Contact @ Amazon

In 1997, Robert Zemeckis brought astronomer Carl Sagan’s much loved science-fiction novel Contact to cinemas, with big-time studio cash and a big-name cast, including Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey. The movie was an extremely faithful adaptation, with Foster starring as an astronomer obsessed with the SETI program — the search for extra-terrestrial life. The government wants to cut funding, but she alone fights tooth and nail to keep the program alive. And just when all hope seems lost…

(the following is a spoiler only if you don’t know anything about movies)

… her years of patient effort are rewarded with a ground-breaking discovery! But has the audience’s patience been likewise rewarded? It takes the movie a long time to get anywhere interesting, and even after Foster makes her discovery, Contact doesn’t exactly explode with intensity or action. Rather, Zemeckis takes us on a slow-burning spiritual journey, aided by a lot of special effects, technical scientific details, and drawn-out discussions between the main characters about the nature of space and God. It enthralled as many viewers as it bored to tears, resulting in a Film Contentiousness Quotient of 46.42 (details on the math here).

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Here are a couple battling opinions from Criticker users.

barshki: “A thought provoking film to it’s core, the very best movie of the 90′s, not to be missed. Don’t forget your brain!”

sebby: “Very cheesy. Poorly directed. Poor performances from the leads. No ultimate payoff. Overlong, yet most aspects of the film felt thin and not fleshed out. Truly, this film is hot shit.”

Last week’s poll is closed, and you have decided by a large margin that Marc Forster’s Stay is great! Not too many people voted on that film, which we suppose is because not too many have seen it (we haven’t either). But now, we might.

And here’s our up-to-date list of the top 10 most contentious films at Criticker:

1. Eyes Wide Shut – FCQ 59.53 – Poll Result: GREAT!
2. Dumb & Dumber – FCQ 52.57 – Poll Result: GREAT!
3. I Am Sam – FCQ 51.74 – Poll Result: TERRIBLE!
4. King Kong – FCQ 51.15 – Poll Result: GREAT!
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – FCQ 49.71 – Poll Result: TERRIBLE!
6. Saw – FCQ 49.35 – Poll Result: TIE!
7. Stay – FCQ 48.45 – Poll Result: GREAT!
8. Brotherhood of the Wolf – FCQ 48.06 – Poll Result: GREAT!
9. I Heart Huckabees – FCQ 48.00 – Poll Result: GREAT!
10. Marie Antoinette – FCQ 46.8 – Poll Result: TERRIBLE!