Comments about the movie Contact -- 2000

Your Comments:

andrew <aceshock@reliable-net.net>
Wednesday, October 25, 2000 at 11:51:50 (PDT)

the movie was the best movie and suspensefull. but what was that sound made of, how did they make it???????????

Ellie C. <lemoi@blackglass.org>
Thursday, September 21, 2000 at 22:34:47 (PDT)

Joe, you silly.

Let me make a quote: "This was just one step. In time you'll take another"

The point is, Earth wasn't entirely ready for Ellie's discovery to be understood. But you'll notice that the gov't DID give her a grant and that what looked like near a million people were outside the court-house cheering for her...they believed.

Furthermore, the movie is a look at faith...what is faith? how does it manifest? where are its hypocrisies? (95% of the world believes in some kind of God, but will they believe in aliens or in ellie?) how does it work? what tests it?

The best part, I thought, about contact was how it *was* left a little open-ended. we don't know what happened later...we are left even with the small sense that what happened might not have been real...but we take it on faith...we believe Ellie because we have followed her own search for faith...for something that explains why we're here...something worth a human life.

I end with another quote:
"As a person of faith, I am bound by a different covenant than Doctor Arroway, but our goal is one and the same: the pursuit of truth. I, for one, believe her."

--Ellie C.

Admiral
Thursday, August 10, 2000 at 02:16:29 (PDT)

One's personal pursuit of truth can be an extrememly lonely journey. However, the character of Palmer states that this pursuit is perhaps our one common denominator. I found this observation to be somewhat comforting. Every character in the movie finds him/herself locked in their own personal battle to discover truth. Among the many moral, religious, and scientific questions that this movie raises, I took away something else from it. I discovered that I am not alone in my struggles - that there could be an entire universe out there attempting to piece together some kind of order in their lives out of this chaos. Is it a futile quest? Who knows... But the question is what drives us, and what continues to drive us... Look at where it has brought us as a civilization, and look at where it continues to lead us.

Al <contact@turning-pages.com>
Monday, July 24, 2000 at 13:58:05 (PDT)

Obviously, not everyone can appreciate excellent writing. "Nothing was accomplished"? Kitz didn't want to openly admit to anything because of his political aspirations, but Ellie did get very generous funding to build a bunch more telescopes. At some level, the government did recognize that something was accomplished. Contact was made. It was worth pursuing.

Joe <Joest28@aol.com>
Monday, July 24, 2000 at 12:41:15 (PDT)

Guys, I'd have to say Contact was a poorly written movie. One of the most outrageous things is that nothing was accomplished in the movie. I think it could have been better, that's all.

Steven <srb@icx.net>
Thursday, July 13, 2000 at 18:43:52 (PDT)

I just bought the movie, and have ordered the soundtrack.
The ideas presented does make one think about ourselves and
where we fit in the grand fabric of existence. For anyone
who hasn't read the book, try it.

Olivia <okh2a@frank.mtsu.edu>
Tuesday, July 04, 2000 at 10:56:40 (PDT)

I personally think that this movie is phenomenal. It approaches the subject of God like no other movie I have ever seen. I
especially like the way it leaves one to form his own conclusion. This is the most thought-provoking movie I have seen as well.
It puts to shame all the excess, gore, and overdone effects in most movies about extra-terrestrials.
Not to mention, Jodie Foster is a great actress and Matthew McConaughey is a beautiful man ;)
Great casting, Great effects, Excellent movie!! Thanks, Carl!

Brian <Watson@bwwonline.com>
Monday, June 19, 2000 at 01:44:32 (PDT)

This is a very good site. I have looked at a few others but this one was the most informative. Thanks! Also, it was a great movie and Carl was a great man. Who will fill his shoes? BW

Arnold Farran <present@artnet.net>
Wednesday, May 17, 2000 at 04:09:26 (PDT)

Can anyone give me any information on what was referred to as "Ahmed's Postules" in the discussion near the end. Also, where I might find more info.
e-mail please "present@artnet.net"
thanks

Al <contact@turning-pages.com>
Tuesday, March 21, 2000 at 18:56:06 (PST)

"4.4623 Gigahertz. Hydrogen times Pi."

Steve Nell <steve_nell@hotmail.com>
Sunday, March 19, 2000 at 15:41:54 (PST)

Anybody recall what frequency she found the signal at? Something like 4.63 Gigahertz "blah blah blah times pi"

Cliff <kiosk107@geocities.com>
Friday, March 17, 2000 at 16:24:16 (PST)

Here's an interesting one for discussion:

During the second machine scene enough power is generated at the core to cause light effects and the electromagnetic effects that Ellie sees. My question is this:

Is the light caused by a disturbance of colliding atoms in what we can only believe to be a controlled black hole?

Naturally we know that a black hole has intense electromagnetic properties and we also know that it would take an infantessimal (spelling probably wrong) amount of electromagnetic energy to stabilize and therefore hold one open so that the theoretical wormhole inside would be accessible. That's my basic assumption on what is going on during the scene. Let me know what you all think.

Al <contact@turning-pages.com>
Thursday, March 09, 2000 at 21:51:27 (PST)

Hey, coup...

                          "SPACEMAN"
             Written and performed by Harry Nilsson
     Courtesy of the RCA Records Label of GMB Entertainment

Also, check out http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Alley/5201/Dupes/Spaceman2.txt

steve wright
Thursday, March 09, 2000 at 06:36:04 (PST)

"Close Encounters", "2001", "Contact. All made and drawn from disparate sources, all numbingly inspiring. I hope when the time comes we have someone as suited for the task as Ellie Arroway. Bless the makers of "Contact", Carl Sagan and Jodie Foster.

coupdeville <dcooper@monmouth.com>
Sunday, March 05, 2000 at 18:32:26 (PST)

I'm trying to find out the name of the band that had a tune playing during the scene where ellie was returning to the dish array and there was a huge mob of people. The lyrics are as follows: "I want to be a space man, thats what I wanted to be". I remember this from when I was a kid I would like to remember who it was.

Thanks

Trinity <akbadboyz@worlldnet.att.net>
Monday, February 07, 2000 at 21:29:42 (PST)

Well have you all seeen matrix.Iown them bolth dvd GREATT MOVIES,but about life in the other world im open,waste of space...cyber network????TThy say when you die, You get all the answers.... So think about it! Enjoy now see you tomarrow.... mail me

WM Masek <smokepot@worldnet.att.net>
Monday, February 07, 2000 at 21:16:01 (PST)

Da of course there are others why be blind ,Be opensee it.the real thing Im lookin for is a picture of carl,the one this movie is dedicated for,I feel sad and see him by an ocean.just wanna know why????/ figure some would help,Hes fishin???? Who's carl??thanks mail me

Cliff <clifford.lynch@usa.net>
Sunday, January 30, 2000 at 17:57:04 (PST)

In response to the post below, I also have to wonder about the existence of god. I don't believe one way or another but after taking a class on theology and cosmology at my college I learned some interesting facts and theories.

One:
A rather high chance for the existence on a creator of some sort is the fact that if the amount of matter in the universe were altered up by one part in a million, the universe would have collapsed on itself several million years ago, and if that density of the universe were higher by one part in a million, the universe would have gone on expanding, not settling slightly to allow the creation of planets as a result of the coalesing of matter (spelling probably incorrect.) These facts have changed many cosmologists' views on science and theology in recent years, with all of these people now leaning towards a creator of some kind.

Two:
A theory I learned about was the time-dialation theory.
It was developed to try and explain the Christian old-testament genesis.
The idea is that with so much matter compressed into such a little space and the sheer speed of the expansion of the early universe that time would actually run more slowly according to Einstein's general relativity.
When god created the heaven and the earth in one day, several million years could have passed, thus allowing matter to condense into planets, including earth.
When god said "let there be light" coincides via time dialation to the beginning nuclear fusion of the stars and the resulting light.
The theory goes on to explain how the thinning of earth's atmosphere allowed light to shine through, allowing photosynthesis to start (after he created plants and water on one of the days).
At around the third or fourth day the universe's expansion begins to slow down and time begins to progress more normally, which causes less time to elapse on a given 24 hour day according to god. It is during this time that he creates all the rest of the stuff here, the mammals and so forth, until we get to around the time when humans inhabit the earth and god rests, the seventh 24 hour period for him, but much longer for us as a result of time dialation.
I personally can't say I know this to be true until I look at the actual mathematics behind it but I must say it's good food for thought.

James McGinnis <jmcginnis11@hotmail.com>
Tuesday, January 25, 2000 at 18:59:17 (PST)

As a fan of both science fiction and real-life astronomy, and as a devout Christian, I really enjoyed the movie "Contact." While I admit I also like movies like "Independence Day" and tv shows like "The X-Files" (and its movie, too), I enjoy more cerebral ones like Contact as well. As for the existence of God, I believe there is proof of that everywhere you look. Everything from the infinite size of the universe and its billions of stars, galaxies and other celestial bodies, to the smallest sub-atomic particles and theories, especially "string theory," all clearly show that our universe and existence was no random accident. You don't have to subscribe to the litleralist interpretation of the Genesis creation theory, either (which I don't), to see that our universe was deliberately created with a design. As for extraterrestrial life, I believe that if God created such a vast universe, of which Earth is no more than a micorscopic dust particle in, than certainly there is also life, intelligent included, on at least hundreds of other planets, perhaps the thousands hypothesized by Sagan. As shown by Contact, Sagan, while being an avowed agnostic all his life, was clearly searching for something.I hope he eventually found it.

DJ
Saturday, January 22, 2000 at 13:57:24 (PST)

also do any of you feel that we are just at a point in time on Earth where we are waiting for something to happen,I don't know what we're waiting for but there's something, I'm not a freak, just curious what you think

DJ
Saturday, January 22, 2000 at 13:44:37 (PST)

Just a quick one,

you know when you really want to know the answer to a question but there just isn't an answer available, does it hurt your head and make you wonder wether or not we are alone. Or do you ever think about another civilization trying to contact us as much as we are trying to contact them. whoever they are. and lets face it there must be somebody.

Sometimes I feel that the earth has been placed by accident in thge wrong place, and right at the opposite side of wherever, there are whole groups of inhabited planets, where people know that they are not the only ones.

zini <zini_pedro@hotmail.com>
Monday, January 17, 2000 at 11:17:34 (PST)

Brilliant explanation, man!! Just brilliant!!

Cliff <kiosk107@geocities.com>
Wednesday, January 12, 2000 at 18:14:05 (PST)

Ellie says that "because" of the effects of general relativity, what she experienced is approximately 18 hours that passed instantaneously here on Earth -- to the exact wording I think. What that means is that the movie character, Ellie, believes in the theoretical wormholes and chances are she has calculated the effects of travel at light speed for one microsecond, which could explain the approximately statement, instead of exactly. Considering light travels at 300,000km/sec. it may be calculated but the real fiction is where she decided upon how long she was gone and calculates it to about 18 hours of time. A contradiction is that when traveling through the last wormhole in the pod she traverses dimensions (perhaps) and her thoughts appear next to her head, in backward order, indicating the effects of time travel into the past, although the visuals are probably for asthetic purposes only. Basing this on human logic regarding time travel physics it wouldn't be wise to return before you left, which leaves the window for that split second to be gone, therefore clearing up any possible disasters for the arrival. And finally, it most likely that the aliens are unable to really control the wormholes, since otherwise it seems likely they would have made the time she was gone even less for the purposes of efficiency and energy conservation (although that's stretching it -- being that her voyage through the wormhole wouldn't consume any of earth's or the alien's resources) Hope all this helps for whatever purpose. :-)

Zini <zini_pedro@hotmail.com>
Saturday, January 08, 2000 at 09:12:14 (PST)

But how did she figure it out? She says 18 hours, as she could have said 17, 24, 48, two, one... 15 minutes... the time she ment prooved to be irrelevant to the story, as it is later confirmed that the stactic recording is a little longer than one could have thought... there must have been a reason she'd come up with the 18-hour bit... but then, I've never read the book...

Al <contact@turning-pages.com>
Thursday, January 06, 2000 at 14:08:24 (PST)

My guess is, she estimated 18 hours. She's not aware of the recording, so she doesn't think there's any proof.

She could also mean she has no hard proof. Nothing solid, definitive, and verifiable by others.

Zini <zini_pedro@hotmail.com>
Thursday, January 06, 2000 at 04:42:47 (PST)

Howcome Ellie knows she'd been 18 hours far from earth? She sais in front of the comitee that she has no proof of what she is telling. How did she figured it out (the 18 hours bit is confirmed later, with the stactic recording)?

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