Less Sci-fi more Pre-Chee

Rating: 3/10 (19 August 2012)

I remember on my first viewing of Contact back in 97 i was quite captivated by it. It was a very risky sci-fi movie for the time. There are no spaceships zipping around shoot death star shaped objects. There is no improbable hero. There are no three eyed aliens. Even so Contact was fascinating. That was back in 97.
I just watched the movie now in 2012 an oh how nostalgia sometimes is ripped apart by a second viewing. Once again i was fascinated, by the first 30 Min's, which is gripping. Things go really downhill after that where smart science is thrown out the window for things like time travel. Its a very strange mix to suddenly shift from "plausible" to "blatent impossibility".
Then it struck me how much of a complete cop out the whole movie is on many levels. The audience goes through many levels of expectation only to be left down by a really bad punchline in the plot. The film starts by being grounded and interesting. The whole sequence of events when the first signal is received is just as exciting for us as it is for the scientists on the screen. You can feel the wonder of what being in that situation would be like. Then things start to take a surreal turn. The intelligent science is now technobabble. Its very hard to be riveted by discussions about waves within waves and when Hitler is suddenly thrust into things you start to feel you are being preached to. The preaching thus continues throughout the whole movie to one degree or another. Not thought provoking stuff, this is Hollywood preaching where everything is explained to you. But the biggest cop out of all is "the beach scene". As a viewer you have just been through the ordeal of Jodie Foster being thrust through wormholes. After an experience like that you almost deserve a good pay off. You go through all that, the whole movie, waiting for the point when you will see the extraterrestrial life. Oh dear. Its a beach with Jodies dad. I understand the point behind the scene, i understand that it worked out in the book, but here it feels out of place.
Contact really does not know what it wants to be, it tries to be many things but ends up getting bogged down by the very simplified notion of science and religion working together. It overshadows the whole point of the first contact event. I never connect religion with science. Science is truth. Religion is faith. But in the case of Contact religion simply bullies and seduces science. Science is left to cow tow to religion asking for its acceptance. This happens when doubt is raised. The Hollywood preaching machine is simply telling you "heck if it can't be explained just have faith". Thats the "deep" message you are left with. Its not even written in a way where the viewer can have any doubts. Everything is said time and time again until "you get it". After Ms fosters very long speech about "having faith" ( in case you missed it already ) there is a scene which negates everything just said by proving you didn't need faith really anyway cause its all real. The ultimate cop out. The revelation itself is the dumbest thing ever. Nobody whatever thought about putting a clock on the pod ? Nobody noticed really quickly that 18 hours of static was recorded ? Did they just watch it for 3 Min's ? Its just too dumb to comprehend especially when Ms Foster character is basically called a liar. "you're a liar" "oh no you're not". It's that black and white.
If Contact had been smart about its preaching it would have been a much more enjoyable. Instead the religious stuff is just eye rolling bad which makes it a chore to sit through. Its a shame really, the idea behind it all is fine, it just fails to deliver on what it promises.