One of the best science fiction movie, the story is great and full of possible science facts, the actors are really convincing, the direction is perfect. If you are a science fiction lover, this movie is a must.

A great movie, from that opening pull out shot, the impossible mirror shot (Zemekis really doesn't get the credit he deserves sometimes) the pace is spot on, you don't feel its a 2 and half hour long film, great story, and as others have said because it is based on science fact, totally believable......watched this week in preparation for Interstellar

I was 10 when I went to the cinema watch this movie for the first time, and to this day it still is the deepest movie I've ever seen. I had the book at my home but I lost it while moving out and unfortunately never got to read it (yet). The plot is awesome and it's based on true science - the factorization into primes, for instance, that the aliens use to communicate with us, was actually tried out (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message) and you can learn more about it in a fascinating paper called "A Tale of Two Sieves" by mathematician Carl Pomerance:

"The cardinality of 1679 was chosen because it is a semiprime (the product of two prime numbers), to be arranged rectangularly as 73 rows by 23 columns".

@BenFranklin: Thanks for the suggestion, regarding the DNA - I saw a similar theory in Through the Wormhole I think (or was it NOVA ScienceNOW?) S02E09 or S03E02 but I Googled a bit and I think they haven't found an intelligent slope in our DNA plotting, the frequency seems to be near-randomic.

Many of the old movies did not get old in a good way. "Contact" is different. "Contact" grows old with dignity. Excellent, universal and accurate still after 25 years from it's premiere.

How I'd love something like this to be true

So awesome.

The reason the ideas in the film seem believable are because they are based upon actual science, the book (and screenplay for the film) were written by the late great Carl Sagan who refused to tack on any sci-fi elements just for the sake of it. The film is great but (and I hate to be one of these people) the book is better, if only because it's longer and more fleshed out, and you find out MUCH more about the aliens who sent the signal and about other life in the Universe in general.

Best Movie quote:
"If we are alone in the Universe, it sure seems like an awful waste of space."

- Eye popping opening scene
- Deals with the science vs religion debate in a clear and well thought manner
- Superb cast
- Intense and exciting plot that keeps you on the brink of what is yet to come
- Carl sagan is one the writers so expect some great science stuff :)
- Although this is science fiction, but the technical accuracy of when it comes to contact with an alien race is very believable and intelligent

Brilliant!

I'm not really a science-fiction guy, but this one is fantastic.
I love how they focused on the character of Dr. Arroway along with her father & the idea of a machine creating a wormhole - it makes the plot actually believable.

In some documentary (I think it was "Ancient Aliens") one scientist said that the human body is completely restorable with only 8-10% of the DNA (or even less). And if we were sent by a higher species... where would they hide a plan so we can decrypt it as soon as we are smart enough? Yes, in the DNA.
That's pretty conclusive, isn't it!?
Imagine how incredible this would be :D

Totally agree with @dunpealhunter's comment below.


Similar Movie:
http://trakt.tv/movie/the-last-mimzy-2007

Great movie. And probably the only movie that tells us in a believable way and a way that could actually happen how our first contact with aliens will be. Also its about the only movie i have ever seen that is not a documentary that has an actual president in it in a way that looks like he is a member of the acting cast He was not, when he was talking to the press he was actually talking about a meteorite that could contain life. That was edited so it looked like he was talking about the signal. The fact that in the end the atheist Dr. Arroway hand an experience that came down to something similar to that what religious people feel when they think they are in contact with their god/gods gave this movie in my book an A+

My favorite Sagan book just became one of my favorite movies in life. I've been deliberately postponing my time with "Contact" just because I was so fucking afraid it would do some kind of dirt with the masterpiece romance but damn... I was so wrong.
It's brilliant! Terrific, astonishing, deep, incredible - everything I could possibly love in a movie.

I love this movie. It is great sci-fi because it makes you think. But I also love it because it shows, at the bottom of it, what will happen should we ever discover that we are not alone. [spoiler] Not the part about the machine but the discussion between science and religion and about who is/was right. [/spoiler] I´ve believed so for years.
But this is also a great movie because it is a great book and I strongly recommend reading it.

A great movie Jodie Foster at her best... And good to see John Hurt again since he has passed away.....

This is great science fiction that is grounded enough to be believable. Its a little long and the pacing is off slightly but it is beautifully shot and an interesting ride.

[spoiler]It is funny seeing this after interstellar with the whole relative time thing and Matthew McConaughey is in both.[/spoiler]