10 Times Movies Did Their Research (And Nailed It)

1997's Contact is often heralded as one of the most scientifically accurate science fiction movies ever made, which makes sense when you consider it's based on the work of world-famous astronomer Carl Sagan.

As explained by Entertainment Weekly, Sagan first had the idea for Contact in 1979, but was dismayed at Hollywood's attempts to mould his ideas into family-friendly fodder. (Producer Peter Guber wanted the movie to be about a mum simultaneously trying to make contact with aliens and her estranged son - a trope that could only have been more hackeneyed if the closing credits showed aliens dancing with the now-reunited mother and son to Sister Sledge's "We Are Family").

Sagan instead published Contact as a science-fiction novel, which the movie's creators treated as a bible for the film's production. The end result was a science-fiction movie that put an unprecedented focus on the first half of the appellation - Jodie Foster's job as a SETI worker accurately reflects the work done by the institute's search for extraterrestrial life, and the alien's mathematics-based methods of communication were based on theories espoused by Sagan himself.

Sagan himself would sadly not live to see Contact released in cinemas, but the movie's creators did an incredible job honouring his singular legacy.