User reviews

I will help you choose if you want to watch this one or not. It's easy. If you like, for example Sixth Sense, you will love this one. If you prefer Independence Day, you will hate it.

I think it's a masterpiece. Period. I'm actually a bit shocked it's not closer to 9 and a top 20 all time movie. The script is so intelligent that it feels that you have watched 4 different movies in the end. It's a thrill ride for drama-, thriller-, action- and science fiction fans in one package.

I had to compose myself for 20 minutes before leaving the theatre and it took me and my wife about 3 hours and 3 glasses of wine to talk about it afterwards.

As a kid, my dad used to tell me stories at night just like any other dads out there. I grew up, got busy with life but those priceless timeless beautiful storytelling moments that I once shared, that amazed me in wonder, curiosity, imagination and desire to know more..

I know if I think hard enough I might remember some of them, but that's not the point. The point is all those stories had characters and people and objects and places and things that I could either imagine or something that I could picture and understand and visualize in my young mind. If not for those imaginable characters and people, I would have never understood those stories, the true meaning of the story, the actual story behind the story that my dad probably wanted me to understand.

Arrival, for me is such a story. Aliens are just fun characters that help me understand the story so I can actually see beyond it and understand the untold story. You see, the way I understand it is that the director had to dumb it down for us and wrap this movie in a sci-fi genre and add aliens so you could relate it to something you are familiar with and hoped, really hoped that we try to understand the true purpose, the message behind all this. It simply couldn't have been portrayed better than this!

This movie teaches you a lot of things, if you are ready to learn. About 'time' and how much we are bound by it, about life and death, about loving unconditionally, about believing in yourself that everything happens for a reason, and so much more..

Denis Villeneuve is without a doubt an upcoming director and I can't wait to see Blade Runner 2049. Prisoners, Sicario and now Arrival (haven't seen Enemy yet, or some of his earlier work). Denis knows how to capture the tension. It is almost the strongest point of all of his films. Minimal use of computer generated images, and main focus on story, characters, acting and thrilling scenes. Back on IMDb board, I have noticed a lot of people calling Arrival a boring movie. So many hypocrites these days. People trying to point out every possible flaw to look and sound smarter while at the same time hailing far worse movies. Calling it boring and slow while at the same time complaining no originality in Hollywood, only giant CGI laser explosions extravaganza. Go watch Independence Day. In Arrival there is no action, no explosions, just some amazing acting performances combined with good directing, editing and cinematography. There was not a single moment I felt bored.

Arrival is a sci-fi masterpiece. The acting is tonally perfect. The script is very well written and manages to make the complicated sci-fi lingo seem plausible. Denis Villeneuve directs this film with a gripping realism. The score is haunting and otherworldly at the same time, perfect for the subject matter. The story utilizes the concept of time brilliantly, almost like it's another character.

This is a sci-fi drama. It's not an action film. It's an intimate study that shy's away from big theatrics, instead opting for a philosophical discussion that challenges the viewer. The twist is beautiful and heartbreaking. I love that this film makes you think, it's what great sci-fi is suppose to do.

Watch this.

I watched this recently again and going a second time around, I appreciated the depth in this film. Arrival probes profound questions about time, language, and human behavior. The cinematography here was also excellent.

An intriguing, interesting and original story focussing on Louise Banks (Amy Adams) a preeminent linguistics professor who must lead humanity in communicating with visiting aliens. I think what most caught me surprised that it's so different from all the other scifi alien "attacks" movies - it's not all action all-guns-blazing at the threat - yet, rather a thoughtful humanity driven movie. Amy Adams is amazing as the protagonist demonstrating humanity as well communicating and befriending the aliens' unknown language and the impact it has on her. She carries the movie single-handed. I think it's a very beautiful message about humanity, what's the whole story is about. And tragic, surely, that despite knowing her future and the painful future she will have, she will not change anything. That's a great message. "Despite knowing the journey, and where it leads... I embrace it... and I welcome every moment of it."

This is a very, very well made film, which is thought provoking, measured, engaging, and thoroughly well made.

There is nothing brash, or heavy handed about it, the story is superbly told, with well grounded characters. The story is of course sci fi, and hugely creative, but it's never silly, it is incredibly intelligent.

Awesome special effects, I loved the design of the alien race, and their language, quite incredible.

A story of hope, which I loved. 9/10

Despite being critically acclaimed, 'Arrival' is another one of those films that is praised to the heavens with critics but has wildly divided audiences judging from the nature of both the positivity and negativity. Though it has to be said that the positive reviewers have been far more mature than the negative ones, many of which to me being disgustingly condescending.

'Arrival' is a very different sci-fi film, and one can definitely see why people will love it and be moved by it as well as seeing why people will hate it and be alienated. To me, 'Arrival' is not as good as reputed and is not a masterpiece, but even if it didn't do much for me it would have gotten a 4 at least. From personal opinion there are far worse films out there that are far more deserving of 1/10, and it would be insulting to put 'Arrival' down there with them. Even if the film didn't much for me, the good things would still be acknowledged and there would be real effort to be respectful of other people's opinions regardless of agreeing or disagreeing with them rather than being insulting and inventing ridiculous and untrue conspiracy theories. Those who hated it do need to grow up and start accepting that not everybody hates this film and that those who loved it are being genuine, and no being angry at being disappointed by it is not an excuse. Coming from a younger film lover than most on this site who's autistic and disabled but those have not gotten in the way of being understanding of people's opinions, what's your excuse?

Back to my thoughts on the film, 'Arrival' is a meditatively paced film, and is not an action filled or jam packed with constant narrative. While this may understandably alienate viewers, neither of these are necessarily bad things especially when there are great to masterpiece films that are the same. Of the four films seen of Denis Villeneuve so far, 'Arrival' may be my least favourite, and his most polarising, least violent and most gentle, but that is just testament to how very good 'Prisoners' is and how fantastic 'Incendies' and 'Sicario' are.

The criticisms are understandable and am in agreement with some. It does drag in the middle act, softening and slacking too much. It does get confusing in the later stages, where things can get ridiculous and predictable.

Forest Whittaker and particularly Michael Stuhlbarg's characters are underutilised and underwritten with both having very little to do, the two do make the most of their roles one has to give them that.

However, 'Arrival' does look wonderful. This is particularly true in Bradford Young's cinematography, being fluid and its tactile quality is of sheer beauty. It's beautifully and atmospherically designed and lit, the special effects have grand spectacle and the editing is some of the best of its year.

Johann Johannsson's music score is another standout, it has a haunting creepiness and has a heart-pulsating and emotional beat. It not only adds a huge amount to the film, it also enhances it. Denis Villeneuve's direction is his most subtle and least hard-hitting, which is not only a good thing but the right thing, the approach he gave to 'Prisoners' and 'Sicario' would have ruined an atmosphere that's the complete opposite.

In terms of how it's written, 'Arrival' is not perfect but it has a movingly raw emotion, thoughtfulness, subtly suspenseful mystery and gives a compelling realism to its character especially the protagonist. Likewise the story (yes there is one), with a poignant emotion and a clever and powerful, if perhaps not the most logical, twist.

The acting is one of 'Arrival's' best assets, all round it's very good even if some characters are better realised than others. Amy Adams in particular is astounding, she has rarely been more poignant. Jeremy Renner also underplays effortlessly.

All in all, divisive film but count me as one of the people who liked it but in an appreciation way than a loved it way. 7/10 Bethany Cox

If you are looking for flashy, loud and generally speaking fast paced action Science Fiction: This is not the one you are looking for (no pun intended). But if you like slow, lingering and long shots, a movie that takes time to breathe and gives an epic scale to it's framing and cinematography, you could do a lot worse.

I'm being a bit modest concerning the movie of course, because we're talking about a very well written script, that has a few surprises along the way and warrants more than one viewing and things to discover on those repeat viewings. It is really well acted and it has a story that is gripping as well as interesting from start to finish. The title alone suggests something, even if you haven't seen the trailer (which I didn't) - so you are in a way more prepared than our characters. But at the same time on their level ... So many Questions and not all get answered (at least not while watching it for the first time)

In the opening scenes we see protagonist Louise Banks raising and ultimately losing a daughter. We then see her lecturing in linguistics in a university; her class seems poorly attended but it soon emerges that there is a good reason for that... news is breaking of the arrival of twelve alien space ships. They are hovering at various points around the world just above the Earth's surface. Louise is approached by Colonel G.T. Weber of the US Military to help them try to communicate with the craft above Montana. Here she is teamed up with scientist Ian Donnelly. Upon entering the ship they meet two seven limbed aliens, dubbed 'heptopods'. It immediately becomes clear that their method of communication is unlike any human language. Gradually a basic vocabulary is developed; then a potentially worrying message is received... it may be an offer, or a threat or just a misunderstanding. Some countries take it as a threat and prepare to attack the crafts above their countries. If peace is to be maintained Louise and Ian will have to decipher the aliens' final message.

If you are hoping for the sort of sci-fi that delivers lots of fasts moving action and sexy, almost human, aliens then you are in for a disappointment. If however you want an intelligent, ideas led story then you should watch this. Most science fiction conveniently avoids the problems of communication with ideas such as 'universal translators', 'translator microbes' of a fish you stick in your ear but this film is all about establishing communications. As such it moves at a fairly slow pace with much of the action set in drab rooms... this doesn't mean it was boring though; I was thoroughly engrossed and the twists, which I won't spoil, surprised me without being too convenient or irritating. Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner impress as Louise and Ian and Forest Whitaker is solid in the role of Col. Weber. The rest of the cast is pretty good too. I feared that the ending might not live up to what went before but thankfully it did. Overall a great film that fans of more cerebral sci-fi need to watch... that's not meant as an insult to action packed space operas like 'Star Wars' or the high camp of 'Flash Gordon'; I love those as well!

Sometimes I can get very irritated by a trailer for giving too much away (case in point, "Room" and more recently "Passengers"). Sometimes I can get very excited by a really good teaser trailer (case in point, "10 Cloverfield Lane"). But most of the time a "ho hum" trailer typically drives the expectation of a "ho hum" film: "Jack Reacher: Never Look Back" being a good recent example. Then there is "Arrival"…

Because the trailer for "Arrival" belies absolutely nothing about the depth and complexity of the film. At face value, it looks like a dubious "Close Encounters" wannabe, with a threat of movement towards the likes of "Independence Day" and "The 5th Wave". Actually what you get is a film that approaches the grandeur of "Close Encounters" but interlaces it with the intellectual depth of "Inception", the mystery of "Intersteller" and a heavy emotional jolt or two of "Up".

Amy Adams ("Batman vs Superman") plays Dr Louise Banks, a language teacher at a US university facing a bunch of particularly disengaged students one morning. For good reason since world news is afoot. Twelve alien craft have positioned themselves strategically around the world, hanging a few feet from the ground in just the sort of way that bricks don't. Banks is approached by Colonel Weber (Forest Whitaker) and offered the job of trying to communicate with the aliens: where did they come from? why are they here? Banks faces the biggest challenge of her academic career in trying to devise a strategy for communication without any foundation of knowledge on what level communication even works at for them. Assisted by Ian Donelly (Jeremy Renner, "Mission Impossible IV/V", "Avengers"), a theoretical physicist, the pair try to crack the code against a deadline set by the inexorable rise of international tensions – driven by China's General Chang (Tzi Ma, "Veep"; "24").

Steven Spielberg made a rare error of judgement by adding scenes in his "Special Edition" of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" showing everyman power guy Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) entering the alien spacecraft. Some things are best left to the imagination. Here, a reprise of that mistake seems inevitable, but – perversely – seems to be pulled off with mastery and aplomb. The aliens are well rendered, and the small scale nature of the set (I'm sure I've been in similar dingy waiting rooms in UK railway stations!) is cleverly handled by the environmental conditions.

But where the screenplay really kills it is in the emergence of the real power unleashed by the translation work. To say any more would deliver spoilers, which I won't do. But this is a masterly piece of science- fiction writing. The screenplay was by Eric Heisserer – someone with a limited scriptwriting CV of horror film reboots/sequels such as "Final Destination 5", "The Thing" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street" – so the portents were not good, which just adds to the surprise. If I were to be critical, some of the dialogue at times is a little TOO clever for its own good and smacks of Aaron Sorkin over-exposition: the comment about "They have a word for it in Hungary" for example went right over my head.

Denis Villeneuve ("Sicario") deftly directs, leaving the pace of the story glacially slow in places to let the audience deduce what is going on at their own speed. This will NOT be to the liking of movie fans who like their films in a wham-bam of CGI, but was very much to my liking. The film in fact has very little exposition, giving you lots to think about after the credits roll: there were elements of the story (such as her book) that still generated debate with my better half on the drive home.

Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner are first rate and an effectively moody score by Jóhann Jóhannsson ("Sicario"; "The Theory of Everything") round off the other high-point credits for me.

An extraordinary film, this is a must see for sci-fi fans but also for lovers of good cinema and well-crafted stories.

(Agree? Disagree? Please visit bob-the-movie-man.com for the graphical version of this review and to comment. Thanks).

Arrival was one of my most anticipated movies of 2016 I loved all the trailers for this film and the talent behind it made me even more excited to see the final product and I can safely say that I was blown away by the final product. This is a slow burning, thought provoking and incredibly intriguing Sci Fi masterpiece that I think in future years will become a classic. Amy Adams gives one of the greatest performances of her entire career in this film, she perfect embodies someone who is determined in her pursuit but damaged by her experiences and it's a performance that will hopefully give her an Oscar. Jeremy Renner was just perfect casting for this film he was incredibly convincing in this film and his chemistry with Adams was fantastic. Forrest Whitaker was great in this film and it was nice to see a different type of role from him. The slow pacing of this film worked perfectly it helped to build up the slow burning suspense and gave the characters more time to be developed better. The special effects in this film are also fantastic mainly because they are used sparingly as it is clear that the focus is more on the characters. Denis Villeneuve did such an amazing job directing this film he really sucked you into the situation and made it seem more life like. This film asks a lot of questions about humanity and how it interacts and these questions are incredibly intriguing and thought provoking it forces the audience to think on real life and accurate the events of this film are to real life. The whole mystery of why the aliens are here is done perfectly you're more that likely to change your mind at least once and when a mystery like that is built up for so long it's hard to make the eventual discovery satisfying but in this case it was, the eventual reveal makes you look at this film in an entirely different way, the film also doesn't feel the need to answer every question it asks leaving certain things ambiguous that allows the viewer to think on their own answers.

Arrival is a film that trusts the intelligence and patience of its audience, it is complex and thought provoking but is never boring or dull. This is not only the greatest film of 2016 but it's possibly one of the greatest I've ever seen. I truly believe that in the future this film will become a classic.

100%/A+

Prior to approaching this film, a word of warning that it is what many like to call a "thinking person's sci-fi". If you're going to watch this, I beg that you dedicate your utmost attention to it, as it is truly one rewarding experience, one of the smartest, most well-constructed science fiction marvels of recent years. 'Arrival' is Villeneuve's magnum opus.

Firstly, to put your mind at ease, I won't be analysing the plot, thus avoiding the use of spoilers. This decade, Villeneuve has crafted some fantastic works of art in the form of 'Prisoners', 'Sicario' and now this science fiction gem, and here's hoping his career further develops with more movie masterpieces coming our way. In a world where mysteries remain and the possibility of extraterrestrial life still stands unanswered, 'Arrival' approaches this with it's cliché-free take on the genre.

The relatively unknown Bradford Young provides the film with some of the most stunning cinematography ever conceived, taking advantage of the twilight hour to give the film its somewhat unique look, supported magnificently by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson whose score is both haunting and beautiful. If you're someone looking for a science-fiction tale that keeps you guessing and thinking throughout, with fantastic performances, cinematography, music and near-flawless direction, then 'Arrival' is the film for you. The masterpiece of 2016!

From where they came, nobody knows, but now they're here, and as you'd guess the world is rife with dread and fear, but there's one thing they all agree, communication is the key, and that's exactly at the centre of, your sphere. So you're lucky when the army comes a calling, it's not too long before your upward bound and falling, where you find two heptapods, who could give you quite a prod, it's engaging, thrilling, scary and enthralling. Alas, the story is too good to give away, after barriers of words and shapes have played, often cryptic, intertwined - complex, deep, just as designed, a piece of cinema that has come, from the top grade.