -winning American Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an Emmy Award -winning American Actor who has appeared in over 40 films David Drumlin.

The story follows the relentless efforts of the film's main protagonist, Dr. Eleanor Arroway, or "Ellie," to advance research with the SETI project and search for evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligence by listening for contact via radio astronomy, something which she feels would be the greatest possible human achievement "for the history of history". Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ( SETI) is the collective name for a number of activities to detect intelligent Extraterrestrial life. Radio astronomy is a subfield of Astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The film explores what might happen if such contact indeed were made, and the enormous difficulties the human race might encounter in coming to understand that contact, with significant internal conflict occurring in differences over culture, religion, politics, and human perception as the story plays out. Sagan also explores what kind of message a much older alien civilization might hold for humanity in its fledging steps to join an interstellar community of sentient beings.

Contents

Plot

The film opens with a montage shot of Earth in space, with a loud background noise made up of radio and television signals from recent years. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 As the camera tracks backwards at impossible speed the transmissions become older, until the camera loses sight of Earth, the Solar system, and the Milky Way in a vast, silent universe. The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias sometimes referred to simply

The main protagonist, Ellie Arroway, is introduced as a child, fascinated by amateur radio. Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a Hobby and a service in which participants called "hams" use various types of Radio communications After Ellie asks her father whether humans can talk to other planets, and whether there are other civilizations, the scene changes to Arroway in her late 20s, a brilliant scientist and researcher working on the SETI program. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ( SETI) is the collective name for a number of activities to detect intelligent Extraterrestrial life. While working at Arecibo, she meets Palmer Joss, a Christian theology student researching a book on science's impact on the Third World. The Arecibo Observatory is a very sensitive Radio telescope located approximately south-southwest from the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective Third World is a name given to nations that are generally considered to be underdeveloped economically Despite her commitment to the SETI project, Arroway is ridiculed by her former teacher, Dr. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ( SETI) is the collective name for a number of activities to detect intelligent Extraterrestrial life. David Drumlin, who shuts down the project.

Ellie spends the next thirteen months trying to find a new source of funding for her research and succeeds in obtaining a large grant from the reclusive billionaire industrialist S. R. Hadden (John Hurt). John Vincent Hurt, CBE (born 22 January 1940 is an English Actor. Leasing time from the Very Large Array of radio telescopes in New Mexico, Ellie and her colleagues spend the next four years combing the skies until she detects a powerful signal of extraterrestrial origin coming from the star Vega composed of prime numbers, something which could not have happened randomly in nature. The Very Large Array ( VLA) is a Radio astronomy Observatory located on the Plains of San Augustin, between the towns of Magdalena New Mexico ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States of America. Vega (α Lyr / α Lyrae / Alpha Lyrae ( or) is the brightest Star in the Constellation Lyra, the fifth brightest star in the night

Arroway sees the Hitler footage from Vega.
Arroway sees the Hitler footage from Vega.

Government and military officials descend on Ellie's project, intent on taking control of it and displeased with the open announcement of the discovery. During arguments, one of Ellie's team members finds a complex interlaced data structure woven into the sequence of prime numbers. They discover that a sideband of additional data is interlaced with a television image, with video footage of Adolf Hitler making his opening speech at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; apparently an extraterrestrial intelligence had received this early human broadcast and transmitted it back to earth. In Radio communications a sideband is a band of Frequencies higher than or lower than the Carrier frequency, containing power as a result of For the method of incrementally displaying Raster graphics, see Interlace (bitmaps. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, an International Multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany.

The team also discovers that what was thought to be background noise amongst the frames of the Hitler footage is actually tens of thousands of pages of data written in an alien language. For some time the team is stumped by the language, but Hadden supplies Ellie with a way to decipher the data, interpreting it as a three-dimensional blueprint for some sort of mechanical device. A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a Technical drawing, documenting an Architecture or an Engineering design Later, Ellie travels to a White House Cabinet meeting to discuss theories on what the machine does, and whether or not it should be built. A cabinet is a body of high-ranking members of Government, typically representing the executive branch. Ellie believes the machine is a communication or transport device which might take a person to Vega, while several officials worry that the machine is an alien weapon or Trojan Horse. The Trojan Horse was part of the Trojan War, as told in Virgil 's Latin Epic poem The Aeneid. Ellie finds support from Palmer Joss, who has become the personal religious adviser to President Clinton, who decides to authorize the building of the machine.

Construction begins at Cape Canaveral on "The Machine," supported financially by an international lobby. Cape Canaveral from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County Florida, United States, near the center of that A committee of scientists, philosophers, theologians, and politicians is formed to select a candidate for the journey. A scientist, in the broadest sense refers to any person that engages in a systematic activity to acquire Knowledge or an individual that engages in such practices Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective A politician (from Greek " Polis " is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of Politics or a person Dr. Drumlin and Dr. Arroway become the main American contestants for the "machine seat. " During questioning, Ellie is forced by Palmer to reveal her atheism, and as a result, Drumlin is eventually chosen to make the journey. Atheism However, during the day of the Machine's first test, a religious cult leader infiltrates the site and commits a suicide bombing, killing dozens including Drumlin and completely destroying The Machine. This article is about suicide attacks for political and/or military reasons

Later, S. R. Hadden again surprises Ellie by revealing to her the existence of a second Machine, secretly ordered and built by his corporation in Hokkaidō, Japan, and tells her that the International Machine Consortium still wants her to go on the journey. WikipediaWikiProject Japanese prefectures for guidelines --> formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan 's For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Ellie travels to Hokkaidō, where Palmer meets her and reveals that his acts at the committee hearing were influenced not entirely by his beliefs but also by his personal fear of losing her. Ellie enters the Machine and it is activated, creating a massive energy vortex in the core of the machine through which Ellie's transport pod passes. Inside, Ellie travels at immense speed through a series of wormholes, eventually losing consciousness. In Physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of Spacetime that is fundamentally a 'shortcut' through Space and Time She awakens on a beach that resembles childhood drawings she had made of the beach at Pensacola. Pensacola Beach is an Unincorporated community located on Santa Rosa Island, a Barrier island, in Escambia County, Florida, An entity approaches her which slowly takes the form of her deceased father. Ellie realizes the experience is not real, and that the aliens have created the environment after downloading her thoughts and memories. She talks briefly with the alien, who explains there are many more civilizations in space. Ellie wants to take proof back with her to earth, but is told this is the way it has been for billions of years. When the alien senses Ellie's desperation, he comforts her, adding that in the immensity of space, "the only thing we've found that makes the emptiness bearable, is each other. "

Ellie wakes up inside the transport pod and is told that the pod had simply dropped through the Machine without going anywhere. Opinion divides over whether she had actually made the journey or hallucinated it, and an enormous political firestorm erupts. Later, at a congressional hearing led by Michael Kitz, Arroway admits that she has no evidence but asserts that the journey really took place. Ironically she asks them to take on faith the event happened. The congressional panel appears unmoved, going so far as to suggest that the transmission was nothing but an elaborate hoax concocted by Hadden, who has since passed away from cancer. Ellie leaves the hearing with Palmer, and is amazed to find a crowd of 'believers' gathered in front of the building. Later, in private, Kitz and the White House chief of staff discuss the interesting fact that Arroway's video headset, which she had worn during her journey, contained blank static, but had recorded approximately 18 hours of static, the same amount of time Arroway claimed she was gone. Though the information is suppressed, Kitz is pressured by the chief of staff and agrees to continue to fund Ellie's SETI work. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence ( SETI) is the collective name for a number of activities to detect intelligent Extraterrestrial life. Ellie returns to the radio-telescope array back in New Mexico, and is seen motivating young children on a school trip, in order to keep on believing that everything is possible and that there is a high chance that, there are worlds "out there".

Cast

Production

Development

Sagan had intended Eleanor Arroway's story to be a movie even before he published the novel of Contact in 1985; the book had its origins in a 60-page film treatment Sagan wrote with his wife, Ann Druyan, from 1980-81. Matthew David McConaughey (məˈkɑnəˌheɪ born November 4 1969 is an American Actor. Thomas Roy "Tom" Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an Emmy Award -winning American Actor who has appeared in over 40 films Maximilian Carlo "Max" Martini (born December 11, 1969) is an American film theater and television actor known for his roles as Corporal Fred Henderson Larry King (born November 19, 1933) is an American television/radio host Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16 1958 is an Emmy - and Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning African- American Actress James Howard Woods (born April 18 1947) is a two-time Academy Award -nominated Emmy Award -winning and Golden Globe -winning American Contact is a Science fiction Novel written by Carl Sagan and published in 1985. Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) A film treatment (or treatment for short is a piece of prose typically the step between scene cards ( Index cards and the first draft of a Screenplay for Ann Druyan (born June 13, 1949) is an American Author and media producer known for her involvement in many projects aiming to popularize and Year 1980 ( MCMLXXX) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar) Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 [3] Though the author had been interested in the movies since the 1960s, when he advised Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke during the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, and he had talked with Francis Ford Coppola about "the possibility of making a film about alien contact,"[4] the movie version of Contact would languish in various stages of pre-production for more than a decade before finally getting made. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (16 December 1917–19 March 2008 was a British Science fiction Author, Inventor, and 2001 A Space Odyssey is a 1968 Science fiction film directed by Stanley Kubrick, written by Kubrick and Arthur C Francis Ford "Frank" Coppola (born April 7, 1939) is a five-time Academy Award -winning American Film director,

Sagan, Druyan, and film producer Lynda Obst spent hundreds of hours discussing how Contact could be adapted for the screen, in conversations that were tape-recorded and to which Sagan biographer Keay Davidson later received access. Lynda Rosen Obst (born April 14, 1950, New York) is a feature film producer Davidson wrote, "These transcripts make enthralling reading [and] show how seriously these bright, enthusiastic, middle-aged children of postwar America and the 1960s wanted to make a movie that would intellectually entice viewers. "[4] Along with conducting scientist think tanks and talking to female scientists about sexism in the field, the discussions included how scientifically complex the final film could be. A think tank (also called a policy institute) is an organization institute corporation or group that conducts Research and engages in advocacy in areas such Scientific accuracy was crucial in Sagan's mind; Druyan later said that, whenever they were watching a movie together and the filmmakers made a scientific error, Sagan would sarcastically ask, "Couldn't they afford to hire a graduate student?"[4]

After years in limbo (Obst lost control of the project in the early 1980s, and she didn't begin working on it again until she was hired at Warner Bros., who owned the rights), the project was greenlit in 1993, with George Miller attached to direct. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) Dr George (Miliotis Miller (born 3 March 1945 is an Academy-Award winning Australian Film and Television Screenwriter, director [1] Jodie Foster signed on to play Ellie after reading the screenplay's second draft, and Ralph Fiennes was approached for the role of Palmer Joss. Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster (born November 19 1962 is a two-time Academy Award, BAFTA, and Golden Globe -award winning American Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( "rafe fines" born 22 December 1962) is a British Actor. [1]

Warner Bros. had hoped to release the film by Christmas 1996, but after Miller asked several times to push back production, the studio fired him. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) [1] Druyan later told Entertainment Weekly that "Warner Bros. Entertainment Weekly (sometimes abbreviated as EW) is a Magazine published by Time Inc finally came to the conclusion that George would make a great movie, but [that] it wouldn't be ready until after the millennium. " Robert Zemeckis (who had been offered the project before Miller) took the project over, making a series of quick decisions: he changed the ending, kept Foster, and cast Matthew McConaughey as Joss. Robert Lee "Bob" Zemeckis (born May 14, 1952) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe -winning American Film director, Matthew David McConaughey (məˈkɑnəˌheɪ born November 4 1969 is an American Actor. Carl Sagan died during the film's production, just seven months before its release. Carl Edward Sagan ( November 9 1934 &ndash December 20 1996) was an American Astronomer, astrochemist, author

Adaptation

Carl Sagan, author of Contact
Carl Sagan, author of Contact

Although the film remained relatively true to the plot of the original novel, it differed from the original book in several notable respects. In the novel, for example, five scientists undertake the journey in the "machine," whereas in the film Ellie takes the journey alone. In the novel there is a female President in office, but the film uses footage of then-President Bill Clinton. William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States Much of the characterization and dialogue of the President in the novel (including, with a few small changes, the memorable line "Twenty million people died defeating that son of a bitch, and he's our first ambassador to outer space?") was transferred to the Presidential advisor played by Angela Bassett. Angela Evelyn Bassett (born August 16 1958 is an Emmy - and Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning African- American Actress Due to the movie being made after the fall of the Soviet Union, the novel's subplot of a Cold War-era world united by the message (and the character of a Russian scientist with whom Ellie has a turbulent friendship) was dropped. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the

Also, in the novel, the destruction of the first Machine is due to sabotage, while in the the film this is dramatized to be a suicide bombing by a religious cult leader identified as "Joseph. " This character may be based on a fundamentalist religious leader from the novel, Billy Jo Rankin, who vigorously opposed the construction of the Machine on theological grounds.

In the novel, Ellie has a sporadic romance with Presidential science advisor Ken van der Heer. The filmmakers left der Heer out entirely and "seriously discussed characters as varied as David Drumlin and the Russian scientist who collected dirty playing cards" as Ellie's love interest before settling on Palmer Joss, played in the film by Matthew McConaughey. Matthew David McConaughey (məˈkɑnəˌheɪ born November 4 1969 is an American Actor. The end of the novel does hint at the possibility of a relationship between Ellie and Palmer for the future. Ellie's character remains the lead, in a role reversal that inspired Foster to quip, of McConaughey, "He's got the girl's part. "[1] In the novel, Joss plays a much smaller role, though he does send Ellie a talisman shortly before she goes on board the machine (a pendulum in the novel and a compass in the movie). McConaughey, who is religious, refused to deliver his character's line "My God was too small," telling Druyan that it was sacrilegious. [4]

Obst has said that the studio sent her notes warning her against "nerdifying" Ellie and, eventually, the novel's coda (in which Ellie discovers a hidden message deep within the digits of pi) was dropped, partly because executives thought that "pi would be too difficult a concept to explain to a mass audience. IMPORTANT NOTICE Please note that Wikipedia is not a database to store the millions of digits of π please refrain from adding those to Wikipedia as it could cause technical problems "[4] Ideas that were discussed (and rejected) as possible replacement endings included a spectacular finale in which a light show in the sky is created by the extraterrestrials to prove their existence, and an ending in which Ellie (who, as the machine is taking off in the novel, thinks to herself she wishes she had had a baby) gives birth to a child.

The Machine

The Machine itself underwent a radical redesign from its novel counterpart:

The film's (second) Machine in operation at Hokkaidō.
The film's (second) Machine in operation at Hokkaidō.

Since construction of the novel's Machine takes so long, and requires new technologies and materials to be developed, world industries are revolutionized during this time, including the formation of several Earth-orbit space stations which contain thousands of individuals each. In contrast, the construction timeframe is much narrower in the film and there is no mention of the benefits of using alien technology in other applications.

Things that are consistent between the novel and film Machine designs-

Effects

The special effects of Contact were produced by both Sony Pictures Imageworks as well as Peter Jackson's Weta Digital. Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc is an Academy Award -winning State-of-the-art Visual effects and Character animation company Peter Robert Jackson, CNZM (born 31 October 1961 is a three-time Academy Award -winning New Zealand director producer and writer best known for directing Weta Digital' is a Digital Visual effects company based in Wellington New Zealand. Typical of Zemeckis' work, the effects work was intensive, in what was a first for Foster. She later said, when asked about working in front of a bluescreen, "It was a blue room. Chroma Key is the name under which ex- Dream Theater Keyboardist Kevin Moore records Blue walls, blue roof. It was just blue, blue, blue. And I was rotated on a lazy Susan with the camera moving on a computerized arm. A Lazy Susan is a rotating tray placed on top of a table to aid in moving food on a large table or counter tops It was really tough. "[1] The elaborate effects were well-received upon Contact's release, garnering nominations for several awards, including a Saturn Award and Annie Award, and winning the 1998 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. The Saturn Award is an award presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction Fantasy & Horror Films to honor the top works in Science fiction, Fantasy Year 1998 ( MCMXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar) The Hugo Awards are given annually by members of the World Science Fiction Convention for the best science fiction or fantasy works The film also received a nomination in the Academy Awards for Best Sound. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film. The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Award that recognizes the finest or most euphonic Sound mixing or recording Among the film's more notable effects scenes:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Cover story: Making Contact. Benjamin Svetkey, Entertainment Weekly (1997-07-18). Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar Events 390 BC - Roman - Gaulish Wars Battle of the Allia - a Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, Retrieved on 2007-02-06. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 46 BC - Julius Caesar defeats the combined army of Pompeian followers and Numidians under Metellus Scipio
  2. ^ Contact (1997). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 2007-09-24. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina.
  3. ^ Sagan, Carl. Contact: A Novel. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. p. 432.
  4. ^ a b c d e Davidson, Keay. Carl Sagan: A Life. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1999.
  5. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20031105101908/
  6. ^ http://www.parascope.com/articles/slips/fs_184.htm

External links

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