Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) and his colleague, Calvin (Richard Schiff), work for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) as radio astronomers. One night, while working late, a radio signal comes in from a star that is light-years away. The signal is only 42 seconds long, but it definitely came from outer space. Zane takes the recording to his boss, Phil Gordian (Ron Silver) at NASA. Gordian is not impressed with the recording but takes the tape from Zane. Later, when Zane isn’t around, he destroys the tape. Zane is then fired, reportedly due to cutbacks in the budget; however, Zane is also then blacklisted.
Zane decides to investigate the anomaly on his own. He sets up a makeshift control room in his attic. He then gets a job with a satellite installation company and uses customers’ satellite dishes to create a satellite array and telescope. Kiki (Tony T. Johnson) is a kid that lives next door with his grandmother. Kiki becomes interested in what Zane is doing and becomes an assistant of sorts.
Zane hears the same signal as before; however, this time the signal is coming from Earth. Zane figures out that the signal is coming from somewhere in Mexico. He tries to contact Calvin to get his perspective on the signal but learns that Calvin died from carbon monoxide poisoning. Zane goes to Mexico by himself to investigate and becomes suspicious of the local power station.
In Mexico he meets Ilana Green (Lindsay Crouse), a climatologist who is researching global warming. The two get harassed by the local police when they get too close to the power station. Zane sees an officer that looks exactly like his former boss, Gordian. Ilana ends up dead. Zane realizes that he is also a target. Zane infiltrates the power station and learns that aliens are already on Earth and are planning to terraform the planet to suit their needs so they can take over the planet.
“The Arrival” was released in 1996 and was written and directed by David Twohy. It is an American and Mexican science fiction thriller. A sequel titled “Arrival II” was released in 1998 direct to video.
The movie didn’t do very well at the box office. The film came out the same year as “Independence Day” 1996 so it didn’t get as much hype as it should have. The movie itself is pretty good and has some edge-of-your-seat moments that add to the overall tension of the film. There is also a nice little twist at the end.
Some of the special effects are slightly wonky. The aliens are decent enough, but the stop motion sequences make them look slightly rubbery. Other better effects pop up here and there that minimize the stiff alien claymation.
“SETI” or the “Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence” is a nonprofit American scientific organization that uses radio telescope arrays to search for alien life outside our solar system. The system looks for radio and laser signals that could be coming from other planets.