I disagree with you on that. While I haven't seen Soderbergh's version (I am too much in love with T's) I think the idea of communication is deeply embedded: he

I disagree with you on that. While I haven't seen Soderbergh's version (I am too much in love with T's) I think the idea of communication is deeply embedded: he's saying, we can't communicate with ourselves - how could we possibly communicate with an alien non-humanoid entity? I think he makes that really clear. For anyone who hasn't watched his films: take an afternoon you have nothing to do and slow down. It's not a passive experience and you need to relax to take it all in. Amazing stuff that I can't imagine not having in my life, plus all the great directors he influenced. Him and Bergman == life of film.