Jake Busey. Who had a hell of a '97, in terms of sci-fi, starring in both Contact and Starship Troopers.

I was 16 when Contact came out - the first summer any of us had a car - and I remember my friends and I wanting to see a movie, and it coming down to this and Nothing to Lose, a comedy starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins. I of course wanted to see Contact, but none of my friends did, so I begrudgingly went along to Nothing to Lose. But then that ended up being hilarious, and a legit fun movie, so I couldn't stay annoyed. I finally ended up seeing Contact a few days later, with a couple other friends, and all of us were blown away. It's one of the first movies I remember seeing twice in theaters, finally convincing even more friends to go the second time.

Btw, I just looked it up, and summer '97 was insane, for many reasons...

5.02 - Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
5.09 - The Fifth Element
5.23 - The Lost World: Jurassic Park
6.06 - Con Air
6.13 - Speed 2: Cruise Control
6.20 - Batman & Robin
6.20 - My Best Friend's Wedding
6.27 - Face/Off
7.02 - Men in Black
7.11 - Contact
7.18 - Nothing to Lose
7.25 - Air Force One
8.01 - Air Bud
8.01 - Spawn
8.06 - Free Willy 3: The Rescue
8.08 - Conspiracy Theory
8.13 - The Full Monty
8.15 - Cop Land
8.15 - Event Horizon
8.15 - Steel
8.22 - G.I. Jane
8.22 - Mimic

PatAg said:

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That oral history was great, and I love this movie.

This quote is pretty absurd
Obst: We all talked about Contact wanting to beat the stupid version, Independence Day, which had come out a year earlier and been a big hit. Do you remember what a piece of idiocy that was? With aliens shooting at computers? It's a movie that I irrationally despised for this reason: I hated them disproving Carl. Carl believed that if you gave somebody entertainment that stimulated their cerebral cortex, made them have to think in a thrilling way, it would be more successful than appealing to their reptilian brain. I wanted Contact to be No. 1. Then it opened against Men in Black and came in second. It made me really angry for a long time that the stupid movies won.

But now people tell me they just watched Contact with their younger daughter for the first time. I realized, well, it's about longevity, isn't it? It's a long race. Nobody remembers Independence Day anymore. And they all remember Contact.

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Except for tomorrow when it plays 24/7

I love both movies, but for completely different reasons. Just because it's brainless doesn't mean it can't be fun.

Yeah, that quote was the one bit of absurdity in an otherwise phenomenal oral history. What does "... aliens shooting at computers" even mean in that context? Granted, Independence Day *is* "stupid" in so much as the computer virus aspect of the plot is ridiculous, as is the concept of human-made jet fighters being able to dog fight with alien fighters. But it's still a beloved, objectively fun and entertaining blockbuster with heart. What I find truly "reptilian" is shaming people for enjoying ID4, limiting the only metric to box office when measuring which is "more successful" than the other, or even having to choose one over the other the first place.

TCTTS said:

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I was 16 when Contact came out - the first summer any of us had a car - and I remember my friends and I wanting to see a movie, and it coming down to this and Nothing to Lose, a comedy starring Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins. I of course wanted to see Contact, but none of my friends did, so I begrudgingly went along to Nothing to Lose. But then that ended up being hilarious, and a legit fun movie, so I couldn't stay annoyed. I finally ended up seeing Contact a few days later, with a couple other friends, and all of us were blown away. It's one of the first movies I remember seeing twice in theaters, finally convincing even more friends to go the second time.

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It also just occurred to me that this was LAST movie I saw in theaters, for three months or so. Later that July, when the rest of my family was out of town for some sporting event thing for my sisters, a friend and I randomly shot a car with a BB gun from my second story bedroom window - we were incredibly bored and incredibly stupid - the driver called the cops, and we ended up getting arrested. I hid the gun in the attic, behind a secret door in my sister's closet that doubled as a shelf. The cops separated me and my friend, pulled the ol' "Your friend just told us everything" routine, when neither had snitched, and that's how they got us. Finally took the cop through the secret attic entrance to retrieve the gun.

When I called my parents to tell them I had been arrested, there was a long pause, I then said "Hello?" to which my dad finally replied, through gritted teeth, "Don't. Speak. From now on... you are a virus. You are grounded, and no one will ever come in contact with you again."

My friend and I both had to turn ourselves in later that week, for processing, once my parents were back in town. We got fingerprinted and had our mugshots taken at juvie, had to pay for the damage we caused to the car (nicked windshield and chipped paint = $1000 total), each do 15 hours of community service, and then attend six "Positive Steps" courses with a bunch of other juvenile delinquents, one of whom was a Hispanic kid everyone called "Chicken Nugget" because that's somehow exactly what he looked like. Then, my parents came up with a point system where, say, taking out the trash was five points, among many other tasks, and I had to earn 800 total points before I was free again. Took me just over two months to do all of that.

This is all a long of way of saying that's probably another reason I love this movie so much is because it's the last movie I got to see in the theater until sometime that fall.

You haven't developed this into some kind of modern Stand By Me screenplay???

It's right there waiting for you!

Never talk to the cops, bro!

schmendeler said:

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Never talk to the cops, bro!

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They went L.A. Confidential interrogation on him and his friend!

Orlando Ayala Cant Read said:

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Was anyone else really creeped out by the bad guy terrorist that blew it all up? That dude gave me chills.

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The first time I saw it in the theater, this scene when everyone realized Gary Busey's son was not supposed to be in the control room - audible gasps and then complete silence in the full theater. We went to see it a second time just to watch the audience reaction to that scene. Chilling both times.

One of the best freaking soundtracks out there, up there with lighting of the beacons in return of the king:



Also screw the deus ex machinas this is still a chilling scene and Hadden is an awesome character.

PSA for all you Contact fans: the movie is currently going for $4.99 on iTunes. Added it to my digital library this morning.

I have it on laser disc also, so I'm looking to convert to VHS as soon as possible.

Just rewatched. This really is a good sci-fi movie. I can see why it lost people at the end when it went hard sci-fi with the wormhole trip. I need to reread the book as I forget the differences although I do remember the "proof" from the book and that would have lost people even more.

I was going to watch Moonfall next but I just can't. Doesn't feel right to do that to Carl Sagan.