watched it this weekend. not usually a sci-fi person but did enjoy this movie.

Dr. Watson said:

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The purpose of teaching us to communicate with them is to alter the way we think and approach existence. To that end, it's vital that humans do the hard work.

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mike judge should do the sequel to this and it can be a blended sequel for arrival and idiocracy. thinking about her writing the book teaching humanity this new superior language that brings peace and defies time and then thinking about America's population in general makes me giggle. how many people realistically do you think would put in the time and hard work to learn and understand much less buy a book? we've got huge swaths of our population who refuse to lift a finger to help themselves or their families but we're going to teach mankind a new level of existence. the hurdle is it requires actually reading a book.

Not sure how I could have missed it but how did they start figuring out the Aliens language so fast? I almost felt like part of the movie skipped or something because they make contact ad then bam next thing you know, they've got a lot of the symbols figured out. I stopped the movie Friday night and then continued Saturday afternoon and genuinely wondering if I somehow skipped 10-15 minutes of the movie or something?

I thought it was fairly obvious that there was a good amount of time spent learning the language, despite the lack of a montage.

schmendeler said:

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I thought it was fairly obvious that there was a good amount of time spent learning the language, despite the lack of a montage.

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It probably was. I need to watch it sober bc my scale of time must have been warped. Seemed like they made headway in figuring out the language unrealistically fast during first viewing. I guess I wish it would have shed more light on HOW they started decoding it. Again, they may have elaborated on this and I just missed it because bourbon.

It was unreasonably fast. The entire military base was such b rate material for a movie of this size and scope. No protection, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. Rogue Alex Jones follower soldiers are able to get all the way to the ship and set explosives without anyone knowing. Mr math gets his moment to shine in such an easy and convenient way.

The caricaturization(don't think that's a word) of the entire government response was what made it feel hacky imo.

I enjoyed the movie, but one issue in the plot line sticks out to me. The military leaders had made the call to fire upon the ships because they weren't convinced the aliens came in peace and viewed their text as a weapon. It seems to me that when Louise and Ian were saved from the rogue bomb blast, that it was obvious they were here in peace. The aliens also tapped the glass in an attempt to warn them that there was a problem behind them. Ian and Louise should have attempted to sell that to the military leaders.

The military leaders that were hell bent on starting something was China. The US military was just planning on getting out of dodge before that happens in case the ships retaliated.

China's position was that the aliens were feigning goodwill to try and start a war between the various nations involved. Not that they would have known about the explosion at the US ship since communication had been cut off between the various locations.

I have watched that scene three times now. Once in theaters and twice at home because the wife kept falling asleep.

They're tapping on the glass to get her to come up and write using their language, and I think, as a test or confirmation that she understands the "gift". After they give 1/12th of the info they knock them out of the room just prior to the explosion.

At least that is how I interpreted it.

MaroonStain said:

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Couple of days past viewing and realized it was good not great. I did like the potrayal of aliens as an advanced octopus. Octopus and squids have been pointed as the next developing intelligent lifeform on Earth after humanity erases itself.

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Wouldn't history say we get erased vs erase ourselves...and we turn into birds, duh

Only to be cloned from our DNA found in a mosquito embossed in amber some 150M years from now by those evolved squids/octopi to act as pets on an island theme park.

Finally got around to seeing this tonight and thought it was pretty good

Another late viewer checking in. Damn that was a good movie.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around her experiencing those "memories" of her future in the present. The movie does a great job of keeping you in the dark about flashback vs future. For instance, even late in the movie you have her opening a box of books, and we already know she has written a book b/c Renner is reading one on the helicopter at the beginning.

The hardest thing, really, is accepting that she will actually tell Renner about the daughter dying, once she knows that telling him will result in him leaving. Are we to assume that if she doesn't tell him, somehow it will screw up her shot at learning/remembering what to tell the Chinese general?

redline248 said:

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The hardest thing, really, is accepting that she will actually tell Renner about the daughter dying, once she knows that telling him will result in him leaving. Are we to assume that if she doesn't tell him, somehow it will screw up her shot at learning/remembering what to tell the Chinese general?

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No, her reason for telling him is even simpler than that, yet perhaps harder to understand. She tells him because that's what she remembers doing. In order for her memories to be true -- as well as the story of her daughter's life to be true -- the action has to be taken when the time comes. She's not "predicting the future", she's literally remembering events that have already happened to her, if not anyone else. Although the simplest explanation is to say that there is no such thing as free will, the concept is more than just that. Read the short story (or skip backward to previous posts in this thread) if you want to understand more fully.

Troutslime said:

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I enjoyed the movie, but one issue in the plot line sticks out to me. The military leaders had made the call to fire upon the ships because they weren't convinced the aliens came in peace and viewed their text as a weapon. It seems to me that when Louise and Ian were saved from the rogue bomb blast, that it was obvious they were here in peace. The aliens also tapped the glass in an attempt to warn them that there was a problem behind them. Ian and Louise should have attempted to sell that to the military leaders.

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It's been awhile since I saw this, but do we know for sure that the characters know it was a bomb, and not something that A&C did?

Quote:

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It's been awhile since I saw this, but do we know for sure that the characters know it was a bomb, and not something that A&C did?

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When Louise wakes up after the blast, the doctor tells her something like "some soldiers who were watching too much tv." So I think it's logical that the characters knew the aliens didn't cause it.

redline248 said:

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Quote:

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It's been awhile since I saw this, but do we know for sure that the characters know it was a bomb, and not something that A&C did?

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When Louise wakes up after the blast, the doctor tells her something like "some soldiers who were watching too much tv." So I think it's logical that the characters knew the aliens didn't cause it.

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Thanks!

Late to the party but finally saw this tonight.

Gotta say it is one of my favorite movies of the last few years. It was helped by the fact that I didn't pick up on the flash forward until late (should have for sure in retrospect), but I say it all the time, I love unique projects and ones that make you think. Other than the explosion there want really a battle scene in this movie, but it was completely gripping. Couple of points...

For those saying we learned the language quickly, they made the point that it was a month or more I think between scenes.

It was pretty remarkable how they could make the heptopods so sympathetic.

The movie was shot on a 47 million dollar budget...With top name stars and solid effects. Just goes to show how much money is wasted in Hollywood on effects over plot. With that said thought, it's a travesty that it only made 200 million globally, even if it did turn a great profit. Just continues to boggle my mind what makes money these days and what doesn't.

The thing that was never covered in the movie was what favor they would need in 3000 years...which brings the inevitable time movie question of why they can't correct for whatever it is if it's that far out. But maybe that's the sequel.

Loved it. Just saw it. Late to the party. One question:

At the end, when she met with General Shang at the gala, why didn't she remember calling him when he told her she called?

And, while I'm at it, was General Shang on speed dial when she called him? Or did she know his number because she was going to call it in the future albeit in just a few seconds??

Again, very excellent move.

One last thing. Any chance Bran met with these aliens??

I haven't seen a movie that made me think more afterward than that one did. It's also one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.

As usual I am over a year late to see a movie, just watched it on Amazon Prime and while it was very slow the payoff was great at the end. I disagree with the poster that didn't like that everything was preordained because the choices made did change the future so I think they are offbase.

Late to view this one. Finally watched it tonight. Great movie.

irish pete ag06 said:

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Watched this move finally. What a great film. Moving. Been on my mind since I finished it.

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Agreed. Was a good one

It's has pretty good replay value from what I've found.

This was very different from what I was expecting, but really good.

Gonna make my wife watch it. I need someone to chat with about it.

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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It's has pretty good replay value from what I've found.

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Agree completely. At least the second time it's a completely different movie.

Good movie.

Good setup.

Ending needed work.

ARRIVAL was released 8 years ago this week. Acclaimed as one of the great science fiction movies of the 21st century, and among the most popular of director Denis Villeneuve, the story of how it was made may change the way you perceive time…

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— All The Right Movies (@ATRightMovies) November 15, 2024