MovieChat Forums > Contact (1997) Discussion > I couldn't really get into it despite lo...

I couldn't really get into it despite loving Interstellar

posted 10 years ago by ohdearurdead
37 replies | jump to latest

I was 7 years old in 1997, and I never saw this movie as a kid. I imagine the worm hole scene would have blown my mind at the time.

I have seen almost every movie in the IMDB top250, and yet when I saw Interstellar last year, my life was changed by it. This isn't some sentimental bullcrap that I would say easily, no movie in history has done that to me. It was life-changing without exaggeration.

Anyway, I went into this movie trying to find some kind of similar vibe here. ALAS.. I could watch Interstellar probably 3 times in a row loving every minute, but this was awful. I was bored out of my mind the entire time.

Is it that this was groundbreaking in the 90's, but that it's a little hard to take in the modern times? Good story telling and emotions don't expire, after all. I was really sad I couldn't get anything out of it! The two hours before the climax are absolutely unbearable and meandering.

[–] benman46 10 years ago

A very good film, but hardly ground breaking.

[–] The_Film_Addict 10 years ago

Perhaps this has to do with the way younger audiences have grown accustomed to view film. I wouldn't call this film boring, but it is one of those films that takes its time with its story, like a lot of movies before 2000. Interstellar jumped right into the space scenes without really grabbing and exploring the implications of it, and that's okay, but they're extremely different.

I would encourage you to give it another chance sometime in the future. Contact is a beautiful film of the highest caliber. All Interstellar is, without trying to undermine it, is a fusion of 2001 and Contact. I think they're all good films, but having to choose, I'd go with Contact. Is it a bit dated? Most definitely, but then again all films are. It's just the nature of film.

Did you see the scene where they pick up the transmission? Did you find that interesting? Or the politics of choosing who goes on the journey? Or it's debate with religion and science? Or the final revelation between those government officials? Or even that beautiful beginning where we take a trip into space, traveling with the sound waves as they slowly dim into an eerie silence?

"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta

[–] hellas_crown 10 years ago

This is exactly what I felt after watching this movie. The first time I watched it was an exceptional cinema experience. I couldn't imagine watching it in a theatre at the time the movie was released. The movie was suspenseful, intriguing, and mind-boggling on the scientific issue, but also interesting on social issue. I found that the social conflicts (government intervention, religious debate, etc) depicted in the movie were a reasonable consequence of such an event. It's different from Interstellar that has a much faster pace and is less focused on the implications of such an event. Indeed it was a brilliant movie from all aspects, but it's just different and offered a different experience. I rated both movies a 9 thanks to the equally fantastic experience these two movies gave me.

[–] charzhino 10 years ago

I came to watch Contact after watching Interstellar like you, and similar to you I loved Nolans space epic. I wasn't particularly bored by Contact because the first hour was very intriguing with all the science behind ET contact (I like scientific exposition). But the second half of Contact just got completely unrealistic with the government getting involved, building a machine worth trillions of dollars and having a christian suicide bomb it only to find there's a duplicate machine in Japan. It just felt unrealistic and forced the God theory down our throats (much worse than the Love theme in Interstellar). I didn't mind the climax of when Jodie Foster visited the alien planet, just felt let down by the awful wooden acting by the actor portraying her father. Maybe it will get better on a rewatch but I don't fancy watching 2.5 hours of it again.

[–] The_Film_Addict 10 years ago

A message from space containing instructions towards a mechanized structure without government intervention is unimaginable.

This is a great film, and the idea of religion isn't shoved down our throats. It's exploring a debate and a concept that's relavant to our lives, and not in a trivial sense, the way it's typically explored. (ex: God is real and wonderful and Jesus, etc.)

Personally, I didn't find anything unrealistic. It truly is a great movie. I guess I'm just baffled that someone would walkout of this film with these thoughts. First and foremost, it's a story; a controlled environment. Maybe it needed organ music.

"I wish I wasn't afraid all the time, but I am."
-V for Vendetta

[–] peggygeordie 10 years ago

I agree with your description of this film. The only thing I would add is that it was so wonderful at conveying unearthly beauty and the sheer awe of Elly's experience, as when she says, "No words.... They should have sent a poet." So powerful!

It is so rare that we see awe in the face of indescribable beauty.

[–] leo_c 10 years ago

You're not supposed to watch Contact for the special effects, and the wormhole scene isn't supposed to blow you away. The fact you didn't find the vibe of Interstellar in Contact is not a flaw of Contact, all it means is it wasn't what you expected.

Contact is a story about the search for truth, about our place in the universe and how we ought to ponder on it more, about science and religion and how the two clash with each other but don't necessarily have to. There is so much to get from this movie, it is indeed sad you didn't get anything out of it.

Carl Sagan wrote the story behind Contact, and you can feel him in the dialogues and in the messages that the movie puts forth. If you've never heard of Carl Sagan I suggest you watch his series Cosmos (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081846/). Alas you won't find jaw-dropping CGI in it either, but you will find many other things that are so much more important than nice-looking images.

Interstellar hardly makes you ponder about any of that. In the beginning there is Cooper's speech about how we stopped looking up, and that's about it. Jodie Foster in Contact conveys the same message much better across when she tries to get funding for her search for extraterrestrial signals.

Interstellar is about exploring some not-so-cool-looking worlds and about saving humanity with a paradox, with a metaphysical message thrown in the mix about love. There's the beautiful CGI in space I'll give you that, the cool robots, and the powerful music there and there, which I guess is enough if you don't like thinking too much when watching a movie.

[–] TheTerminatorsky 10 years ago

How would anyone know if travel through a wormhole has any color at all? maybe its all grey, or just white all over?!
I reckon both '2001' and 'Contact' were wrong on the topic.

[–] freejazz38 10 years ago

That's cuz you're lame

[–] StanleyKubrick2001 10 years ago

I saw Interstellar last year, my life was changed by it.

If you life was changed by a *beep* movie like Interstallar your life must suck!

[–] peggygeordie 10 years ago

Art often changes life, whether by a great film, a great painting or a great book. If your life has never been changed in this way, it is you who are living an impoverished existence. Art can often convey what words cannot.

[–] Fluffis 9 years ago

Art often changes life, whether by a great film, a great painting or a great book. If your life has never been changed in this way, it is you who are living an impoverished existence. Art can often convey what words cannot.

Or maybe he just didn't think that Interstellar was some kind of great work of art.

I know I didn't.

I thought it was an okay flick, with pretensions way beyond what it could deliver.

Quidquid Latinae dictum sit, altum viditur.

[–] djanimor 10 years ago

Different strokes for different folks.

I agree with another poster here that Contact could be a movie that is challenging for today's youth to enjoy. It does in fact take longer for the entire story to unfold, but I was completely engaged in the social commentary leading up to the launch. I saw this in the theater and I thought the wormhole was amazing.

I am not a big fan of Interstellar. It was ok enough, and it kept me entertained enough to enjoy it in the theater, but I would have preferred more back story.

Of course it's a crime on imdb to say you aren't a fan of Nolan, but it is what it is.

Contact blows Interstellar away.

[–] peggygeordie 10 years ago

I had just the opposite reaction. I found "Interstellar" very distant and uninvolving as did my companion, yet we were enthralled by "Contact."

I wish more science fiction would focus on unearthly beauty and the wonders of the universe.