# Contact (1997)

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/shat-the-movies-80-s-90-s-best-film-review-573363/contact-1997
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/shat-the-movies-80-s-90-s-best-film-review-573363/contact-1997.md
Podcast: [Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review](https://stenobird.com/podcast/shat-the-movies-80-s-90-s-best-film-review-573363)
Published: 2026-01-10T08:20:06+00:00
Episode link: https://shatpod.com/movies/
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/shatthemovies/ep-477-1997-contact.mp3?dest-id=414986
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/shat-the-movies-80-s-90-s-best-film-review-573363/episodes/contact-1997
Duration seconds: 4049

## Resource

This week, Shat The Movies looks to the stars with Contact , Robert Zemeckis's thoughtful, talky, and occasionally frustrating sci-fi drama about faith, science, and whether humanity is ready for the truth. Based on Carl Sagan's novel and anchored by a career-best performance from Jodie Foster, Contact dares to ask big questions—then spends two and a half hours arguing about who gets to answer them. Gene and Big D debate whether this is smart, adult science fiction or a preachy lecture disguised as a blockbuster. They dig into Matthew McConaughey's spiritual hot takes, the movie's suspicious politics, the weirdly hostile government oversight, and one of the most memorable fake-out climaxes of the '90s. Along the way, they ask the ultimate Shat question: is Contact profound—or just very impressed with itself? Plot Summary A driven scientist discovers an alien signal containing instructions to build a mysterious machine, forcing humanity to confront the conflict between science, faith, politics, and the possibility that we are not alone. Subscribe Now Android: https://www.shatpod.com/android Apple/iTunes: https://www.shatpod.com/apple Help Support the Podcast Contact Us: https://www.shatpod.com/contact Commission Movie: https://www.shatpod.com/support Support with Paypal: https://www.shatpod.com/paypal Support With Venmo: https://www.shatpod.com/venmo Shop Merchandise: https://www.shatpod.com/shop Theme Song - Die Hard by Guyz Nite: https://www.facebook.com/guyznite

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## Transcript

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