Linguistics professor Louise Banks leads an elite team of investigators when gigantic spaceships touchdown in 12 locations around the world. As nations teeter on the verge of global war, Banks and her crew must race against time to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors. Hoping to unravel the mystery, she takes a chance that could threaten her life and quite possibly all of mankind.Written by
Jwelch5742
Despite being deemed ineligible for Academy Award consideration, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score was still nominated at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs, Critics Choice awards, Grammys, ASCAP Awards, Gold Derby Awards, International Film Music Critics Awards and the World Soundtrack Awards. See more »
Goofs
When Louise called Chinese General and spoke to him in Chinese, whatever the language she was speaking it was not Mandarin or Cantonese. Nobody can understand what she was trying to say in "Mandarin". See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Louise Banks:
[narrating]
I used to think this was the beginning of your story. Memory is a strange thing. It doesn't work like I thought it did. We are so bound by time, by its order.
Louise Banks:
[coddling her baby girl]
Okay. Okay. Come back to me. Come back to me. Come back to me.
Louise Banks:
[later playing with her in the yard]
Stick 'em up! Are you the sheriff in this here town? These are my tickle guns, and I'm gonna getcha!
6-Year-Old-Hannah:
No!
Louise Banks:
You want me to chase you? You better run!
See more »
Crazy Credits
The main "Music By" credit correctly lists Jóhann Jóhannsson. Later on, In the Music Department credits, both for "Music written, arranged and produced by" and then "Orchestrations", Jóhannsson's last name is misspelled Jóhansson. See more »
Arrival is the best sci-fi film I've seen in my 22-year-old lifespan. I haven't seen certain sci-fi films like They Live, Alien 3, or Metropolis, so I can speak only from the standpoint of someone who watches a shitload of narrative, documentary and experimental films. Some of my recent favorites are Holy Motors (2012), Son of Saul (2015), and The Look of Silence (2015).
I just saw Arrival two days ago at the Telluride Film Fest and everyone in the theater had their brains cheesed out at various points in the film. For people paying close attention to every frame, the rules of the film might become clear in the beginning sequences. For an Average Joe moviegoer like me, the film is a slow, natural process of discovery from the first scene to the last. The influences of Stanley Kubrick on science fiction films has been noted time after time, but Arrival picks up its Kubrick vibes with it's slow sense of discovery, even if Amy Adams and her technology moves around the screen more frantically than 2001: A Space Odyssey. That's why I respect this film and also why I like 10 Cloverfield Lane. A lot of sci-fi films (like the new Star Trek released this summer) don't create that unfolding sense of science/alien-related mystery. The way information is revealed and presented leaves us begging for more answers, and boy does Arrival deliver.
Oscar-worthy for sure, especially in production design/special effects/sound. Don't blow it, go see it November 11th or whenever it's coming to your town.
Bring earplugs.
Just kidding.
But seriously.
338 of 656 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful to you?
| Report this
Arrival is the best sci-fi film I've seen in my 22-year-old lifespan. I haven't seen certain sci-fi films like They Live, Alien 3, or Metropolis, so I can speak only from the standpoint of someone who watches a shitload of narrative, documentary and experimental films. Some of my recent favorites are Holy Motors (2012), Son of Saul (2015), and The Look of Silence (2015).
I just saw Arrival two days ago at the Telluride Film Fest and everyone in the theater had their brains cheesed out at various points in the film. For people paying close attention to every frame, the rules of the film might become clear in the beginning sequences. For an Average Joe moviegoer like me, the film is a slow, natural process of discovery from the first scene to the last. The influences of Stanley Kubrick on science fiction films has been noted time after time, but Arrival picks up its Kubrick vibes with it's slow sense of discovery, even if Amy Adams and her technology moves around the screen more frantically than 2001: A Space Odyssey. That's why I respect this film and also why I like 10 Cloverfield Lane. A lot of sci-fi films (like the new Star Trek released this summer) don't create that unfolding sense of science/alien-related mystery. The way information is revealed and presented leaves us begging for more answers, and boy does Arrival deliver.
Oscar-worthy for sure, especially in production design/special effects/sound. Don't blow it, go see it November 11th or whenever it's coming to your town.
Bring earplugs.
Just kidding.
But seriously.