Where to watch Contact online

Storyline

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

Released

1997-07-11
Revenue

$171,120,329
Budget

$90,000,000
Runtime

2hr 30m
Genre

Drama, Science Fiction, Mystery
Status

Released
Language

Pусский, Español, English
7.5
Production

South Side Amusement Company, Warner Bros. Pictures

Crew

Robert Zemeckis

Director

Michael Goldenberg

Screenplay

Steve Starkey

Producer

Keywords:

based on novel or book nasa extraterrestrial technology new mexico prime number radio wave wormhole fanatic spirituality religion scientist sabotage ham radio astronomy alien contact mechanical engineering observatory philosophical eccentric man radio telescope wonder introspective inspirational defiant

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Cast

Jodie Foster

Ellie Arroway

Matthew McConaughey

Palmer Joss

James Woods

Michael Kitz

John Hurt

S. R. Hadden

Tom Skerritt

David Drumlin

William Fichtner

Kent

David Morse

Ted Arroway

Angela Bassett

Rachel Constantine

Geoffrey Blake

Fisher

Max Martini

Willie

Rob Lowe

Richard Rank

Jake Busey

Joseph

Tucker Smallwood

Mission Director

Jena Malone

Young Ellie

Sami Chester

Vernon

Timothy McNeil

Davio

Laura Elena Surillo

Cantina Woman

Henry Strozier

Minister

Larry King

Thomas Garner

Ian Broderick

Conroy Chino

KOB-TV Reporter

Dan Gifford

Jeremy Roth

Vance Valencia

Senator Valencia

Donna Kelley

Leon Harris

Claire Shipman

Behrooz Afrakhan

Middle Eastern Anchor

Saemi Nakamura

Japanese Anchor

Maria Celeste Arraras

Latina Anchor

Tabitha Soren

Geraldo Rivera

Ian Whitcomb

British Anchor

Jay Leno

Natalie Allen

Robert D. Novak

Geraldine A. Ferraro

Ann Druyan

Kathleen Kennedy

Michael Albala

Decryption Hacker

Ned Netterville

Decryption Expert

Leo Lee

Major Domo

William Jordan

Chairman of Joint Chiefs

David St. James

Joint Chief

Jill Dougherty

Haynes Brooke

Drumlin Aide

John Holliman

Bobbie Battista

Dee Dee Myers

Bryant Gumbel

Linden Soles

Steven Ford

Major Russell

Alexander Zemeckis

Major Russell's Son

Janie Peterson

Major Russell's Daughter

Philippe Bergeron

French Committee Member

Jennifer Balgobin

Dr. Patel

Anthony Hamilton

British Committee Member

Rebecca T. Beucler

NASA Public Relations

Marc Macaulay

NASA Technician

Pamela Wilsey

Voice of NASA (voice)

Jeffery Thomas Johnson

Mechanical

Yuji Okumoto

Electrical

Gerry Griffin

Dynamics

Brian Alston

Communications

Rob Elk

Pad Leader

Mark Thomason

Security

José Rey

Controller #8

Todd Patrick Breaugh

New VLA Technician

Alex Veadov

Russian Cosmonaut

Alice Kushida

Scientist

Robin Gammell

Project Official

Richardson Morse

Mission Doctor

Seiji Okamura

Japanese Ensign

Bernard Shaw

Mak Takano

Japanese Tech #1

Hiroshi Tom Tanaka

Japanese Tech #2

Catherine Dao

Life Support

Kristoffer Ryan Winters

Dynamics #2

Valorie Armstrong

Woman Senator

Jim Hild

Reporter #5

William L. Thomas

Reporter #6

Diego Montoya

School Boy

Jonathan Adler

White House Official (uncredited)

Robert Aguilar Jr.

NASA Controller #2 (uncredited)

Mark Bailey

Four-Star General (uncredited)

Matt Bennett

Senate Observer (uncredited)

Tony Boldi

Robert Hand (uncredited)

Christopher Boyer

Scientist (uncredited)

Christine Brady

White House Official (uncredited)

Ray Buffer

Press Reporter (uncredited)

Mark Byrne

Protester (uncredited)

Candice T. Cain

Supporter (uncredited)

Michael Chaban

Hadden Suit (uncredited)

Aixa Clemente

President's Secretary (uncredited)

Bill Clinton

Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

Derrick Damions

Ailing Believer (uncredited)

Elaina Erika Davis

Philanthropy Bureaucrat (uncredited)

Joey Dente

Factory Worker (uncredited)

Michael Egan

IMC Police Officer (uncredited)

Jeff Elmore

Monk (uncredited)

Pamela Fischer

Pedestrian (uncredited)

Carl Gilliard

Controller (uncredited)

William B. Kaplan

TV Interviewer (uncredited)

Boris Lee Krutonog

Astronaut (uncredited)

Ming Lo

Pod Systems Control (uncredited)

Sunshine Logroño

Puerto Rican Taxi Driver (uncredited)

Denise Loveday

Press Secretary (uncredited)

Neal Matarazzo

Kitz's Aide (uncredited)

Bill Miller

Reporter (uncredited)

Molly Mueller

Family Exchange (uncredited)

Paul L. Nolan

Ellie's Attorney (uncredited)

Marisa Petroro

Oval Office Secretary (uncredited)

Errica Poindexter

Police Officer (uncredited)

J.A. Preston

Senator (uncredited)

Frank Principe

Ailing Believer (uncredited)

Billy Quinn

Security Guard (uncredited)

Thomas Reid

Senate Hearing (uncredited)

Leo Rogstad

Ailing Believer (uncredited)

Russell Sanderlin Sr.

Photographer (uncredited)

Frank Silva

Army Officer (uncredited)

John A. Taylor

Senate Hearing Attendee (uncredited)

Todd Thompson

News Reporter (uncredited)

Cenk Uygur

Reporter (uncredited)

Holly Cross Vagley

Religious Zealot (uncredited)

Eric Alan Wendell

Protester (uncredited)

Delaney Williams

Believer #1 (uncredited)

Gregory L. Williams

Extra (uncredited)

Videos and Photos

Movie Reviews

Reviews for Contact

A Review by talisencrw 9

Written by talisencrw on 2016-05-02

I would readily admit this is one of my favourite science fiction films from the 90's. It's intelligent, well-acted and directed, and the sp... read more

A Review by JPV852 8

Written by JPV852 on 2021-11-26

Random viewing but decided to finally watch after its been in my to-do bin for a while now. It didn't strike an emotional cord that I though... read more

A Review by tmdb28039023 1

Written by tmdb28039023 on 2022-08-27

Early on in Contact a character is introduced who goes by the name “Kent Clark,” and for the remainder of the film I simply could not get ov... read more

Early on in Contact a character is introduced who goes by the name “Kent Clark,” and for the remainder of the film I simply could not get over the fact that no one ever even mentions that he is named after Bizarro’s alter ego. My theory is that this is a figurative wink to the audience, letting us know beforehand what we otherwise discover at long last: that the events that are about to unfold are nothing but an elaborate prank on the audience and, possibly, the cast. This movie exists in a limbo somewhere in between Close Encounters of the Third Kind’s unabashed childlike wonder and Ad Astra’s adult ‘we’re alone in the Universe’ pragmatism – which is a polite way of saying that Contact is neither fish nor fowl; the moral of the story, in a nutshell, is that there might be intelligent extraterrestrial life, but then again, there might not be. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with some ambiguity, but let’s consider this: untold amounts of money, physical resources and manpower are spent in the movie (but not by the movie, which prefers to cut corners and follow the unconvincing route of CGI – technology which, by the way, has not aged well nor improved a lot ever since), while we spent two and half hours of our precious time, and it’s all only to learn that, maybe, aliens don’t exist except in overly complicated hoaxes and the minds of impressionable people. That’s a lot of work to do as well as a long way to go to arrive at a conclusion that for many, myself included, is of the foregone variety. And even if the extraterrestrials in the film were real, they’d still be rather disappointing – though I shouldn’t speak in plural, since we only see one in the form of Dr. Ellie Arroway’s (Jodie Foster) long deceased father. The good news is that Ellie’s dad is played by David Morse, and you could certainly do a lot worse than that (and that goes for the rest of the ensemble cast); the bad news is that Ellie’s close encounter takes places on a beach that is supposedly meant to mimic a drawing she made when she was nine years old. This is bad because the drawing, which looks like an actual preteen might have drawn it, is a veritable Monet compared with the computer-generated beach where Ellie has a very anticlimactic meeting with the alien, who tells her nothing she, or for that matter we, didn’t already know or believe – which in turn doesn’t mean that the place itself has to be equally underwhelming; why not a real beach? Or, perhaps even better, a set made to resemble a real beach? This would doubtless speak to either Ellie’s imagination or the aliens’ handicraft much more than what we end up getting.

A Review by FilipeManuelNeto 6

Written by FilipeManuelNeto on 2023-12-26

**A film that gets more right than it gets wrong, in a friendly tribute to Carl Sagan.** The theme of extraterrestrial life will always b... read more

**A film that gets more right than it gets wrong, in a friendly tribute to Carl Sagan.** The theme of extraterrestrial life will always be a big deal for cinema, and is one of the most solid subjects within sci-fi. On the one hand, it has already given us a series of gems, but it also occasionally gives us films so bad that they are not worth the price of the plastic DVD. This film, for me, stays on positive ground: it gives us a solid story, intelligent enough to be believable, but it completely loses its way when it tries to introduce some action and shake things up a bit. One of the most positive aspects of this film is the credible and understandable way in which it talks about complex scientific subjects and concepts. There are high doses of science and if we take into account that Carl Sagan was one of the consultants who worked here (he died in the middle of filming and the film is dedicated to his memory), we can easily understand why it seems so solid. This is what happens when you listen to competent people, who know and who truly study. On a technical level, the film is reasonably within the standards of a sci-fi film from the late 90s with an already generous budget. However, despite some innovations such as the green screen and CGI effects, which were beginning to be implemented in the industry, not everything is really effective. Despite some high quality effects, the cinematography doesn't keep up, being excessively bland and uninteresting. I liked the focus on radio telescopes (we are more used to seeing optical telescopes, but listening to space is equally important) and it is incredible to see Arecibo again, one of the most cinematic and which very recently ceased to exist (which I greatly regret, by the way). Jodie Foster is a highly competent actress who deserves to be congratulated for all her effort. She is charismatic and strong enough to guarantee the leading role and the quality of her work only decreases towards the end, when she had to interact with the green screen, something that was not usual for actors at this time. We can still see the quite satisfactory work of actors such as John Hurt, David Morse, Tom Skerritt or James Woods. None of them have material capable of giving them substantial time or impact, but they all did the most they could with what they were given. Despite the relevance given, probably justified by the wage received, it was sad to see Matthew McConaughey in such a dull work, devoid of any substantial value. It seems that he was just making his money and wasn't interested in the project. The script has clearly positive points and others that, honestly, should have been eliminated. On the one hand, the scientific discussion and the theme of sending data through signals that can be captured by sound is highly relevant and looks good. I also liked seeing the difficulties that the main character experiences in obtaining financial and practical support for her research and overcoming the prejudices and lack of interest of her patrons. This is a picture of how much scientific research is currently going. From a certain point onwards, the film seeks to involve the Government and NASA, and things move towards a kind of bloated and histrionic action that is at odds with what had been done before. That was a mistake, but director Robert Zemeckis doesn't seem to learn from his mistakes, since it's not the first time it's happened in his films. Another error was the religious debate over alien life. This film did not call for this, the topic is left and should have been cut outright.

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)

A Review by talisencrw

I would readily admit this is one of my favourite science fiction films from the 90's. It's intelligent, well-acted and directed, and the special effects it has HELPS the story rather than IMPEDES it. Though she hasn't done much lately, eit...

A Review by talisencrw 9

Written by talisencrw on 2016-05-02

A Review by JPV852 8

Written by JPV852 on 2021-11-26

Random viewing but decided to finally watch after its been in my to-do bin for a while now. It didn't strike an emotional cord that I thought it would but Jodie Foster was quite good as were a respect...