Deep Impact

"Deep Impact" was one of two collision-related movies released in summer, 1998 (the other was "Armageddon"). Whereas the latter had no other purpose than to have Bruce Willis kick ass, the former was actually quite good. More than just an action movie, this one shows the human aspect of everything. One of the most interesting aspects is Pres. Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman). Whereas we usually expect black men in movies to be macho, this guy talks about his belief in God. I guess that the only thing of which I would have liked to see more would have been the shelters, but I guess that such an aspect would probably occupy an entire movie on its own. All in all, a really good movie.

I think a lot of viewers wanted to compare this movie to Armageddon, especially since they were released so closely together. However, while the main storyline is similar, that's were the similarities end. Just because Deep Impact didn't have everything going "BOOM" like Armageddon did, doesn't make it a boring movie. I was caught up in the narrative, the characters and the "heart" in this movie. There was substance in the storytelling. Duvall excels in leading a group of young, hotshot astronauts into space.

I found Deep Impact to be a very good "study" on how we has humans, may react to an E.L.E. (see this movie for details on that.) The special effects were good, but the best thing about this movie was the focus on the characters. This wasn't loud and stupid as "that other asteroid movie." This film will entertain you and mostly, touch your heart. You actually feel the doom that is about to reach these people, and to me, that is good film making.

About the only thing I could pick on would be the performance of Téa Leoni. To me, she was never convincing. She seemed down and depressed all of the time, even when she was doing the news. Very odd performance.

I give this film a B+

I just saw this film again after several years. I feel that it was the best of all the disaster films made in recent years. Not too much cheese, a little heavy on sap but satisfying overall. It was much more realistic than Armageddon(which I think is one of the most overrated 'blockbusters' ever)There are no comic relief characters, no cheesy one-liners and no gorgeous movie stars(no offense to Tea Leoni). The solution to the problem was more real in Deep Impact and the time frame was much more believable. I like how the film focused more on what was happening on earth rather than in the spaceship. The end was interesting because the disaster wasn't totally averted so there was no cheerful hugging in the end with lame Aerosmith playing over it. The only thing that bothered me was that all of the nuclear missiles from the US and Russia had no effect on the comet. Wouldn't several hundred nukes do something? anything? and why wasn't the Messiah destroyed in the blast? So overall, good flick, deserves more credit.

Not entirely believable, but it's entertaining and has an intelligence to it. Somewhat over sentimental in places, and a few 'honestly, no one would do that' moments of implausibility. But a good cast keeps the action moving along, and it engages right through to the end. Possibly about 20 minutes too long.