| The Arrival | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Twohy |
| Written by | David Twohy |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Hiro Narita |
| Edited by | Martin Hunter |
| Music by | Arthur Kempel |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 115 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Box office | $14 million[2] |
The Arrival is a 1996science fictionthriller film written and directed byDavid Twohy and starringCharlie Sheen,Lindsay Crouse,Ron Silver,Teri Polo, andRichard Schiff. Sheen stars as Zane Zaminsky, aradio astronomer who discovers evidence ofintelligent alien life and quickly finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy with global consequences. The film is an international co-production between the United States and Mexico. A sequel,Arrival II, was releaseddirect-to-video in 1998.
Zane Zaminsky and Calvin,radio astronomers employed bySETI, detect and record anextraterrestrial radio signal from Wolf 336, a star located 14light-years away fromEarth. Zane reports his discovery to his supervisor, Phil "Gordi" Gordian, at theNASAJet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), but Gordi dismisses the findings and later destroys the tape. Zane is terminated due to alleged budget cuts and blacklisted, which prevents him from working at other telescopes. While having troubles with his girlfriend Char, Zane takes up a job as a television satellite dish installer and secretly creates his owntelescope array with the aid of his customers' dishes in the neighborhood. He operates it covertly from his attic with the assistance of his young next-door neighbor, Kiki.
After again locating the extraterrestrial radio signal, Zane realizes that it is being drowned out by a terrestrial signal originating from a Mexican radio station. He attempts to seek the help of Calvin but finds that he has died, supposedly due to carbon monoxide poisoning (though he was actually murdered). Zane travels toMexico and discovers that the radio station has just been destroyed by fire. Exploring the area, he stumbles upon a recently constructed power plant where he meets Ilana Green, aclimatologist fromNCAR, whose atmospheric analysis equipment is confiscated by the plant's aggressive security forces. Before they are released from the plant, Zane notices that one of the guards resembles Gordi. Ilana explains that the Earth's temperature has rapidly increased by a few degrees, leading to the melting of polar ice and a shift in the ecosystem. She is investigating the power plant, which seems to be one of several recently built facilities across the world that may be responsible for therise in temperature. As Zane and Ilana regroup, Gordi dispatches agents disguised as gardeners to release adevice in Zane's attic that makes his equipment vanish. Zane leaves Ilana at the hotel and goes to investigate the power plant, but scorpions planted in her room kill her.
Sneaking into the power plant, Zane discovers it is a facade for an extraterrestrial base. The aliens blend in with humanity by wearing an external skin, and the base emits massive amounts ofgreenhouse gases. Zane escapes and returns to the nearby town to seek help from the local inspector. However, the aliens bring Ilana's body to the police station, implicating Zane as a suspect in her death, prompting him to flee back to theUnited States. Zane confronts Gordi at the JPL headquarters and coerces him into confessing that the aliens are raising Earth's temperature to eliminate the human race and create a more livable environment for themselves (liketerraforming). Gordi suggests aliens were behind the recent NASA failures; inquiring, "Ask yourself why anantenna won't deploy on a deep-space probe. Or ask how they could launch a $6 billion telescopewithout testing its mirror." Zane secretly records the conversation and reveals the recording to Gordi, who dispatches agents to apprehend Zane.
Returning home, Zane discovers that his attic has been emptied of all equipment. He enlists the help of Char and Kiki to journey to a radio astronomy array with the intention of sending his recording to a news satellite. Gordi and his agents sabotage the telescope controls, so Zane entrusts the tape to Kiki and instructs him to transmit it when given the signal. Zane and Char run to the telescope's base, lock themselves in the control room, and make the necessary adjustments. When Zane orders Kiki to activate the tape, Kiki reveals himself to be an alien agent and unlocks the door. Gordi enters and seizes the tape.
Zane subdues Gordi and his agents withliquid nitrogen. While retrieving the tape from Gordi's jacket, one of the agents accidentally releases a sphere that begins to engulf the room. Zane and Char flee upward through theradio telescope station's access shaft before the device causes the base to implode and the antenna to collapse onto it. From their vantage point on the antenna, they spot Kiki below and tell him to inform the other aliens that Zane will soon broadcast the tape.
Prior to the film's release, the working title wasShockwave. Filming took place primarily in Mexico, with additional scenes filmed at theOwens Valley Radio Observatory. The alien creatures were all digitally created for the movie byPacific Data Images. Charlie Sheen had previously collaborated with David Twohy onTerminal Velocity, and Twohy had written the main role intending for Sheen to star.[4]
The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics; at review aggregation website,Rotten Tomatoes it has a rating of 66% based on reviews from 35 critics, with an average score of 6.2/10, and its consensus states that "The Arrival is stylish and inventive and offers a surprisingly smart spin on thealien invasion genre."[5]
The film was acommercial failure. It only grossed US$14 million in the North American domestic market, against an estimated production budget of US$25 million. Part of this was due to high-visibility marketing campaign for the release ofIndependence Day just over a month later, which went on to become a box office phenomenon.The Arrival had a rather successful run internationally, partly becauseCharlie Sheen still maintained high popularity worldwide at the time.[6]
A Blu-ray version of the film was released April 21, 2009. Unlike the laserdisc release, the Blu-ray version includes no special features. The laserdisc release included commentary, documentaries and alternative endings not included in the Blu-ray or DVD releases.
A sequel,Arrival II, was released on November 6, 1998.
The Arrival was released on Windows in 1997.[7]