Contact (1997, Warner Bros., dir. Robert Zemeckis, based on a novel by Carl Sagan, PG, 153 min). I saw this film the night my first “Do Ask Do Tell” book was officially published (7/11/1997), so it was a bit of a celebration.
Ellie Arroway (Jodie Foster) finds a message through the New Mexico Very Large Array and directions for building a spaceship. I have driven by the VLA once myself, I believe in 1998. She and Palmer Joss (Matthew McConaughey) build the ship, which looks like a huge gyroscope. It blows up once (quite a spectacular scene), but eventually they take the ride in it, and find out what is really out there. Is the conclusion really a visit to another planet, or more like a theme park experience?