@@IR4TE Honorable Mentions: Short Circuit: She gon’ bang that robot. Army of Darkness: Ju Jit Saw Lethal Weapon 3: Karma Suture. You need stitches afterwards.
As someone who studied Astronomy and physics in college, met Carl Sagan at two different talks he did and read the Contact novel many times over the years - this movie is so near and dear to me. How this movie didn't win any Oscars is beyond me (it got nominated for best sound, really? though it did get nominated for plenty of other awards and won a few actually) as Jodie Foster alone totally owned this role. It did win the Hugo award for best dramatic presentation, which in sci fi is gold. I cry like a baby every single time I watch this movie. When Ellie's father first says "small steps" and "an awful waste of space" in the beginning Matt's little smile was awesome to see. Literally in my top 5 favorite movies I've ever seen, easily. It IS different than the novel, but since Sagan and his wife wrote the screenplay for the film (and also did a treatment for it in the late 70s that literally became the novel) it works just fine.
@@paulsparks771 Indeed, and we could certainly use his talents right now to explain science and why it's so important. NDT does an admirable job of course.
@@Xfactories I agree, that's a tough year for an Oscar, but let's face it, there's a bunch of politics behind many of these Oscar wins, and sci-fi as a genre til this day has been shitted on by Hollywood, even though it's the genre that makes Hollywood the most money. In the end, what is best picture of the year is a matter of pure opinion, not objective fact, and an Oscar is basically Hollywood members' opinion of what they thought Best Picture was, an opinion mired in backstage politics, actual politics, and other BS.
'97 was a fantastic year for sci-fi films: Contact, Starship Troopers, The Fifth Element, Men in Black, Gattaca, etc... Another great movie in the same vein is Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
@x so true haha all the better for it, now that I think about it, another underrated Sci-fi horror from 97, Mimic, I was honestly surprised how much I enjoyed the film, it's again not perfect and it's not entirely what Guillermo wanted but the bluray is closest to it and I enjoy that version of the film a lot and I think the movie deserves more respect
Love the threads that tie “Contact” and “Interstellar” together, like Matthew McConaughey being in both, Kip Thorne being the science advisor for how the physics of wormholes works out for both and of course the beautiful, loving and close father-daughter relationship. Oh, and the emotional impact of existential questions or situations both movies portray. ❤ If you haven’t read “Contact”, you should. Carl Sagan’s writing is witty, poetic, clear, thought provoking, warm and intelligent. It does shine through in the movie, but reading his own words hits home even more. ❤.
Some of the most moving parts of this movie were the ones with Ellie as a girl, first asking if they could talk to Mom, then trying to raise Dad on the radio. I went through so many tissues. I thought the actress who played her, Jena Malone, was wonderful.
It wasn't in this reaction clip, but I love James Woods' deadpan delivery of "that is interesting, isn't it" in response to the 18 hours of static. I carry that line with me and hear it in my head all the time.
"We are the universe made manifest, trying to understand itself". That idea, of life being a manifestation created by the universe, trying to understand itself, was one of the many ideas in the 90's science fiction series Babylon 5 that made it so appealing to me. It did have many more great ideas, like galaxies basically being nesting areas for many forms of life to sprout and develop, until some of the lifeforms became too large, (or too powerfull) for that nest, and hence, had too spread their wings, so to speak, and leave that "nesting area" for whatever lies beyond the rim of the galaxy (and between other galaxies).
'This is a real place, though.' ... _was_ a real place. Arecibo Observatory collapsed in 2020, mid-pandemic, not related, and I thought of this scene when I saw footage of the collapse. :(
Emily: "Blow up, Machine; come on!" Matthew: 👀 The huge satellite dish in the movie's opening was destroyed and not repaired during a relatively recent hurricane. The Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico was constructed in 1963, damaged in 2017 by Hurricane Maria, then 2 cable snaps resulted in further damage. It will be demolished and not replaced; a STEM learning center will be built in its place. The 'young Busey' is Gary's son Jake, who was prominent in "Starship Troopers" and "Predator" The dignified black woman (Kitz's congressional assistant), who Jodie's character asks about 'a really great dress' is Angela Bassett. The Billionaire was played by John Hurt, who along with Tom Skerrit was also in "Alien". (John Hurt also reprised his "Alien" role in Mel Brooks's "Spaceballs".) You ask for recommendations, so here are some IN ORDER OF VIEWING for best 'results': -"Contact" (1997) starring Jodie Foster ✔ -"Interstellar" (2014) starring Matt Damon ✔ -"The Martian" (2015) supporting role Matt Damon (directed by Ridley Scott) -"District 9" (2009) starring Sharlto Copley; directed by Neill Blomkamp -"Elysium" (2013) starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley; directed by Neill Blomkamp "Elysium'" is the payoff. And Neill Blomkamp is an incredible director. Two machines is unbelievable? First, the machines were funded by a billionaire, with the second machine built secretly (and the billionaire already had the plans, actually he cued Ellie on how to orient the plans to read them). Second, we've had TWO BILLIONAIRES last year build and ride their own private rockets to space. This second machine was the movie billionaire's toy, to use as he wished. So what's so unbelievable about that?
_"The 'young Busey' is Gary's son Jake, who was prominent in "Starship Troopers" and "Predator""_ It was Gary Busey in Predator 2. Jake was also in The Frighteners so I thought Emily would recognized him.
18:30 Matthew’s face when Emily demanded the machine blow up… and then a couple of minutes later, Emily’s guilt-ridden expression when her wish was granted 😆 You guys never fail to make me appreciate movies in whole new ways! Always a pleasure… though on this case, I think Pippin was all like “Yeah, it’s okay, but 2001 is better…” Which may be true, but Contact is definitely more accessible and like Apollo 13, it’s a movie that doesn’t dumb itself down to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I also like how it manages to show what science and religion have in common, while also showing the negative aspects of both. The mirror shot, though… I’m pretty certain that I’m in the minority, but that shot has always annoyed me. Technically it’s great, but Zemeckis himself has said that any shot that calls attention to itself is a bad shot, and it is most definitely a shot that calls attention to itself! There are other shots in the movie that are technically very tricky, but they don’t drop you out of the moment. The mirror shot does, so I’m not a fan. I feel like his experience with the new possibilities of CGI on Forrest Gump led Zemeckis to use it a little too much on Contact, like it was a new toy that he was excited to play with. Some of it is fantastic, but I find myself wishing he’d just held back slightly. Oh, and #title for Matthew - Cinematic First Contact Coordinator!
You're right. The effects in Contact were amazing for 1997. I was mind blown watching on a massive theater screen when it first premiered. Still one of my favorite movies ever for its top shelf assembly of themes, story, characters, cinematography, visual effects, music - a combination so rarely seen in a single movie. Deep philosophical questions addressed and yet at the same time it's like getting on an amusement park ride! This two and a half hour movie flies by with zero dead spots.
I was an extra in the court scene for 2 days of filming in DC. Only time I did that but it was great. James Wood was amazing to the extras. During breaks in shooting he would come out and chat, ask for people to take out their cameras (that they weren’t supposed to have) and would point to people and say ‘you did a great job on that last shot’.
Twenty six years later, I'm still disappointed the movie didn't include the big twist from the book. To paraphrase book-Ellie's conversation with the alien: Ellie: Do you have any concept of the "numinous" [subjects that cannot be addressed solely with rational thought] in your philosophy? Alien Dad: In a way, yes. For the sake of argument, what would it mean to you if the decimal expansion of the math constant Pi stopped being random after the first few billion digits? What if there was a coherent message encoded in it, instead? Ellie: But that's impossible! Pi is written into the fabric of the universe. To encode a message in it, you'd have to ... [***suprised pikachu face***] ...And on the final page of the book, a supercomputer starts to find nonrandom data in Pi, proving it wasn't just a hypothetical. (Or, as XKCD put it: Pi = 3.141HelpI'mTrappedInAUniverseFactory59...)
1) The novel is fantastic. I read it in high school. 2) If you go to the VLA, you can see a video about the array. Jodie Foster narrates it. It's an amazing location. If you time it correctly, you can be there when they rearrange the 27 arrays into a new configuration.
Only other thing you guys didn't mention - the big telescope in the start of the movie - Arecibo - was indeed the location they filmed the finale to Goldeneye at and it is a real place - or, at least, was - it collapsed in late 2020 due to structure failure in some of the cable supports that held the structure upright.
I broke down and cried when I saw footage of the antenna smashing through the colossal dish at Arecibo. It was a lifelong dream to see it and now I'll never get the chance.
It was also supposed to be in the beginning of "2010“, the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey", but Peter Hyams thought the place looked too dirty, and used the VLA instead. Maybe it was cleaned up later. Interesting that *both* were used for this movie.
Wow I saw this in college in 1997 and never looked thru the entire cast (IMDB wasn't a thing yet) but until you said John Hurt played S.R. Hadden I had no idea. From 1997 until 2023 I assumed that was some unknown actor 🤯
An Academy Award missed there - Jodie Foster carries it the whole way through. A special movie to me, I love it so much, and I'm so happy that Emily loved it.
If you've never seen Carl Sagan's show, Cosmos, I recommend checking out some clips on UA-cam. I particularly like the "4th dimension" one. His voice is so soothing you could just close your eyes and get lost in it. And he has a way of explaining concepts so that anyone could understand.
Her journey makes me think of this: Ford: Hyperspace is a bit unpleasant, like being drunk. Arthur: What's so unpleasant about being drunk? Ford: Ask a glass of water. -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (with light paraphrasing)
I needed to pause the video to write: I am SO happy, that you included the "I have a big problem"-dress-scene! I missed this scene very much in a lot of reactions to this movie. Edit: Same goes for the line "I always believed the world is what we make of it"
The opening of this movie is so relaxing to me. It is literally my go-to movie for anytime I am feeling overwhelmed and tangled up in too many emotions and problems. I see how they zoom out and how tiny and small our problems actually are in the grand cosmic picture of things. It just gives me this intense feeling of peace and acceptance. It's the most therapeutic feeling in the world to just get a perspective of things as they actually stand in comparison to the actual universe. Then we get to the story of the movie and I just cry like a baby at the end. It's beyond beautiful. This movie deserved so much more than it got.
I've watched over a dozen of these watch/reactions on Contact now. This is by FAR my absolute favorite one so far. Emily's reactions are so wholesome and fun. So much fun to watch this, can't wait to see more of your guy's watch/reactions!
It's hard to call a movie that did this well underappreciated, but this one floors me every time I watch it, as I do very often. I can't believe it's 26 years old this year.
One of my all time favourite films. There are a few films that regardless of the number of times you see them always give you chills. For me the first time you hear the music in The Natural ( when the tree is struck by lightning) and this film has when the signal comes from space and when Haddon leans into the camera and says "They still want an American to go Doctor. Wanna take a ride?"
Only tidbit I have that was not mentioned was the pattern the grains of sand that twinkled in her father's hands and that sparkled in her hand at the end of the movie, was the same pattern the popcorn made when it was spilled on the rug when her father passed away. Not sure what the connection was suppposed to mean though.
One of my favorite movies, too. When this movie came out, I was taking Astronomy and writing in college. The line about they should’ve sent a poet, hit me so hard, I burst into tears. So little words telling so much.
This is one of the few things that for me paints a believable and healthy relationship between two people of completely different beliefs in a respectful way (and in which the atheist isn't the bad guy!). One fun bit of trivia -- Jodie Foster was standing on a box for almost all of her shots with McConaughey (she laughs about it in her movie commentary on the DVD, and it's really fun). Zemeckis also erased and redrew her eyebrows in the first kiss with McConaughey, which just seems silly to me. Also, it's pretty faithful to the book, although in the book a group of explorers go, versus just one. Meanwhile, I have just discovered you guys and absolutely love your channel and reactions. You're both so smart and passionate about film and story, you react with thought as well as emotion, and each offer such a great counterbalance to the other. And the cat is ridiculously cute! Cheers and thanks-- looking forward to more.
I've never watched one video of y'a'lls that didn't make me genuinely happy. Always kind-hearted and entertaining (Pippin included, of course). Thank you for doing what you do!
I think you would really enjoy the sequel to 2001, which is 2010: The Year We Made Contact. That is such a good film, and totally expands well on the original.
Carl Sagan also consulted on 2001: A Space Odyssey. So I find it interesting that both movies avoided depicting the aliens directly. In his series Cosmos, Sagan emphasized that a civilized alien race would look nothing like us (especially not the guy-in-a-rubber-suit style popular to this day).
I recall reading something Isaac Asimov said about aliens. Basically, he said humans project human characteristics, values, and experience interpretation into our concepts of aliens. He believed we cannot begin to grasp what aliens think, feel, perceive, or how they would process information taken in. The whole point of 'alien' is that it is incomprehensible to us humans.
So many people think that aliens would be like the little green men common used in films, which I do love, especially in films like close encounters but I feel and believe that they would be something totally different, I think an incredibly realistic film version of Aliens is Arrival, I mean as far as showing them directly, they look completely unconventional and so is how they interact with us and eachother, which I won't spoil that revelation in case people haven't seen it but I feel that film is an incredibly realistic protrayl of Aliens and Aliens visiting our planet
I've always seen a whole other potential movie in this, in which, when she phones for contact after her dad died, someone answers and asks what happened to her dad. And they bond and we have a beautiful Hollywood movie... 😍🥰😭
If you want your mind blown, watch the scene where she is a little girl and she is running down the hallway and opens the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Just watch that scene closely. The way it is shot is crazy.
Great movie. You should watch The Game that came out the same year which is a once of a lifetime experience you can not recreate the first time you see it.
Emily, in the beginning, the thing you saw and Matt remarked on is called "Pillars of Creation" sadly it doesn't exist anymore. It's very beautiful though.
This movie hits differently with me cuz this came out 1997. Two years before, I lost my mother in 1995. I was 13. Every time the final scene, when the alien takes her fathers appearance, that hits me.
This is one of my top 5 favorites of all time, not just alien movies, but all time. I saw this in the theaters and was amazed. the screen grab you needed for this was at 48:22, Emily, your eyes were popping at the start of the wormhole.
Part of Ms. Foster's "ethereal look" is the fact that it was shot on VistaVision cameras. We can thank Hollywood execs for abandoning the format, as the cameras were sold for pennies in the '70s to ILM (among others) and led to modern motion control used in The Best sci-fi for the next 20 years.
Another ‘science’ movie to watch would be Deep Impact. I was in an Earth and Space Science course in HS the fall after that came out, and we debated the intricacies between Deep Impact vs Armageddon. Teacher definitely gave her thoughts!! 😁
"Oh you cookin' meth?" LMAO🤣 Also, Corridor Crew is an AWESOME channel, I especially love when they go back to older films and are just flabbergasted at how "simple" some tricks were to pull off certain effects. I say "simple" as in the thinking of how to do it is usually a "duh" moment, actually execution of said effect still usually took a good bit of work and being extremely precise. (Darby O'Gill in particular has a few neat tricks.)
You guys deserve more followers. Love the format, love the structure that you have in place for setup and discussion, and I ADORE the dynamic between the two of you. Thanks so much for these videos. Side note: Love this movie :)
Towards the end, when the alien disguised as her father reaches down and picks up sand, there is a crescent shape twinkle in the palm of his hand. That crescent shape is seen in the pop-corn on the floor when Ellie comes down stairs when her dad has the heart attack. Also, in the very beginning opening sequence, when the camera pans back through the universe and exits out of young Ellie's eye, there is a reflection seen in her eye of the The Machine.
Thanks Emily! Thanks, Matthew! Thanks, Pippin! 📡📡📡📡📡📡📡📡📡 This is another one of my all-time favez. Kudos to writers Carl Sagan, James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg... and to director Robert Zemeckis.
44:54: About the only thing that would have been more appropriate was if there was a quote of him saying "I did not have sexual relations with that alien".
4:07 a This is Aricibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Sadly it was set to be decommissioned in 2020 but before they had the chance part of it fell through the dish, effectively destroying itself. As of 2022 there is no funding to rebuild it.
This is definitely Zemeckis' most underappreciated movie. The special effects still hold up, i love the science/faith argument, and all the performances are really great.
24:38 I remember, I took a picture of that with my camera! Back when there was no internet, no screencap, I took my photo camera and took a picture of my TV screen, because I thought this Image was just so utterly, UTTERLY beautifiul! 😍😭😭 It changed me as a person...
Geez, Summer sounds like me whenever I watch this movie... Every time someone opens their mouth and says something stupid or to undercut/muscle-out Jodi Foster, I just go "Shut up!" 🤣🤣
Very fitting that Tom Skerritt and John Hurt are in this movie considering they've both succumbed to an ALIEN before in a different movie... there was only one survivor on the ship they were on, the Nostromo... Ellen Ripley.
LOVE this movie. I also really loved Matt's info on the movie at the end, in the comment part. Loved both of your reactions and your cat sleeping through the whole thing was adorable. ❤
I saw this in 1997 at the Uptown theater in Washington DC on their 70 foot by 40 foot screen. It was an amazing experience from the very first shot to the end. I've also read the novel and had the great privilege of meeting Carl Sagan in 1985. This ranks as probably one of my favorite sci-fi movies. The cast was fantastic, and the director really nails scenes that leave you on the edge of your seat or that lump in your throat.
This movie was a sleeper. I really like the idea of faith (I am agnostic). You guys ever going to watch The Right Stuff? Hopefully it is on one of your lists.
"I love it when nerds are excited!!" LOL, my favorite Emily line so far.
I don't know, its hard to beat, "The vagina bug just Capri Sun'd that man!"
@@schuettjoel It's up there. :D
@@IR4TE Honorable Mentions:
Short Circuit: She gon’ bang that robot.
Army of Darkness: Ju Jit Saw
Lethal Weapon 3: Karma Suture. You need stitches afterwards.
@28:22 look at cat 😂
"Be quiet, young Busey!!!" was the best moment of the reaction...IMHO 😂💯😜
As someone who studied Astronomy and physics in college, met Carl Sagan at two different talks he did and read the Contact novel many times over the years - this movie is so near and dear to me. How this movie didn't win any Oscars is beyond me (it got nominated for best sound, really? though it did get nominated for plenty of other awards and won a few actually) as Jodie Foster alone totally owned this role. It did win the Hugo award for best dramatic presentation, which in sci fi is gold. I cry like a baby every single time I watch this movie. When Ellie's father first says "small steps" and "an awful waste of space" in the beginning Matt's little smile was awesome to see. Literally in my top 5 favorite movies I've ever seen, easily. It IS different than the novel, but since Sagan and his wife wrote the screenplay for the film (and also did a treatment for it in the late 70s that literally became the novel) it works just fine.
Titanic, Good Will Hunting, Boogie Nights, Amistad, L.A. Confidential, As Good As It Gets....lotta competition but should've gotten more nods.
The world lost a luminary when Carl Sagan passed beyond the veil.
@@paulsparks771 Indeed, and we could certainly use his talents right now to explain science and why it's so important. NDT does an admirable job of course.
@@Xfactories I agree, that's a tough year for an Oscar, but let's face it, there's a bunch of politics behind many of these Oscar wins, and sci-fi as a genre til this day has been shitted on by Hollywood, even though it's the genre that makes Hollywood the most money. In the end, what is best picture of the year is a matter of pure opinion, not objective fact, and an Oscar is basically Hollywood members' opinion of what they thought Best Picture was, an opinion mired in backstage politics, actual politics, and other BS.
Watching it in the Theater, the sound design really WAS damn good. You could FEEL the machine as if you were right there on it.
Matt's face during the blow up machine is priceless
THIS ^ 100% THIS... LOL
That was the point I was looking forward to. Well and the travel part, and the 18 hours of static part. Was delighted on all of them.
18:29 **A finger curls**
19:33 **Emily learns how the Monkey Paw works.**
i came to the comments just for that.. glad its first comment HAHAHAHHA
We all shot right over to him at that moment. (Editing suggestion for next time: go full screen zoom on those eyes)
Holy crap you are the only person who has ever recognized the Pensacola from her picture right away! Incredible job!
'97 was a fantastic year for sci-fi films: Contact, Starship Troopers, The Fifth Element, Men in Black, Gattaca, etc...
Another great movie in the same vein is Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).
Gattaca is a really under-watched film
@@ChicagoDB 100% agreed and you know what, I'll throw some love to Strange Days, not perfect but I think that a very underrated Sci-Fi movie too
Event Horizon among the etc"s
@x so true haha all the better for it, now that I think about it, another underrated Sci-fi horror from 97, Mimic, I was honestly surprised how much I enjoyed the film, it's again not perfect and it's not entirely what Guillermo wanted but the bluray is closest to it and I enjoy that version of the film a lot and I think the movie deserves more respect
Contact is the only hard sci-fi movie of the bunch
You do Pippin a big heckin' concern at 28:22
His eyes are so wide
S.R. Hadden : "First rule in government spending: why build one when you can have two at twice the price?" classic.
"They should have sent a poet" is such an iconic line...possibly one of the best lines in cinema.
yes! even Family guy did a parody and said that line in an episode.
It is. It always makes me tear up a bit.
Pippen at 28:23 “ OMG MOM WHATS GOING ON? WHY YOU MOVING LIKE THAT?”
😂😂😂
best reaction goes to Pippen @28:22 with that death stare
18:29 "Blow up machine!" 😳 Matthews reaction is priceless. 🤣
"I will stab you with a soldering iron."
That was very specific. 🤣
Love the threads that tie “Contact” and “Interstellar” together, like Matthew McConaughey being in both, Kip Thorne being the science advisor for how the physics of wormholes works out for both and of course the beautiful, loving and close father-daughter relationship. Oh, and the emotional impact of existential questions or situations both movies portray. ❤
If you haven’t read “Contact”, you should. Carl Sagan’s writing is witty, poetic, clear, thought provoking, warm and intelligent. It does shine through in the movie, but reading his own words hits home even more. ❤.
Some of the most moving parts of this movie were the ones with Ellie as a girl, first asking if they could talk to Mom, then trying to raise Dad on the radio. I went through so many tissues. I thought the actress who played her, Jena Malone, was wonderful.
Emily - “Blow up Machine!”
The Universe - “Your manifestation is granted” 😂😬
"Science? Did I science?!?" That was adorable.
It wasn't in this reaction clip, but I love James Woods' deadpan delivery of "that is interesting, isn't it" in response to the 18 hours of static. I carry that line with me and hear it in my head all the time.
18:29
Oh god, his eyes. I couldn't stop laughing for 3 straight minutes!
"We are the universe made manifest, trying to understand itself". That idea, of life being a manifestation created by the universe, trying to understand itself, was one of the many ideas in the 90's science fiction series Babylon 5 that made it so appealing to me. It did have many more great ideas, like galaxies basically being nesting areas for many forms of life to sprout and develop, until some of the lifeforms became too large, (or too powerfull) for that nest, and hence, had too spread their wings, so to speak, and leave that "nesting area" for whatever lies beyond the rim of the galaxy (and between other galaxies).
That part of reaction where Pippin, I’m sure, loses one of his 9 lives is worthy of a replay IMO 😂😂😂😂😂😂
That poor cat. Can't take a nap in peace. (@28:20) 😂
When she asked Pippin her score on the movie, my first thought was ‘one point less than what you say, because you scared the heck outta me!!!!’
He looks so pissed at her afterwards. XD
I used to have this on DVD - wore that disc out! Great film ❤
'This is a real place, though.' ... _was_ a real place. Arecibo Observatory collapsed in 2020, mid-pandemic, not related, and I thought of this scene when I saw footage of the collapse. :(
Emily: "Blow up, Machine; come on!"
Matthew: 👀
The huge satellite dish in the movie's opening was destroyed and not repaired during a relatively recent hurricane. The Arecibo Telescope in Puerto Rico was constructed in 1963, damaged in 2017 by Hurricane Maria, then 2 cable snaps resulted in further damage. It will be demolished and not replaced; a STEM learning center will be built in its place.
The 'young Busey' is Gary's son Jake, who was prominent in "Starship Troopers" and "Predator"
The dignified black woman (Kitz's congressional assistant), who Jodie's character asks about 'a really great dress' is Angela Bassett.
The Billionaire was played by John Hurt, who along with Tom Skerrit was also in "Alien". (John Hurt also reprised his "Alien" role in Mel Brooks's "Spaceballs".)
You ask for recommendations, so here are some IN ORDER OF VIEWING for best 'results':
-"Contact" (1997) starring Jodie Foster ✔
-"Interstellar" (2014) starring Matt Damon ✔
-"The Martian" (2015) supporting role Matt Damon (directed by Ridley Scott)
-"District 9" (2009) starring Sharlto Copley; directed by Neill Blomkamp
-"Elysium" (2013) starring Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Sharlto Copley; directed by Neill Blomkamp
"Elysium'" is the payoff. And Neill Blomkamp is an incredible director.
Two machines is unbelievable?
First, the machines were funded by a billionaire, with the second machine built secretly (and the billionaire already had the plans, actually he cued Ellie on how to orient the plans to read them). Second, we've had TWO BILLIONAIRES last year build and ride their own private rockets to space. This second machine was the movie billionaire's toy, to use as he wished. So what's so unbelievable about that?
_"The 'young Busey' is Gary's son Jake, who was prominent in "Starship Troopers" and "Predator""_
It was Gary Busey in Predator 2. Jake was also in The Frighteners so I thought Emily would recognized him.
@@Mansplainer2099-jy8ps Thank you; glad to get the correction. Teaches me not to cite a rare film I hadn't actually watched!
18:30 Matthew’s face when Emily demanded the machine blow up… and then a couple of minutes later, Emily’s guilt-ridden expression when her wish was granted 😆
You guys never fail to make me appreciate movies in whole new ways! Always a pleasure… though on this case, I think Pippin was all like “Yeah, it’s okay, but 2001 is better…” Which may be true, but Contact is definitely more accessible and like Apollo 13, it’s a movie that doesn’t dumb itself down to appeal to the lowest common denominator. I also like how it manages to show what science and religion have in common, while also showing the negative aspects of both.
The mirror shot, though… I’m pretty certain that I’m in the minority, but that shot has always annoyed me. Technically it’s great, but Zemeckis himself has said that any shot that calls attention to itself is a bad shot, and it is most definitely a shot that calls attention to itself! There are other shots in the movie that are technically very tricky, but they don’t drop you out of the moment. The mirror shot does, so I’m not a fan. I feel like his experience with the new possibilities of CGI on Forrest Gump led Zemeckis to use it a little too much on Contact, like it was a new toy that he was excited to play with. Some of it is fantastic, but I find myself wishing he’d just held back slightly.
Oh, and #title for Matthew - Cinematic First Contact Coordinator!
You're right. The effects in Contact were amazing for 1997. I was mind blown watching on a massive theater screen when it first premiered. Still one of my favorite movies ever for its top shelf assembly of themes, story, characters, cinematography, visual effects, music - a combination so rarely seen in a single movie. Deep philosophical questions addressed and yet at the same time it's like getting on an amusement park ride! This two and a half hour movie flies by with zero dead spots.
I love the number of times that Emily totally called what was going to happen next! Smart woman!
I was an extra in the court scene for 2 days of filming in DC. Only time I did that but it was great. James Wood was amazing to the extras. During breaks in shooting he would come out and chat, ask for people to take out their cameras (that they weren’t supposed to have) and would point to people and say ‘you did a great job on that last shot’.
Twenty six years later, I'm still disappointed the movie didn't include the big twist from the book. To paraphrase book-Ellie's conversation with the alien:
Ellie: Do you have any concept of the "numinous" [subjects that cannot be addressed solely with rational thought] in your philosophy?
Alien Dad: In a way, yes. For the sake of argument, what would it mean to you if the decimal expansion of the math constant Pi stopped being random after the first few billion digits? What if there was a coherent message encoded in it, instead?
Ellie: But that's impossible! Pi is written into the fabric of the universe. To encode a message in it, you'd have to ... [***suprised pikachu face***]
...And on the final page of the book, a supercomputer starts to find nonrandom data in Pi, proving it wasn't just a hypothetical.
(Or, as XKCD put it: Pi = 3.141HelpI'mTrappedInAUniverseFactory59...)
1) The novel is fantastic. I read it in high school. 2) If you go to the VLA, you can see a video about the array. Jodie Foster narrates it. It's an amazing location. If you time it correctly, you can be there when they rearrange the 27 arrays into a new configuration.
Kudos to whoever picked this. Almost nobody's reacted to it. Can't wait to watch!!!
Only other thing you guys didn't mention - the big telescope in the start of the movie - Arecibo - was indeed the location they filmed the finale to Goldeneye at and it is a real place - or, at least, was - it collapsed in late 2020 due to structure failure in some of the cable supports that held the structure upright.
that's my #1 saddest memory of the year.
but I always jokes to friends it happened because Sean Bean fell onto it.
Yes it was a sad day, but the drone footage of the collapse is kinda amazing
I broke down and cried when I saw footage of the antenna smashing through the colossal dish at Arecibo. It was a lifelong dream to see it and now I'll never get the chance.
@@Melancthon7332 I wonder how close you can get, to see the collapsed array.
It was also supposed to be in the beginning of "2010“, the sequel to "2001: A Space Odyssey", but Peter Hyams thought the place looked too dirty, and used the VLA instead. Maybe it was cleaned up later. Interesting that *both* were used for this movie.
The scenes with John Hurt playing S.R. Hadden was my favorite part of this movie. His voice is amazing.
Wow I saw this in college in 1997 and never looked thru the entire cast (IMDB wasn't a thing yet) but until you said John Hurt played S.R. Hadden I had no idea. From 1997 until 2023 I assumed that was some unknown actor 🤯
An Academy Award missed there - Jodie Foster carries it the whole way through. A special movie to me, I love it so much, and I'm so happy that Emily loved it.
@@alibabaghanoujtv Hehe, I see what you did there - :)
If you've never seen Carl Sagan's show, Cosmos, I recommend checking out some clips on UA-cam. I particularly like the "4th dimension" one. His voice is so soothing you could just close your eyes and get lost in it. And he has a way of explaining concepts so that anyone could understand.
I so second this! ❤.
You have to hand it to those Buseys, they really know how to play crazy on screen!
Love the film, love the reaction and I love the "did I science" line! Thank you.
She scienced the SH*T out of that! 😅😅😅
It's generally cheaper to build 2 things at the same time, than to build a second one after the first one fails.
Her journey makes me think of this:
Ford: Hyperspace is a bit unpleasant, like being drunk.
Arthur: What's so unpleasant about being drunk?
Ford: Ask a glass of water.
-Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (with light paraphrasing)
I needed to pause the video to write: I am SO happy, that you included the "I have a big problem"-dress-scene! I missed this scene very much in a lot of reactions to this movie.
Edit: Same goes for the line "I always believed the world is what we make of it"
The book, by scientist Carl Sagan, is well worth reading. One of my favourite books ever.
The opening of this movie is so relaxing to me. It is literally my go-to movie for anytime I am feeling overwhelmed and tangled up in too many emotions and problems. I see how they zoom out and how tiny and small our problems actually are in the grand cosmic picture of things. It just gives me this intense feeling of peace and acceptance. It's the most therapeutic feeling in the world to just get a perspective of things as they actually stand in comparison to the actual universe. Then we get to the story of the movie and I just cry like a baby at the end. It's beyond beautiful. This movie deserved so much more than it got.
A quality reaction. You guys totally get it. Great video.
If "Be quiet, young Busey!" doesn't somehow become merch, there is no justice.
Emily's face during the mirror shot is exactly, perfectly appropriate.
'Blow up machine, come on'... * *Surprised Pikachu face in the bottom left corner* *
Lol...
I watched this baked and sitting front-and-center at the theater when it first came out in '97. It was so awesome that I did it again the next night.
I've watched over a dozen of these watch/reactions on Contact now. This is by FAR my absolute favorite one so far. Emily's reactions are so wholesome and fun. So much fun to watch this, can't wait to see more of your guy's watch/reactions!
It's hard to call a movie that did this well underappreciated, but this one floors me every time I watch it, as I do very often.
I can't believe it's 26 years old this year.
18:31 mark... Matthew's eyes bug out when Emily emphatically wants the Machine to Blow Up!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! Be careful what you wish for
The audio and visual design in this movie is spectacular
One of my all time favourite films. There are a few films that regardless of the number of times you see them always give you chills. For me the first time you hear the music in The Natural ( when the tree is struck by lightning) and this film has when the signal comes from space and when Haddon leans into the camera and says "They still want an American to go Doctor. Wanna take a ride?"
Only tidbit I have that was not mentioned was the pattern the grains of sand that twinkled in her father's hands and that sparkled in her hand at the end of the movie, was the same pattern the popcorn made when it was spilled on the rug when her father passed away. Not sure what the connection was suppposed to mean though.
One of my favorite movies, too. When this movie came out, I was taking Astronomy and writing in college. The line about they should’ve sent a poet, hit me so hard, I burst into tears. So little words telling so much.
Man this movie had such a powerhouse cast.
This is one of the few things that for me paints a believable and healthy relationship between two people of completely different beliefs in a respectful way (and in which the atheist isn't the bad guy!). One fun bit of trivia -- Jodie Foster was standing on a box for almost all of her shots with McConaughey (she laughs about it in her movie commentary on the DVD, and it's really fun). Zemeckis also erased and redrew her eyebrows in the first kiss with McConaughey, which just seems silly to me. Also, it's pretty faithful to the book, although in the book a group of explorers go, versus just one.
Meanwhile, I have just discovered you guys and absolutely love your channel and reactions. You're both so smart and passionate about film and story, you react with thought as well as emotion, and each offer such a great counterbalance to the other. And the cat is ridiculously cute! Cheers and thanks-- looking forward to more.
I've never watched one video of y'a'lls that didn't make me genuinely happy. Always kind-hearted and entertaining (Pippin included, of course).
Thank you for doing what you do!
I think you would really enjoy the sequel to 2001, which is 2010: The Year We Made Contact. That is such a good film, and totally expands well on the original.
Carl Sagan also consulted on 2001: A Space Odyssey. So I find it interesting that both movies avoided depicting the aliens directly. In his series Cosmos, Sagan emphasized that a civilized alien race would look nothing like us (especially not the guy-in-a-rubber-suit style popular to this day).
I recall reading something Isaac Asimov said about aliens. Basically, he said humans project human characteristics, values, and experience interpretation into our concepts of aliens. He believed we cannot begin to grasp what aliens think, feel, perceive, or how they would process information taken in. The whole point of 'alien' is that it is incomprehensible to us humans.
So many people think that aliens would be like the little green men common used in films, which I do love, especially in films like close encounters but I feel and believe that they would be something totally different, I think an incredibly realistic film version of Aliens is Arrival, I mean as far as showing them directly, they look completely unconventional and so is how they interact with us and eachother, which I won't spoil that revelation in case people haven't seen it but I feel that film is an incredibly realistic protrayl of Aliens and Aliens visiting our planet
2001: A Space Odyssey, a movie best watched while "elevated"
This was my favorite alien movie until Arrival came out. Still adore it.
I've always seen a whole other potential movie in this, in which, when she phones for contact after her dad died, someone answers and asks what happened to her dad. And they bond and we have a beautiful Hollywood movie... 😍🥰😭
This one was my #1 all time favorite movie for years and it took the crown from Back To The Future.....
Matt's knowing looks to the camera are the best!
If you want your mind blown, watch the scene where she is a little girl and she is running down the hallway and opens the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Just watch that scene closely. The way it is shot is crazy.
Great movie. You should watch The Game that came out the same year which is a once of a lifetime experience you can not recreate the first time you see it.
I'm completely here for Emily's face during "Transit".
: D
Emily, in the beginning, the thing you saw and Matt remarked on is called "Pillars of Creation" sadly it doesn't exist anymore. It's very beautiful though.
This movie hits differently with me cuz this came out 1997. Two years before, I lost my mother in 1995. I was 13. Every time the final scene, when the alien takes her fathers appearance, that hits me.
Tom Skerritt is sneaky great. He just owns whichever character actor role he takes on. Like every single time.
This is one of my top 5 favorites of all time, not just alien movies, but all time. I saw this in the theaters and was amazed. the screen grab you needed for this was at 48:22, Emily, your eyes were popping at the start of the wormhole.
Part of Ms. Foster's "ethereal look" is the fact that it was shot on VistaVision cameras. We can thank Hollywood execs for abandoning the format, as the cameras were sold for pennies in the '70s to ILM (among others) and led to modern motion control used in The Best sci-fi for the next 20 years.
Another ‘science’ movie to watch would be Deep Impact. I was in an Earth and Space Science course in HS the fall after that came out, and we debated the intricacies between Deep Impact vs Armageddon. Teacher definitely gave her thoughts!! 😁
_Jurassic Park_ was where I thought to myself 'Well, now there's nothing they cannot do.'
"Oh you cookin' meth?" LMAO🤣
Also, Corridor Crew is an AWESOME channel, I especially love when they go back to older films and are just flabbergasted at how "simple" some tricks were to pull off certain effects. I say "simple" as in the thinking of how to do it is usually a "duh" moment, actually execution of said effect still usually took a good bit of work and being extremely precise. (Darby O'Gill in particular has a few neat tricks.)
You guys deserve more followers. Love the format, love the structure that you have in place for setup and discussion, and I ADORE the dynamic between the two of you. Thanks so much for these videos. Side note: Love this movie :)
Towards the end, when the alien disguised as her father reaches down and picks up sand, there is a crescent shape twinkle in the palm of his hand. That crescent shape is seen in the pop-corn on the floor when Ellie comes down stairs when her dad has the heart attack.
Also, in the very beginning opening sequence, when the camera pans back through the universe and exits out of young Ellie's eye, there is a reflection seen in her eye of the The Machine.
Thanks Emily! Thanks, Matthew! Thanks, Pippin! 📡📡📡📡📡📡📡📡📡 This is another one of my all-time favez. Kudos to writers Carl Sagan, James V. Hart and Michael Goldenberg... and to director Robert Zemeckis.
44:54: About the only thing that would have been more appropriate was if there was a quote of him saying "I did not have sexual relations with that alien".
4:07 a This is Aricibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Sadly it was set to be decommissioned in 2020 but before they had the chance part of it fell through the dish, effectively destroying itself. As of 2022 there is no funding to rebuild it.
Girl, you don't get half the recognition that you deserve from this guy.
6:46 I was in film school 2 years after this came out and we had a big discussion about that shot.
Damn, this movie made me fill absolute buckets with tears.
This is definitely Zemeckis' most underappreciated movie. The special effects still hold up, i love the science/faith argument, and all the performances are really great.
Never occurred to me until the Cinema Sherpa pointed it out: this flick has _2_ crew members of the Nostromo.
This is perfect, right after I just spends 2 hours watching people reviewing dozen episodes of the Three Body.
I considered, at the time, the sound of those full-sized rings: most. soothing. sound. ever.
24:38 I remember, I took a picture of that with my camera! Back when there was no internet, no screencap, I took my photo camera and took a picture of my TV screen, because I thought this Image was just so utterly, UTTERLY beautifiul! 😍😭😭
It changed me as a person...
Geez, Summer sounds like me whenever I watch this movie... Every time someone opens their mouth and says something stupid or to undercut/muscle-out Jodi Foster, I just go "Shut up!" 🤣🤣
Great movie, great reaction & Emily did a great job of seeing ahead at a few key moments. Well done!!
A great movie and loved E's excitement throughout.
Coincidentally my dad is re-reading the book right now.
Love any film with John Hurt in it.
Very fitting that Tom Skerritt and John Hurt are in this movie considering they've both succumbed to an ALIEN before in a different movie... there was only one survivor on the ship they were on, the Nostromo... Ellen Ripley.
i'm surprised she didn't notice Jodie Foster's father was Brutal from the Green Mile
LOVE this movie. I also really loved Matt's info on the movie at the end, in the comment part. Loved both of your reactions and your cat sleeping through the whole thing was adorable. ❤
I saw this in 1997 at the Uptown theater in Washington DC on their 70 foot by 40 foot screen. It was an amazing experience from the very first shot to the end. I've also read the novel and had the great privilege of meeting Carl Sagan in 1985. This ranks as probably one of my favorite sci-fi movies. The cast was fantastic, and the director really nails scenes that leave you on the edge of your seat or that lump in your throat.
This movie was a sleeper. I really like the idea of faith (I am agnostic). You guys ever going to watch The Right Stuff? Hopefully it is on one of your lists.
18:30 : Matt has the best facial expression from any reaction I've ever seen on UA-cam!
Both TV series of Cosmos are excellent.
The first series gives you an idea of where we were in science and pop culture in the 1970's and 1980's.
They got Ocaams Razor wrong. It's "The explanation with the least assumptions is more likely correct".