DVD365.net
Contact (1997) artwork

Contact (1997)

1st January 2000

After many years of searching the heavens, contact is finally made when a message from outside of our galaxy is received. Mankind must now adjust to the fact that we are no longer alone in the universe.
Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaugey, James Wood, John Hurt, Tom Skerritt
Science Fiction
2
2 Hours 24 Minutes
March 18 2024 05:08:32
1430
Thank you for supporting DVD365.net. When you order using the link(s) below we will earn commission.

Contact must have one of the best film introductions ever. We start by rocketing away from planet earth with intermingled music from the 90's, and yes the Spice Girls are in there, gradually panning out through our galaxy. Little by little the music changes through the decades until there is nothing but static, the point where all our planets radio signals are yet to reach. Finally we appear in Ellie's eyes peering through a telescope. Pure brilliance.

Ellie is obsessed with the stars and together with her father she spends her evening scoring the skies until one tragic evening when her father collapses and dies. We move to the present day where she is working at an observatory in Puerto Rico on the SETI programme. Her search and desire to find a message in the sky is never ending, however this is soon cut short when the project is closed down.

Ellie attempts, and fails, to get further backing from other companies due to her true reasons for the research. That is until her final presentation. Billionaire businessman S.R. Haddon gives her the funding she requires to continue with the research, and one night it pays off as she picks up a unexplained signal from the stars.

Further investigation produces a image, and then sound, of Hitler's opening address at the Berlin Olympics, the first signal ever to beamed around the world. A further signal is then discovered which turns out to be instructions to build a single seat spacecraft. As usual, the military get involved but their cover up is thwarted when Ellie and the research team go public. The question now arises, do the people of earth build the craft, and who gets to go?

The sound is simply stunning, probably the best I've ever heard in a film. One moment stands out the most and is a definite Dolby demo moment. When the machine is being tested, the front and rear speakers are given a relentless workout as the gyroscope hurtles around from the rear to front sound stage. And boy, if you are fortunate to own a subwoofer and need a wall knocking down, the LFE's are simply amazing. The picture is just as good. The detail is pin sharp to the degree of being able to pick out where the special effects on the screen start, and they say the camera never lies.

This is the film which convinced me that I just had to get a Dolby Digital set up at home. The thundering bass in the THX cinema had my ribcage rattling and crying out for more. From that day on I was totally hooked and so will you.

The story is cleverly worked and must be put down to the brilliant writer Carl Sagan, who unfortunately died before the film was completed. It is a very profound film as your opinions change from one minute to another on the true origins of the message and the religious problems it causes. Indeed, it caused me to spend a great of time thinking about religion in general.

  • Commentary by Jodie Foster
  • Commentary by Robert Zemeckis and Steve Starkey
  • Commentary by Ken Ralston and Stephen Rosenbaum
  • Computer animation concepts and tests
  • Special effects designs
  • Production notes
  • Theatrical trailers
Leon   The Directors Cut artwork
Leon lives a sad life as an assassin for the mob, his home is a dingy flat at the end of a corridor. Every day he goes out, does a job and buys two quarts of milk. Today will be different....
Family Guy Presents Blue ... artwork
Man on Fire artwork

Man on Fire

DVD
19/02/2005
Team America artwork

Team America

DVD
16/05/2005
Black Mirror S2 artwork

Black Mirror S2

DVD
29/04/2013
The Inbetweeners artwork

The Inbetweeners

DVDTV
10/06/2008
Dune: Part 2 artwork

Dune: Part 2

DVDBDUHD
05/03/2024
The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on Dune: Part Two, the next chapter of Frank Herbert's celebrated novel Dune, coming soon to DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD from Warner Home Video.
Too Good to Be True artwork

Too Good to Be True

DVDTV
06/03/2024
The Falcon and The Winter Soldier: The Complete First Season artwork
Mean Girls artwork

Mean Girls

DVDBDUHD
13/03/2024
Mean Girls artwork

Mean Girls

LimitedSteelbookUHD
12/03/2024
The Crow artwork

The Crow

SteelbookUHD
08/03/2024

Peep Show: Series 6

Review14/06/2023

The multi award-winning and a critically acclaimed comedy series is back and continues on from the previous series following the dynamic duo in their highly unpredictable world.
Three years ago they came, forever altering the future of humanity.

Aliens

News08/03/2024

Presented with an immersive Dolby Atmos soundtrack and 4K HDR picture transfer, the terror continues in James Cameron's Aliens, released on 4K UHD 1st April 2024 from Walt Disney Home Entertainment.
The Furious Five! You're so much bigger than your action figures! Except you, Mantis. You're about the same
Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Mean Streets

BDUHD15/01/2024122

Das Boot: Season 4

DVDBD05/02/2024119

The Blackening

DVDBD26/02/202486

Vigil: Series 2

DVDTV29/01/202447

The Tourist: Series 2

DVDBDTV05/02/202445

Wednesday: Season 1

DVDBDTV25/03/202438

John Wick: Chapter 4

DVDBDUHDNOTES24/03/2023170

65

DVDBDUHDNOTES10/03/202351

Star Trek: First Contact

DVD01/01/2000391

Contact

DVD01/01/2000293

The Simpsons: Season 16

DVDTV05/12/2013101

Witness Number 3

DVDTV23/07/202298
Get a free daily news update. DVD365.net works with the Amazon Alexa flash briefing skill