The Arrival (1996)

the audience applauded

A Masterpiece!

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The Arrival starts out with an incredible shot of a meadow ... in the Arctic. Then moves on to Charlie Sheen as a satellite TV repair guy who wires dishes together to collect long-baseline high-resolution radioastronomy data.The film is filled with such visual and story gems, and for the first two thirds, it works really well and had me thinking 'winner,' unlike the predictable Independence Day that came out at the same time.Unfortunately, by the end the writers have written themselves into a corner, and the plot holes are as devastating as the mini black hole that sucks up a radio telescope. After Sheen escapes from the underground complex, where the aliens are setting up machinery to accelerate global warming so the Earth becomes hospitable to them, the plot rapidly falls apart.This movie falls in the same category as the Nicholas Cage vehicle Knowing, which starts out great and mysterious, but by the end you wonder "Really, aliens are torturing small school children to cryptically tell us the demise of the Earth is inevitable?"Whenever a movie has good production values and starts out great, but falls flat at the end, I can't go above 5/10. I have not seen it since 1996 because I don't want to be let down a second time.

...and it is as good as both of them. The only real difference is the scale of the movie, the other two are very grand blockbuster, while The Arrival feels more like a little, smart thriller...which it certainly is.But the most interesting point for me is that this is written and directed by David Twohy. In fact David Twohy writes all of his movies by himself and is very interested in science fiction, and his second movie is no difference. The plot progresses logically and it 's very interesting to follow Charlie Sheen's Character through this mystery. This movie also has Twohy's remarkable style all over it, which makes it visually creative as all of his work. (Just look at the beginning of the movie, it's his pure style)Also for a sci-fi-movie from the 90's the special effects stood the test of time fairly well. A unknown flick that should be more known.

Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse) examines a green field in the middle of the frozen Arctic. Her research is being blocked but she discovers a rapid climate change underway. Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) and Calvin (Richard Schiff) working a radio telescope discover a signal from 14.6 light years away. It goes away before confirmation. Their NASA JPL boss Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) cuts the program claiming budget cuts. Then he destroys the data and blackballs Zane. The only job he can get is installing TV satellites. His marriage to Char (Teri Polo) is under stress. Using satellite dishes, he creates a personal radio telescope to search for the signal with the help of nosy neighbor kid Kiki. Both Green and Zaminsky zero in on a Mexican location.This is a nice paranoid conspiracy alien invasion movie. I like Sheen's side of the story. I doubt that both investigations would lead to the exact same place. Climate science isn't that precise. As for assassination attempts, crushed by a bathtub is one of the most unusual and laughable. It seems so much easier and more common to simply shoot them. However, I do really like the black hole metallic spheres.After a really good first half, the movie starts to run into problems. It's still pretty good. David Twohy is most notable for the Riddick franchise. He needs to simplify the second half and ramp up the action. It tries to be too cute with the story. The movie needs to end in Mexico or else there is an obvious simpler way for Zane to expose the conspiracy.

The setup: Zane, an astronomer, discovers intelligent alien life. But the aliens are keeping a deadly secret, and will do anything to stop Zane from learning it.The verdict: This movie is so '90s that it hurts! From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. I finished this film wondering, "Are we alone?" After reading some of the negative reviews on here, I just have to say that some people really don't get it.