'Contact,' The Movie Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pensacola, FL

Her father declares it a new distance record.

Answer: Landslide

I had this game as a kid -- it's all about winning a political election, and the box is sized nicely for a lap easel.

Answer: Sparks

Probably a reference to her energetic personality, her interest in electronics, or both.

Answer: He uses a phrase that her father used to say to her

After Ellie muses that the size of the universe demands that there must be intelligent life out there somewhere, Palmer replies: 'Well, if not, it'd be an awfully big waste of space.' Freud would probably have something to say here, but I'll let the issue lie.

Answer: a pack of thumbtacks

She uses thumbtacks to mark the spots on her star map where she has heard anomalous signals. She buys a beer along with the thumbtacks, and when she sits down to drink it, Palmer approaches her and turns on the charm.

Answer: Cracker Jack

In the Cracker Jack box, Palmer finds a small toy compass that gets handed back and forth between the two characters several times in the film.

Answer: the planet Venus

Ellie tells Palmer that after her father explained that what she thought was an especially bright star was actually a planet, she was 'hooked.' There's a scene in which young Ellie watches a meteor shower -- it's the night of her father's death, in fact -- but that's long after she's become interested in astronomy.

Answer: two

Drumlin: 'One, that there IS life out there, but it's so far away that you'll never reach it in your lifetime...and two, that there's nothing out there but noble gases and carbon compounds.'

Answer: 13 months

When initially rejected, Ellie gives a passionate speech that convinces S.R. Hadden to give her the money she needs.

Answer: washing machines

Ellie: 'I'm looking for patterns in the chaos!'

Answer: Larry King Live

Larry King was one of the many real-life TV journalists who appeared as themselves in the movie.

Answer: Meaning In The Age Of Reason

Larry King mentions that the book is number one on the 'New York Times' bestseller list.

Answer: The space station 'Mir'

Fish checks AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) and the 'Endeavour,' but no mention is made of the 'Mir' in this scene.

Answer: everybody

Odds are good that her first call was to NASA.

Answer: 26 years

The star Vega is about 26 light-years away from Earth, and the signal traveled at the speed of light.

Answer: true

Just as director Bob Zemeckis used computer imaging to 'weave' historical figures into frame with modern actors in 'Forrest Gump,' actual footage of Bill Clinton was 'woven' into this film. Clinton's real-world comments to the press regarding the possible discovery of life on Mars (remember that?) fit perfectly into the context of the film.

The Clinton administration was reportedly peeved that Zemeckis used this footage without official permission.

Answer: Kent Clark

Kent Clark, the blind astronomer who is Ellie's most valued colleague, is based on Dr. Kent Cullers, an actual scientist with SETI.

Answer: All of these possibilities are suggested

Ellie suggests the encyclopedia; Drumlin makes the Moses suggestion (which we can assume is tongue-in-cheek); and National Security Advisor Michael Kitz, ever the alarmist, suggests the 'colonization' scenario.

Answer: 95 per cent

Personally, I consider that figure to be a little low.

Answer: Elmer

One of the computers or detection systems at the Very Large Array is also called 'Elmer' -- Ellie literally kisses the computer monitor and says, 'Thank you, Elmer!' when the signal is first detected. It's entirely possible that the test dummy is named after this computer or system that was instrumental in detecting the signal.

Answer: Polo

Kent Clark somewhat compensates for his blindness with superb hearing and an uncanny sense of smell. He recognizes Kitz solely by detecting his cologne, and muses, 'I never would have pegged him as a Polo man.'

Answer: A drawing she made as a child

Early in the film, we see a drawing that young Ellie has made of Pensacola, Florida, a place she had presumably never been, but had contacted that night with her ham radio. The curve of the shoreline and the angles of the hanging palm trees from that picture are perfectly replicated in the alien landscape.

Answer: a poet

When Ellie sees a stupendous 'celestial event,' she finds herself utterly unable to describe what she is seeing. 'No words,' she says. 'They should have sent a poet.'

Answer: They didn't

The alien, who appears to Ellie in the form of her late father, states that the Vegans did not build the transit system themselves; they simply found it, and have been utilizing it judiciously.

Answer: 18 hours

It's revealed at the end that, despite her story having been discredited by Kitz and a congressional panel, Ellie's PRD (personal recording device) did indeed record 18 hours of static.