Incredible, Cinematic Sci-Fi

Rating: 9/10 (9 March 2000)

I've read comments from others on this movie, and it really frustrates me that so many of the IMDB users just don't get it.
This is an incredible film: intelligent, funny, scary, touching, tense and thought-provoking, all in no particular order.
These characters are real characters, not just stock, by-the-book regular characters that you only care about because the actors who play them are on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.
The thought put into these characters, as well as the ecological structure of the planet (not to mention the opening crash landing), is clearly more in-depth than some viewers (both at the box office and on the IMDB) are giving it credit for. Anyone who paid attention in school can hopefully interpret what they see on the screen, and see how much thought David Twohy and the other writers put in to how these creatures would evolve in such an environment, and how the rest of the planet-- visiting humans, or otherwise-- would react.
So the premise isn't 100% believable, but that's a nitpicky excuse from someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. Humans can't travel between solar systems, EITHER, but no one thought to comment on THAT. It's a freakin' movie folks, certain things have to be accepted. This ship is going from Planet A to Planet B, and they crashed on a planet that has comparable gravity and atmosphere to Earth, and it's got 3 suns. Stranger things happen on Star Trek and I don't see a single negative comment THERE... heck, it's even more improbable that an Alien (1979) could have acid for blood, but everyone bought that without batting an eyelash.
Ignore the Nitpicky comments you see on this site. This is a well-thought out, character-driven sci-fi story that I was riveted too, both by the characters, and the amazing visual images that Twohy has brought to the screen. If "The Arrival" was only a glimmer of his writing/directing talent, this is a full-on assault on the nerves of any self-respecting movie-goer... I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
Oh, and the moral lesson at the end. It succeeded where Saving Private Ryan failed completely. And if you don't know what that means, you're one of the people I'm taking a shot at.
9/10. Sure it's not making money, but neither did Fight Club. History will decide.