Contact
62
metacriticBased on 23 Critics
80
Based on 159 Users

Release Date: 1997

DVD Release Date: December 30th, 1997

PG |2 hr 30 min

Plot Summary

In this Zemeckis-directed adaptation of the Carl Sagan novel, Dr. Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) races to interpret a possible message originating from the Vega star system. Once first contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence is proven, Arroway contends with restrictive National Security Advisor Kitz (James Woods) and religious fanatics bent on containing the implications of such an event. An incredible message is found hidden in the signal, but will Arroway be the one to answer its call?

Cast: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, David Morse, Angela Bassett

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Genres: Science fiction

Production Co: Warner Brothers

Keywords: Mystery, Fascinating, 1990s

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Ratings & Reviews

  • 50
    Duane ByrgeThe Hollywood Reporter

    Despite its lineage and some impressive special effects, Contact is a disappointingly earthbound production, weighed down by the ballast of talking-heads dramaturgy and bloated storytelling. show more

  • 100
    James BerardinelliReelViews

    Contact is that rare big-budget motion picture that places ideas, characters, and plot above everything else. show more

  • 88
    Roger EbertChicago Sun-Times

    Sagan's novel Contact provides the inspiration for Robert Zemeckis' new film, which tells the smartest and most absorbing story about extraterrestrial intelligence since "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." show more

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Awards

Nominated Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Golden Globes (1998)
Nominated Sound
Oscars Academy Awards (1997)