The Arrival (film)
Encyclopedia
The Arrival is a 1996 science fiction film
directed by David Twohy
and starring Charlie Sheen
, and co-starring Lindsay Crouse
, Richard Schiff
, Ron Silver
, and Teri Polo
. Sheen stars as radio astronomer Zane Zaminski who discovers evidence of intelligent alien life and quickly gets thrown into the middle of a conspiracy
that turns his life upside down.
A sequel, Arrival II: The Second Arrival
was released on November 6, 1998.
), a radio astronomer
working for SETI
, discovers a extraterrestrial
radio signal from Wolf 336, a star 14 light years from Earth. Zane reports this to his supervisor, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver
) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
, but Phil dismisses the claims. Zane soon finds that he has been fired over supposed budget cuts, and his name blacklisted preventing him from working at other telescopes. Employed as a residential satellite technician, he creates his own telescope array using an array of his customers' dishes, operating it discretely from his attic with help of the next-door neighbor boy, Kiki.
Zane relocates the signal, but it is soon drowned out by a terrestrial signal from a Mexican radio station. Zane attempts to tell this to his former coworker, Calvin (Richard Schiff
), but finds he has just died suspiciously from carbon monoxide poisoning. Zane travels to Mexico, and finds the radio station recently burnt to the ground. Searching the local area, he comes across a recently built power plant. There, he attempts to help climatologist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse
) in protecting her atmospheric analysis equipment from the plant's security forces under claims of being on private property, but he is taken into custody as well. There, Ilana explains that the Earth's temperature has risen several degrees in the last few years, exposing the ground in the Arctic Circle, and is investigating the power plant, one of several recently built that appear to be the cause of this increase. The two are let go without Ilana's equipment, but not before Zane recognizes one of the guards that looks similar to Phil. As Zane and Ilana regroup and discuss their individual findings, Phil instructs agents, posing as gardeners, to release an alien device in Zane's attic that creates a miniature black hole and consumes all of Zane's equipment before disappearing. Zane leaves Ilana for the evening and goes to investigate the power plant, unaware that she is soon killed by a deadly scorpion planted in her room.
At the plant, Zane discovers it is a front for a large underground alien base. The aliens, though humanoid, are able to disguise themselves with an external skin to look human and infiltrate into society. Zane finds the bases periodically expels large amounts of emissions into the atmosphere. Zane is quickly discovered but escapes back into the nearby town, and attempts to convince the local officer of the issue. However, the disguised guards soon bring Ilana's body to the police station, making Zane a suspect in her death; Zane escapes and smuggles himself back into the United States. He accosts Phil on the JPL grounds, forcing Phil to admit that the aliens are trying to raise the Earth's temperature to not only kill off humans but make the planet hospitable for themselves. Unknown to Phil at the time, Zane had planted a recording device to capture this conversation; Phil sends his agents to try to stop Zane once he discovers this.
Zane returns home to find his equipment missing, and determines the only way to broadcast the tape is to travel to a nearby telescope and beam the signal directly to a television satellite to broadcast it around the world. With the help of his girlfriend Char (Teri Polo
) and Kiki, he travels to the telescope. Phil and his agents soon arrive, disabling control of the telescope from the main control room. Zane leaves the tape with Kiki and instructs him to transmit it when he gives the order, and then he and Char sneak over to the telescope's base and bar themselves in the control room. Zane makes the necessary adjustments and tells Kiki to active the tape, but Kiki reveals himself to be an alien agent, and opens the door to allow Phil inside and confiscate the tape himself.
Phil and his agents ram down the door to the telescope room with a van, but Zane freezes them with cryogenic gases. As he works to free the tape stuck in Phil's frozen jacket, one of the agents drops a spherical device that begins to create another singularity within the room. Zane and Char escape through the telescope's optical path before the device consumes most of the telescope base, safely recovering on the collapsed dish. There, they see Kiki, and Zane tells him to tell the aliens that he will soon broadcast this tape; they watch as Kiki runs off. In the film's epilogue, Zane's conversation with Phil is broadcasted across the globe.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
directed by David Twohy
David Twohy
David Neil Twohy is an American film director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Twohy was born in Los Angeles County, California...
and starring Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
, and co-starring Lindsay Crouse
Lindsay Crouse
-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
, Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
, Ron Silver
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...
, and Teri Polo
Teri Polo
Theresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the movie Meet the Parents and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers...
. Sheen stars as radio astronomer Zane Zaminski who discovers evidence of intelligent alien life and quickly gets thrown into the middle of a conspiracy
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...
that turns his life upside down.
A sequel, Arrival II: The Second Arrival
The Second Arrival
The Second Arrival is a 1998 American science fiction movie. It is the sequel to the 1996 movie The Arrival.-Plot:This film takes place two years after the first film. After Zane Ziminski is found dead in a remote Eskimo community. It is believed that he died of a heart attack...
was released on November 6, 1998.
Plot
Zane Zaminski (Charlie SheenCharlie Sheen
Carlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
), a radio astronomer
Radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The initial detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was made in the 1930s, when Karl Jansky observed radiation coming from the Milky Way. Subsequent observations have identified a number of...
working for SETI
SETI
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is the collective name for a number of activities people undertake to search for intelligent extraterrestrial life. Some of the most well known projects are run by the SETI Institute. SETI projects use scientific methods to search for intelligent life...
, discovers a extraterrestrial
Extraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
radio signal from Wolf 336, a star 14 light years from Earth. Zane reports this to his supervisor, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...
) at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...
, but Phil dismisses the claims. Zane soon finds that he has been fired over supposed budget cuts, and his name blacklisted preventing him from working at other telescopes. Employed as a residential satellite technician, he creates his own telescope array using an array of his customers' dishes, operating it discretely from his attic with help of the next-door neighbor boy, Kiki.
Zane relocates the signal, but it is soon drowned out by a terrestrial signal from a Mexican radio station. Zane attempts to tell this to his former coworker, Calvin (Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff
Richard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
), but finds he has just died suspiciously from carbon monoxide poisoning. Zane travels to Mexico, and finds the radio station recently burnt to the ground. Searching the local area, he comes across a recently built power plant. There, he attempts to help climatologist Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse
Lindsay Crouse
-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
) in protecting her atmospheric analysis equipment from the plant's security forces under claims of being on private property, but he is taken into custody as well. There, Ilana explains that the Earth's temperature has risen several degrees in the last few years, exposing the ground in the Arctic Circle, and is investigating the power plant, one of several recently built that appear to be the cause of this increase. The two are let go without Ilana's equipment, but not before Zane recognizes one of the guards that looks similar to Phil. As Zane and Ilana regroup and discuss their individual findings, Phil instructs agents, posing as gardeners, to release an alien device in Zane's attic that creates a miniature black hole and consumes all of Zane's equipment before disappearing. Zane leaves Ilana for the evening and goes to investigate the power plant, unaware that she is soon killed by a deadly scorpion planted in her room.
At the plant, Zane discovers it is a front for a large underground alien base. The aliens, though humanoid, are able to disguise themselves with an external skin to look human and infiltrate into society. Zane finds the bases periodically expels large amounts of emissions into the atmosphere. Zane is quickly discovered but escapes back into the nearby town, and attempts to convince the local officer of the issue. However, the disguised guards soon bring Ilana's body to the police station, making Zane a suspect in her death; Zane escapes and smuggles himself back into the United States. He accosts Phil on the JPL grounds, forcing Phil to admit that the aliens are trying to raise the Earth's temperature to not only kill off humans but make the planet hospitable for themselves. Unknown to Phil at the time, Zane had planted a recording device to capture this conversation; Phil sends his agents to try to stop Zane once he discovers this.
Zane returns home to find his equipment missing, and determines the only way to broadcast the tape is to travel to a nearby telescope and beam the signal directly to a television satellite to broadcast it around the world. With the help of his girlfriend Char (Teri Polo
Teri Polo
Theresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the movie Meet the Parents and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers...
) and Kiki, he travels to the telescope. Phil and his agents soon arrive, disabling control of the telescope from the main control room. Zane leaves the tape with Kiki and instructs him to transmit it when he gives the order, and then he and Char sneak over to the telescope's base and bar themselves in the control room. Zane makes the necessary adjustments and tells Kiki to active the tape, but Kiki reveals himself to be an alien agent, and opens the door to allow Phil inside and confiscate the tape himself.
Phil and his agents ram down the door to the telescope room with a van, but Zane freezes them with cryogenic gases. As he works to free the tape stuck in Phil's frozen jacket, one of the agents drops a spherical device that begins to create another singularity within the room. Zane and Char escape through the telescope's optical path before the device consumes most of the telescope base, safely recovering on the collapsed dish. There, they see Kiki, and Zane tells him to tell the aliens that he will soon broadcast this tape; they watch as Kiki runs off. In the film's epilogue, Zane's conversation with Phil is broadcasted across the globe.
Cast
- Charlie SheenCharlie SheenCarlos Irwin Estevez , better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American film and television actor. He is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen....
as Zane Zaminski - Lindsay CrouseLindsay Crouse-Early life:Crouse was born in New York City, the daughter of Anna and Russel Crouse, a playwright. Her full name—Lindsay Ann Crouse—is an intentional tribute to the Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Her father and his writing partner, Howard Lindsay, wrote much of...
as Ilana Green - Richard SchiffRichard SchiffRichard Schiff is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on the NBC television drama The West Wing, a role for which he received an Emmy Award...
as Calvin - Ron SilverRon SilverRonald Arthur "Ron" Silver was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.-Early life:...
as Phil Gordian / Mexican Guard - Teri PoloTeri PoloTheresa Elizabeth "Teri" Polo is an American actress known for her role of Pam Focker in the movie Meet the Parents and its two sequels, Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers...
as Char - Tony T. Johnson as Kiki