Deep Impact (1998)
9KDeep Impact: Directed by Mimi Leder. With Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave. A comet is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. As doomsday nears, the human race prepares for the worst.
“It seems 1998 was the year Hollywood turned to the idea of the world being decimated by objects from outer space to fuel their disaster films. Both u0026#39;Deep Impactu0026#39; and u0026#39;Armageddonu0026#39; were released in that year but while I did enjoy the thrill and special effects of the latter film, I find u0026#39;Deep Impactu0026#39; the superior of the two.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film begins when a teenage amateur astronomer discover a comet on a direct collision course for the Earth. The world is then thrown into turmoil has humanity has to accept their possible extinction. While NASA sends a shuttle up with the intention to try to blow the comet to bits, the US government selects people to be saved in a cave they are building to withstand the event. Focusing on various unrelated characters, the film shows how people react differently to the destruction of all that they know.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe brilliant cast, including Morgan Freeman, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Devall, Elijah Wood, Ron Eldard and many others, all given great depictions of their characters. It is because of their ability to bring their respective characters to life that u0026#39;Deep Impactu0026#39; stands up so well as it is a very emotional and character driven story, as opposed to u0026#39;Armageddonu0026#39;, which relied much more on humour and special effects to sell it. Téa Leoni is the only one who doesnu0026#39;t shine through like her co-stars as her performance is quite bland and doesnu0026#39;t capture her characteru0026#39;s turbulent emotions. However, as the rest of the cast give great performances, itu0026#39;s easy to overlook her. And even though there is much attention given to establishing the characters doesnu0026#39;t mean the film skimps when it comes to the special effects. Both the scenes in space and those on Earth when the comet hits the planet are well-handled visually. It features some of the best special effects of planetary annihilation that Iu0026#39;ve ever seen (and Iu0026#39;m a big fan of these disaster flicks).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhat makes u0026#39;Deep Impactu0026#39; rather unique in terms of disaster films is that it gives a very human side to tragedy and devastation by showing how ordinary people cope in times of crisis but it avoids the trap of being trite and overly-sentimental. Itu0026#39;s a shame the film is so underrated then as it is a film that would appeal to sci-fi fans and those seeking an interesting story with strong characters.”
