A lesson on idiotic directing

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2001)

...or how to transform a fantastic, compelling story to utter cheese. The only good thing about the movie is that they dedicated it to Carl Sagan. Without his powerful novel it would be a total bomb. If we remove Sagan's masterpiece we are left with dumb sentimental dialogues, fluff about God (an insult, since Carl was a famous atheist), pathetic erotic interaction between Foster and McConaughey and the usual American nationalism. Thankfully Carl was gone before seeing it on the big screen, he was probably going to punch Zemeckis. Now thinking the other way, if you try to overlook all this, we have a chance to watch on celluloid an absorbing and, most important, scientifically accurate sci-fi tale by a master. So, despite the novel's rape, I would still suggest it.