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Amazon.co.uk Review
The opening and closing moments of Robert (Forrest Gump) Zemeckis's Contact 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. Contact traces the journey between those two visual epiphanies. Based on Carl Sagan's novel, Contact is exceptionally thoughtful and provocative for a big-budget Hollywood science fiction picture, with elements that recall everything from 2001 to The Right Stuff. 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--Contact is all of these things and more. Much of it remains open to speculation and interpretation but whatever conclusions one eventually draws, Contactdeserves recognition as a rare piece of big-budget studio film making on a personal scale. --Jim Emerson
Video Description
DVD Special Features
Interactive Menus
Production Notes
Scene Access
Trailers
Language in Dolby Digital 5.1: English
Subtitles: English/Arabic/English for the hearing impaired
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
59 of 62 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
To anyone who thinks that science fiction is about action-packed escapism, with ray guns and scary monsters, as all those who have jumped on the Star Wars bandwagon in the last 25 years would have us believe, watch this film. Science fiction can be plausible, intelligent and - shock, horror - have things to say just like any other form of drama. I have a personal fondness for this film for that reason, and therefore am prepared to forgive its occasional lapse into schmaltz. It's refreshing to see something that gives us a credible glimpse into what our first contact with an alien intelligence might actually be like, and how we might react to it.
Also this disc represents top value for a DVD:... here's what you get for your money:
Also this disc represents top value for a DVD:... here's what you get for your money:
*No less than THREE full-length audio commentaries - one from Jodie Foster, one from the director and producer, and one from the Special Effects men. And these are genuine commentaries too, not cobbled together from interviews - they are with you as you watch the film, commenting on everything you see as you see it. Together they are a wonderful eye-opener into how a film like this is made.
* Isolated music score - this option means that the film is silent for a lot of the time but provides a fascinating alternative way to view many scenes.
* Special effects featurette; sort of a technical showreel showing how many shots were composited -even the ones that don't look like FX shots.
* Production notes, the usual scene access & trailers
None of this is the cheap promo stuff that is thrown carelessly onto many discs; somebody cared enough about this film to make a real effort. all of this means you have to watch this film at least four times before you're exhausted all the disc has to offer.
If you haven't seen the film, watch out for spoilers in the other reviews on this page.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Contact is something completely different. It's belongs to the the ever diminishing group of sci-fi with brains. Because of this. It's very understandable that it gets negative feedback from the friends of no-brainer sci-fi. Actually i find it quite funny how many people have criticized the ending of Contact, saying that they were disappointed when they didn't see how the aliens looked like. I think that was one of the least important things in this movie. Still, i would've been disappointed if there had been some green alien with tentacles or one of those little grey Roswell aliens. Instead, they made an excellent choice and didn't show us the aliens at all. Really good and brave decision. In my opinion, if you were disappointed when you didn't see aliens, you didn't really understand this movie.
The religion vs. science setting is really interesting and realistic. It's fits extremely well to modern day life and i have never seen it done better in any film. The best thing about it is that the film doesn't take sides. It just portrays both of them and leaves the decision to the viewer.
The religion vs. science setting is really interesting and realistic. It's fits extremely well to modern day life and i have never seen it done better in any film. The best thing about it is that the film doesn't take sides. It just portrays both of them and leaves the decision to the viewer.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I watched this film with caution, I knew there weren't any huge interplanetary space battles or fighting action of any sort ,and at to me that equaled boring. How wrong I was, like others before have said this film is beautifuly done, the opening sequence of the earth then pulling back through the solar system then the local star cluster then the galaxy and finally the universe itself really makes you realise how small our corner of the universe really is. Jodie Foster gives one of her best performances, her emotional reaction to seeing the beauty of the cosmos is truely touching. "No words, no words...they should have sent a poet...so beauiful...so beautiful....I had no idea, " brilliant stuff.
The special effects are still top notch and although the film slows down a little there is plenty of action and plot twists to keep you entertained. This isn't a new film anymore but the price is remarkably low for a film of this standard.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Mind your English!
Great film which is why I ordered it but was a bit disturbed when it arrived with all the packaging in German! Read more
Published 1 day ago by A. Hooper
Moving, thought-provoking and just a little different
Loved this film. Jodie Foster at her best, in a film that stretches the mind and our preconceptions in a way that is quite unlike the majority of sci-fi, alien type movies. Read more
Published 1 month ago by N. Davey
'Contact' - DVD
I was very disappointed in this DVD, not because of the content, but because when I received it , it turned out to be intended for area 1. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Glynyfran
Very consistent with the book
Consistent with the book for sure. Tedious, overlong, and essentially nothing happens. Think "Stalker"- long, long, long, and at the end, nothing to justify the wait. Read more
Published 1 month ago by fat man on a bicycle
Just great
This bluray is a beauty. First of all the movie is a classic to me. The bluray has a very good quality despite that the movie was release several years ago. Read more
Published 2 months ago by De la serpillère
Blu-Ray DVD just Perfect
Delivered very fast, item was perfect and as described, A fantastic film especailly the quality of the Blu Ray, what more can I say.
Published 3 months ago by sparkey333
A Film Gem
This is a great film and well worth a look if you enjoy sci-fi or just like feel good films. You will feel better about the world having watched it.
Published 4 months ago by Allan Paterson
love this film
starting to look dated, but still stands up well.
Remember seeing this in cinema, should have been more sucessful than it was at the time.
Remember seeing this in cinema, should have been more sucessful than it was at the time.
Published 4 months ago by Mr. D. Richardson
Intellectually challenging and full of intelligent twists
Jodie Foster is superb in this film, which is an ambiguous examination of the quest to find alien life. Read more
Published 5 months ago by William Cohen
Karl Saygun is a bad man!
Karl Saygun is a very bad man. He is a hay-feeust and he don' beeleef in God. This moovee is about Hayleeyens and there aint none cause God maid everyfing like in the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Justice Peace
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