Contact worth buying if i didn't like the movie?

[homerbert]

You can debate the wider topic of "can DVD's make a movie you didn't like worth buying". I found contact to be boring, and a poor attempt by Zemeckis to remake close encounters. I don't hate it but i'm not a fan. However the disk is £10 (half normal price,) and i was wondering if it's worth buying. I keep hearing that Fosters commentry is great, and i'm a big fan of Zemeckis, but is it worth buying?
Thanks

[Everything]

Hmmmm. . .quite frankly, I wouldn't buy a movie I didn't like mostly because I'm not into DVD "extras". What I mean by that is, I wouldn't buy a DVD (where the main feature was boring) just because it was half price or it had a cool container or cool extras.

BUT, if you think of movies like music and you're a fan of Zemeckis, then buy it and maybe Contact will grow on you after a couple of spin downs. My comparison to music is this: I've purchased every CD by a group or musician. . .not liking all of them, but keeping the collection "up to date". . .so to speak. So maybe you could do the same with Zemeckis' work.

Also, even though the DVD is half price, if you didn't by Contact, a movie you found boring, you could roll the money you didn't spend on it into a movie or Special Edition that you rather enjoy.

My thoughts on your topic.



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Everything. | everything@kas.cc | www.kas.cc

[Taxi]

Personally, I thought the Jodi Foster commentary was OK, not great. The commentaried by Zemekis and the two special effects guys was much more interesting to me.

Would I buy this movie just for those commentaries and the other special FX features? Probably, especially if the price were right, which it appears to be in this case.

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Taxi
DVDFile Administrator
taxi@dvdfile.com

[Joe Michaels]

If I thought a movie was boring I wouldn't buy it no matter what extras they have.(although I bought Fight Club Don't flame me Tyler Durden )Contact has the least amount of extra incentive to buy it.

[Taxi]

Contact has the least amount of extra incentive to buy it.

I don't agree with you Joe, or maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here.

Contact, the DVD, has a plethora or extra incentive to buy it, if you consider the special effect featurettes, and three commentaries extra incentive. Compare this with a DVD with none of these extras, (Taking into account how you feel about commentaries and peeks behind the scenes of how a film is made), and I think your statement doesn't hold much weight.

Like I said, if you totally hated this movie, then that's one thing. (This being one of my all time favorites, I'd have a hard time understanding anybody having such a distaste for it.) But considering that this was one of the earlier DVDs released, I think it stands out even today as a prime example of what a DVD can be.


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Taxi
DVDFile Administrator
taxi@dvdfile.com

[Dehrian]

Yeah, back when Contact first came out on DVD, it was the disc to get. At that time, it was the one disc everyone had to own, because it had features like no other release had had before. Of course, now it looks tame; but at the time, it was primo #$%^.

If you don't like the movie, I can't recommend buying it, because I can't imagine you'll ever watch it. However, if you're interested in film making at all, the Zemeckis commentary is more than worth $10. It's very informative.

[Ambushbug]

Actually Dehrian, homerbert found it for 10 pounds, not 10 dollars, or roughly $14. Not to put too fine a point on it ... And still an excellent buy

Anywho, buy the disc and check it out. If you don't like it, put it up for sale or trade here on the forum. Or sell it to a pawnshop. Or give it to a friend for Christmas, or a birthday.

I'd normally suggest renting it first, but with *three* commentaries, you might not have time to check out everything before it was due back...

AB

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[Tyler Durden]

What the hell is the point in buying a copy of a film you don't like?! Especially when all the extras are about a film you've just said you don't like!!?? I just don't get some of you at all - you're all nuts! Waste of money in my opinion... Welcome to the twilight zone...de de de de duh duh duh duh

[P7A77]

Generally with me, the things I end up liking the most and for the longest time are the things that, on first pass, just sort of make me go "hmm", and in some cases disliked completely. Granted, this happens more with music, art, and architecture than with movies, but still there to some extent. And often if I *really* like something the first time around I'll end up forgetting about it or lowering my opinion. So there's a reason right there. Some people let their opinions grow with time, rather than just deciding yes/no instantly.

Another reason is that homerbert said he was a fan of Zemeckis, which is reason enough to get Contact, since it has a commentary track BY Zemeckis, has extra features on the making of one of HIS films, and even if he doesn't like the movie iteself, he might be interested in how a favorite director of his goes about putting together a movie, how actors feel about working with him, etc. Also, there's a bit of the "completist" mentality there that Everything/Mother hinted at. Tying back into my original reason, there have been CDs I've bought just to keep a complete collection that have ended up being my favorites.

Of course, your posts didn't deserve more than a few seconds in a response, so if you don't feel like reading all of that, let me just say "because we said so nyeah neener neener booboo pthpthpthptphtp I'm gonna tell mom".

[Dominik Pfleghaar]

[Taxi]

[P7A77]

[homerbert]

Like i said, i didn't hate the movie, i just thought it was average. I am a huge movie fan, and like hearing about how they were made. This is more true with a movie like contact where i don't like a movie enough for a commentry to spoil the "magic" for me. I really wanna hear what a director like Zemeckis has to say. His thinkingbehind stuff would be interesting. As an aspiring filmmaker( who isn't?) I wish to hear how the man who made Back To The Future, Forrest Gump and some other greats thinks. I was asking if the commentries were good enough to justify the purchase.

[H. Humbert]

Rent it to check out the extras. If you lke the extras, then buy it

plan and simple

[P7A77]

Well, then, you should definitely get it, or at least rent it, as countless others have suggested. It's been a couple of years since I listened to it, but I remember the Zemeckis commentary to be fairly active and descriptive on all the effects he used and types of shots he wanted, etc. And the behind-the-effects scenes are good, too. I think they're by and large the same group of people who did many of his past movies, too, so it's sort of related.

So when is BTTF going to be released again...?

[Joe Michaels]

I have Contact. I just thought the extras were average and not worth it JUST for them if you didn't like the movie.

[esc]

i am biased toward contact because i thought it was one of the top 10 films of that year, but all 3 commentaries are among the best that i have heard (an i've listened to over 100), also the little mini featurettes arent too bad either.

to add to the debate of buying title just for the extras.. i would never have bought Conan if it didnt have the Arnold commentary, tons of people said the commentary was very good and funny, so i picked it up. I wouldnt have bought Men In Black, In the Mouth of Madness or any of the Bond movies if it werent for the commentaries, documentaries and deleted scenes.

but i guess it all depends on the person who is buying the title, i have a fried who will buy a movie just for the movie, and he never even looks at the special features.