Deep Impact

Starring: Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Jon Favreau, Leelee Sobieski, Blair Underwood, Dougray Scott
Directed by: Mimi Leder
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Thriller, Science Fiction
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 3

Summary: After a high school student (Elijah Wood) accidentally stumbles upon the discovery of a comet heading to Earth, the world braces for the impact. The President (Morgan Freeman) sends a group of astronauts (Robert Duvall, Jon Favreau, Blair Underwood) to intercept the comet while the rest of the Earth prepares for the end of the world.

Review:

Tim: The summer of 1998 featured two comet/asteroid hitting the Earth disaster movies. Most of the attention was given to Bruce Willis' Armageddon, and for good reason. However, the lesser disaster movie, Deep Impact is still deserving of a viewing. The movie is more flawed, but it has enough here to be enjoyable.

One of the film's greatest strengths is the cast. The heart of the movie is really about two high school students, played well by Elijah Wood and Leelee Sobieski. Their relationship and the turmoil they find themselves in is quite thrilling. Morgan Freeman plays the U.S. President- brilliant. Tea Leoni is fairly decent as a hard-nosed journalist. I love the casting of Robert Duvall as an aging astronaut. Even James Cromwell pops up for a small role. The cast is expansive and impressive. None of the cast is excellent- this is, after all, a big budget disaster movie. They do as well as they possibly can in the situation, however.

The movie suffers because it is fairly anticlimactic. The film could have been much, much more dramatic, more intense, and very memorable. Instead, large parts of it are forgettable. The movie also slips into the traditional disaster movie cliches, and this grossly detracts from the overall quality of the film.

Deep Impact is at its best when it focuses more on the characters, while also putting them in legitimate danger. When it strays from this, the movie suffers- and we as an audience suffer as well. The movie should have been much better, but as is, there's enough here to keep audiences mostly entertained.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Armageddon, Dante's Peak, Volcano, The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day