In 1997 the landscape was very different. Robert Zemeckis was still considered a box-office draw, despite the fact that he was riding the post-Forrest Gump wave. The summer of 1997 saw the premiere of Contact, which promised a mind-bending and thought- provoking spectacle for fans of sci-fi.
While insightful and evocative, it remains cold and clinical, detached from its human characters in favor of its more important themes. Contact may never have a place in the pantheon of the best science fiction movies, but it is a worthy contender. It is necessary to be too cynical or contrarian to appreciate the film. It is difficult to follow and talky but still enjoyable.
There were twists and turns before and after Contact's release. Contact faced an uphill battle from the writing phase to the opening night and for a long time afterwards. The film has a collection of controversies, misunderstandings, and even lawsuits.
It's a nightmare for any studio to get complaints about a movie. Extra attention needs to be paid when the White House complains. The White House objected to the use of footage from two press conferences by President Bill Clinton in Contact. The film used clips that were heavily edited to support the existence of aliens. Clinton plays such a meaningful role that Entertainment Weekly claimed he could be nominated for a best supporting actor award.
The White House condemned the use of President Clinton and warned against the use of his image. A Warner Bros. spokesman said that the studio was upfront with the White House. The studio said they sent the final print from Contact before the premiere. They said they never sought or received permission from the White House to use Clinton's image.
It would be impossible for Warner Bros. to use an individual's image without their permission. Everyone involved in Contact would have no issues making it seem like Bill Clinton said something he didn't. The film didn't use an actor to portray Bill Clinton, but he did say things that seemed to confirm human contact with aliens.
Audiences would have enough sense to distinguish reality and fiction. If a person sees the President of the United States giving a speech and seems to confirm human contact with extraterrestrial life, could there be any truth to it? Conspiracy theorists, paranoids, and those who interpret crop circles are not included.
There was a debate about the morality of using peoples' likeness in motion pictures. Variety reported that copyright and fair-use experts were worried about what technological advancement would mean for the digital recreation of certain people. In 1997, the thought might have seemed far-fetched. It was 65 years after James Dean's death that it was announced that a digitally recreated version of him would star in a Vietnam drama. 22 years after his death, Peter Cushing made a brief appearance in the film.
The Clinton incident caused a stir in 1997 because of the lines between reality and fiction. It is truly frightening to think that the worst fears of lawyers and experts may come to pass sooner than later. The experts should see us now.
Jodie Foster is the star of Contact, but she isn't getting all the attention. The opening lines of a contemporary review for the film were similar to the sentiment of many other critics and fans who were more concerned with contact's questionable ethical practices than with the film itself. The film included appearances by Larry King and Bernard Shaw.
There was a discussion about the ethics of CNN and Warner Bros. working together. The reporters were supposed to promote the network during the summer months, but CNN CEO Tom Johnson declared the decision a mistake, saying it created the impression that CNN is manipulated by Time Warner. Other people agreed. Eric Ober was the former president of CBS News. Johnson decided that any future appearances would need to be approved by CNN.
The reaction might have been overstated. It's not unusual for news anchors to appear in film and television; a year ago, many reporters appeared in Independence Day. In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Soledad O'Brien and Anderson Cooper show up, as well as Martin Lewis and Pat Kiernan, who have appeared in several Disney+ shows. She danced with Matthew Morrison on the show.
The CNN scandal gave contact a strange sense of legitimacy. While no one had an issue with a real-life reporter appearing in a ridiculous piece of summer entertainment like The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Zemeckis' Contact was a serious film. It was the thinking person's entertainment, serious and full of weighty themes, not your average garbage movie or campy action flick, and there were a lot of those in the summer of 1997. The CNN debacle kept Contact in people's mind for years after its initial release window, and controversy is always good if the project can weather the storm. Is all publicity worth it?
George Miller is an accomplished film director. One of the few genuine auteurs working in modern blockbusters, he delivers insightful and evocative pieces that never compromise action or spectacle. Mad Max 2, Babe, and Max Max:Fury Road are some of the best films of the 20th and 21st century. Miller could havehelmed Contact as well.
Miller worked on the project for over a year after signing on to direct. It was Miller who first approached Jodie Foster; the director wanted several revisions of the story. Warner Bros. wanted it large, grand, and splashy, while Miller wanted a million things, many of which would push Contact past its schedule and budget.
Miller compared his version to Christopher Nolan's Interstellar and stated that he had never seen Zemeckis' Contact. In a recent interview, Foster called Miller's script "incredibly long" and "crazy" and compared it to her movie "Erasehead." Foster praised Miller but said he was surprised by Warners decision to fire him.
A number of prominent directors are involved in the contact tangle. Warner Bros. and Carl Sagan were sued by Francis Ford Coppola. The short story they developed for the television special was the basis for the novel. The agreement between the two states that they would share any proceedings from First Contact and any novel written afterwards.
In 1998, a judge dismissed the claim because it was too long before he sued. The appeals court dismissed the director's claim. At a time when he was also pursuing legal action against Warner Bros. over the doomed Pinnochio project, the court said that Coppola didn't think of suing until 1994.
Contact is a fascinating example of a science fiction novel. It was one of the most ambitious films of the '90s, a passion project that went through many hands and minds without benefiting from any of them. It didn't do anything for Jodie Foster's career, but it did give us a lot of juicy behind-the-scenes details.
Contact is one of Hollywood's juiciest behind-the-scenes dramas. Think of the films Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Waterworld, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. The drama surrounding these films outweighs the quality of the film.
The Contact we have now pales in comparison to the Contact we could have had. The film's background may be more interesting than the finished product. That isn't an insult towards Contact, it's a compliment What if the how-to is more entertaining than the movie? Contact is a great piece of cinema. How it got there isn't important. It did, which is more than any other film can say.
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