Deep Impact (1998):

Starring:

Robert Duvall - Spurgeon Tanner

Tea Leoni - Jenny Lerner

Elijah Wood - Leo Biederman

Vanessa Redgrave - Robin Lerner

Morgan Freeman - President Beck

Maximillian Schell - Jason Lerner

James Cromwell - Alan Rittenhouse

Ron Eldard - Oren Monash

Jon Favreau - Gus Partenza

Laura Innes - Beth Stanley

Mark McCormack - Andrea Baker

Richard Schiff - Don Beiderman

Leelee Sobieski - Sarah Hotchner

Blair Underwood - Mark Simon

Dougray Scott - Eric Vennekor

Kurtwood Smith - Otis Hefter

Director:

Mimi Leder (Pay It Forward; The Peacemaker)

Rotten Tomatoes: 47%

Flixster: 51%

Synopsis:

Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) directed this science-fiction disaster drama about the possible extinction of human life after a comet is discovered headed toward Earth with the collision only one year away. Ambitious MSNBC reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the story, prompting a White House press conference. United States President Beck (Morgan Freeman) announces the government's solution: a team of astronauts will travel to the comet and destroy it. The team leader aboard the spaceship Messiah is Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), who was once the last man to walk on the moon. However, the mission fails, splitting off a chunk of the comet, now due to land in the Atlantic with the impact sending a 350-foot tidal wave flooding 650 miles inland, destroying New York and other cities. The larger part of the comet, hitting in Canada, will trigger an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event), not unlike a "nuclear winter" as dust clouds block out the sun and bring life to an end. President Beck reveals Plan B: a cavernous underground retreat constructed to hold one million Americans, with most to be selected through a national lottery. Since teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood) discovered the comet, his family gets a pass to enter the cave, but his girlfriend Sarah (Leelee Sobieski) and her parents will be left behind. Meanwhile, still in space, Spurgeon Tanner devises a plan for a kamikaze-styled operation that could possibly save the Earth.

Review:

Isn't it interesting how two different production companies & studios can come up with the same idea for a movie & then release them in the same year... one can be a critical success while the other is considered to be the poor man's version of the other. We'll this is the poor man's Armageddon for sure. Even though it technically came out first, by 2 months, it is still nothing more than a desperate attempt at what is a great movie. It majorly lacks the A list acting abilities, which in turn takes away from the actual acting in the film. Having Robert Duvall billed as the lead is somewhat false because the lead is spread out between 4 or 5 different story lines that are taking place all at once. A teenaged Elijah Wood does nothing for me, nor does Leelee Sobieski. I found both of their acting & reactions to be forced & terrible. Tea Leoni was probably the best part of the film, although she is definitely NOT a looker. But you want a looker, Mary McCormack, she is naturally beautiful & super-hot along the lines of Virginia Madsen & Mary-Louise Parker. Morgan Freeman as the "Black President" pre-Obama is not very good, because he just sounds like he's narrating everything he is saying. Good cameo appearance by Kurtwood Smith. Now the one difference which does slightly save it, is that it doesn't have a full on heroic, save the earth ending something slightly different than Armageddon. But overall it's still just a lack luster version of Armageddon.

49%

Main Acting: 6/15

Supporting Cast: 8/15

Plot: 6/10

Compared To The Genre: 3/10

Cinematography: 11/20

Intrigue: 10/20

Extra: 5/10