Contact: A Personal Voyage

I loved the movie when I was a kid and named my next cats Vega and Lyra after watching it. The characters annoyed me back then as they annoyed me now, the heavy breathing, constantly on the verge of breakdown demeanour that Jodie Foster calls acting, the insufferably arrogant chauvinism pumping through the veins of the movie right until the very last scene, it's all a little too much and I'm never quite sure if the tension I feel watching it is induced by the heart pounding screenplay or the eye-straining, wrinkled forehead and jutted jaw of Jodie. But it's a good movie, and lapis molari has done it justice by streamlining it to reduce the 90s cringe and I can't fault any of the edit as it appeared flawless to me.

However, the Carl Sagan narrative seemed a little unnecessary, or perhaps it could have had a better effect if it was around 30 seconds into the credits, the movie has finished, the music fades, there's some rustling, then Carl Sagan starts his spiel. I hadn't seen the movie in a while and I was curious about this ending but for it to come straight as the movie finished was an unwelcome surprise and it was all too much like changing the channel too quickly. But there's something there of value for sure. Thanks Lapis.

It's been a while since I watched the original, so I don't remember every detail of it, but I found this a superior experience. I remember a lot of the interactions with Palmer Joss (interactions now cut) being really annoying, with him sabotaging her chances of going and all that. The rest of what was cut I didn't miss at all, and from a look at the cut scenes listed under Changes, I think it must have been a lot of unnecessary junk.

Technically, the edit was quite good, though I found the audio somewhat too quiet for the whole film, in contrast with most films I watch. Perhaps the original was that way, I don't recall now. I had to turn it up extra to hear the words I was seeing with the subtitles.

The only area of the narrative I felt was a bit off was in the last part (in Japan) where Palmer apologizes to Ellie. Presumably he was apologizing for sabotaging her chances, but with that plotline removed, it left me as the viewer wondering what he was apologizing for.

I can see how the lecture audio over the end credits might fit, though I personally didn't enjoy it as much and felt a more classic end credits bit of music would have fit better. I definitely enjoyed watching the edit, though, and find it superior enough to the original to replace it for any future rewatches.

First of all, let me start by saying that the decision to remove several lines of dialogue and some sublots was absolutely correct, in my opinion.

The talk with the alien is a little more rational and grounded now. The rest of the changes on the 3rd act also keep the story more focused and with a clear direction. The ending is now great, that is the best place to close the story.

My only point of (constructive) criticism is at 1h37m time (the farewell scene with Palmer). On a single cut near the end of that scene, on both video and audio, the cut is too obvious and "out of place". This is likely due to the fact that there is no way around it, considering the choice of changing Palmer's stupid sabotaging (and I absolutely agree with that change).

I would suggest it would be better to remove that entire scene, I don't think the story loses anything (the way it works now) if Palmer is not there to say goodbye. Ellie's personality and the way she is presented to us doesn't require a "farewell scene" at all.

Actually, her other close friend, Kent, also travels to Japan (we see him inside the control room and he is crucial in that scene), but he doesn't have to say goodbye to Ellie and it works fine that way. I would therefore argue that the same thing happening with Palmer would be just fine (only being present in the control room would be enough).

In this way, the cut would happen just after the Japanese men says "Dr. Arroway, time to get ready" and the film would go directly to the elevator door opening scene.

Another argument for this: Palmer and Ellie's hug, after her hearing, as well as his little speech after that, already serve as the culmination of their relationship.

This is now, for sure, my go-to version of the film.
Thanks for this!

Simply a great improvement on the original.

Two thumbs up lapis molari!

I was pleasantly surprise by this fanedit that I would like the movie more than I thought I would because as Mr. Garrison said from south park: "wasted 3 hours just for the aliens to turn out to be her dead father". But what Lapis Molari did right was make more about the female protagonist's journey of overcoming her grief of her dead father and having a renewed sense of life than if whether aliens exists or not which they do but that is not the main point. They also toned down not just the annoying characters but also the philosophical debates which can be repetitive at times which is a plus too but the editing at those parts is too obvious.