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Deep Impact
A comet is hurdling toward Earth, and while the government attempts to keep it a secret while they plan a mission to divert it, a TV reporter uncovers the story and becomes the messenger of updates...  View more >

Starring Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Robert Duvall...  View more >

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Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I was expecting so much more, that maybe that is my fault I wasn't impressed with the movie. Special effects are ok, but we have seen them in ID4 better and for the longer time. The movie is well done, but the story is all over the place. There is no one to relate to nor no one to care for. The idea is good, and at the beginning of the movie, it was heading in the right direction, but then you just lose interest and everything is very predictable. The only thing that keeps you watching is that this could happen to you, and you yourself wonder how you'd spend the last few days of your life. Again technically the movie is ok, but the story just doesn't work, and the effects just make you say "I have seen it before done better"

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
"Deep Impact" is the first in a long, long list of massive summer extravaganzas. And while I have yet to see them all (and the little independent films that get shuffled off to the minute smaller screens of my multiplex), "Deep Impact" sure looks like its going to be one of the best. "Deep Impact" has some of the most jaw-dropping effects ever put down on film, and it even has a serviceable story and decent characterization. You actually care about what is going on in "Deep Impact", even though you didn't pay your money to see that.

The film begins with the discovery of the comet, which is made by a young kid (Elijah Wood) and then confirmed by an astronomer at an observatory. He is killed by a semi-truck, and so time goes on until the comet is discovered again by a newswoman (Tea Leoni).

The comet is on exact course for earth; the size, as told by the president (Morgan Freeman, in a surprisingly good turn), "The size of Mount Everest". So what will happen? It could hit and no life will be spared (except for the million people put in underground caves) and the world will be doomed, or the comet could miss the earth.

The film partly wastes itself with the plot, which focuses on several groups of people: Elijah Wood and his girlfriend (Lelee Subleski) who get married so they can get into the cave; Tea Leoni and her divorced parents (Vanessa Redgrave and Maximillian Schell); the drilling team that failed to detonate the comet (and instead blew it in half), and others. The panic scenes also seem rather silly, especially a shot which shows a gridlocked highway (although I have no idea how long that took to set up). The film runs 121 minutes long and it didn't really need to.

Still, the emotion of the characters were very good, especially when the fate of the world is known. One of the film's most powerful scenes shows the president, eyes wide, telling the country the news. Even the acting is good, especially in Robert Duvall's (as the leader of the spaceship) quieter moments, and especially Elijah Wood, a promising face to the future of film.

The horror of some of the visual effects took me over, however. I will not go into detail about such events (since they do happen around the end). Some of them are the most gut wrenching images I have ever seen, some of which I don't even know how they did. All thanks to director Mimi Leder who scored with the terrific (and much better) "The Peacemaker" last year.

I just wish some of the rough areas were taken care of however, story wise and action wise. You'll know what I mean when you do see the movie, which I do recommend you do. I have yet to see how "Armageddon" competes to this film (there is a good chance that the two will run at the same time), but I prefer good emotion and terrific special effects to 13000 shots a minute by the Bruckenheimer company.

Grade: B+

Tech review:

Picture: 4 The film has decent colors and good black level, but some scenes show that usual Paramount blur scheme. Already the print I saw had tons of dirt on it when reel changes occured, as if the print was three months old.

Sound: 4 Sadly, I will no longer be able to give my SDDS reviews, since the only unit in town was removed. That is really sad since I had to view the whole damn thing in Dolby Digital, which is hands down the worst digital sound format ever created. The sound is excellent in "Deep Impact", with powerful surrounds and ambient split surround effects, but in DD, it is a wall of noise, and the music score gets royally killed with the DD mix. dts is the next best thing to SDDS, which is what theatres should be using if not for SDDS. DD is just too noisy and not powerful enough.

Photography: 5 Another great framing job by director Leder, once again in Super 35 (Otto Nemenez Cameras). The screen was filled, which is a good thing for scope.

Length: 121 mins. Dreamworks/Paramount. jwhyte2@hotmail.com ICQ#4339199

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Let me say first that I feel extremely cheated. The makers of this movie plan to lure in the masses by making them think they are seeing an action-packed disaster movie. Instead, this is a movie with very little special effects. The tital wave and comet special effects seen on the commercials account for probably 90% of all special effects in this movie. There's just not much else relating to special effects to speak of. This is a movie about how humans would react when facing immenent extinction. The writing is atrocious, and besides Morgan Freeman and Robert Duvall, the acting is subpar. There are some people who no doubt will like this movie. I, for one, feel cheated by the misleading advertisements. ** out of *****.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie is one of the worst I've seen in years. The scientific accuracy, the script and the acting were all terrible. Robert Duvall, one of my favorites, must have owed someone a favor or perhaps money to appear in this disaster of a disaster movie. The only thing you waited for was the special effects of the impact, not so much as a natural disaster, but hopefully to wipe out as much of the cast as possible.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Although this movie had the potential to be big hit - star power, a griping story, big budget - "Deep Impact" was a near miss. The characters were flat, the story was formulamatic and predictable, and the climax was not. Not even a solid performance by Morgan Freeman, as President of the United States, could save it. If you've seen the trailer on the big screen, there is no reason to see the full movie. (Even if you haven't seen the trailer, wait for rental.)

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
If you've seen the TV spots for Deep Impact then you've seen the best that this movie has to offer. All of the special effects are impressive but most of them are seen during the last 15 minutes of the movie and it's not worth the wait. Too much of this movie is a gabfest and not enough real action to throw a rock at. This movie won't even make good rental material. It makes you wish a comet or meteor would strick this movie and blast it to bits. And speaking of Meteor, the scene where the world's ICBMs are launched against the comet looks like it was lifted directly from that Sean Connery/Natalie Wood flick made over a decade ago... Makes you wonder? Hit the road Deep Impact, we need a nurse to remove this awful impaction!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Unbelievable movie. It really opens up your eyes to what things could be like, and makes you question what you would do if...

Don't go and see it if you are pregnant...I bawled through most of the movie...very touching.

I was surprised more people weren't there opening day, but I'm sure our reviews will get more people there now.

It definitely creates a "deep impact" within you...hang on tight to your mate through the movie.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
If you're one of those people that hasn't yet been desensitised by the media or by the miriad of blood and guts video games. If you aren't afraid to show or feel sorrow, love, or fear. If you have respect for life, see "Deep Impact". Aside from the acting and special effects, which are adequate to the job. It is the effect that the movie has on the viewers.

If you dare, take your family to see it, if your children can handle the PG-13 content. After the movie go someplace and talk about what you would do, how you would react, it might make a differance.

If just your looking for another rush, Go have a DEW.

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
An old fashioned, not very good end of the world story. Too many noble characters and their actions don't always make sense. Why build shelters in Missouri? What about Cheyenne Mountain? And surely people in cities close to the sea coast would have headed inland long before the comet hit. Since most of the earth's surface is covered by water, planning for a tsunami seems logical. I have to say this is better than Independence Day - but what isn't??

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie was so boring there was virtually no action in it at all.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
ummmm... how do I say this fine I'll just spill it THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE I'VE SEEN ALL YEAR, AND I'VE SEEN THE POSTMAN Please I love movies and do not even waste rental price on this one, I'd rather see the commercial then the movie I REPEAT A FAIR WARNING THE WORST MOVIE EVER.

GRADE: F

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I sometimes wonder why anybody would want to see a movie that say's "I'm gonna wreck everything, see?" Once with locust, once with famon, then with war, o.k., now here comes a big fat comet. No two, two comets for the price of one...and then there were none. Although I may sound like the movie bored me, I kinda liked it. One of the absolutly neccessary ingrediants for a top notched disaster flick is a fast pace with sensitive, caring characters that seem to dodge near death dilemmas with a grace and zeal that makes us scream for a cameo appearance of the uncaused cause. This movie was packed with the intervention of chance into people's lives. Maybe in a far-fetched manner, and maybe I'm reaching for superlatives to explain what I actually felt about this particular movie, but I don't care. We survived.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This was as good that i thought it would be. A nice movie with good actors (especially Freeman and Duvall, two of the greatest). Nice story and nice effects....

Its one nice movie overall, sometimes the effects is great, like when the comet hits earth, i only say: WOW. But when the wave comes to town (?) and flush it over i laughed, because that wasn´t so good at all.

The grade is somewhere between Good and Wait for rental, but it gets good because i almost cried when the girl seperates from her parents.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
What? A movie that doesn't rely on special effects and usually predictable action sequences? Yep. That's what Mimi Leder has done with this film. Instead of putting in at least 45 minutes of mindless action, shoot-outs, and blood & gore, she has put character development, emotion, and heart-wrenching scenes where families are torn apart, amongst other tear-jerkers (don't want to give them away though). The acting is excellent, first of all. A 'solid' (as many have said) performance from the never-dissapointing Morgan Freeman, who is cast as our President Beck. He never ceases to amaze me in every one of his roles (especially 1994's The Shawshank Redemption), and he was very believable in this. Tea Leoni, fresh from her cancelled sitcom The Naked Truth (which I personally liked), gives a great performance as well - she is real and she was perfect in her role of TV reporter Jenny Lerner. Of course, Robert Duvall is fantastic, he is another one of my favorite actors, who is just amazing. He was cast as veteran astronaut Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner, and played the role well. Good supporting performances come from Elijah Wood as Leo Biederman, the young astronomer who first discovers the comet; Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell as Jenny Lerner's divorced parents, whom she is angry with because they will not get back together; Ron Eldard, Mary McCormack, Blair Underwood, Jon Favreau were also great, especially Favreau. The story centers mainly around 3 situations: Jenny Lerner and her parents; young Leo Biederman & the girl he loves; and Spurgeon Tanner and his crew. The film depicts the reaction of the world when a huge comet roughly the size of The Big Apple and weighing 500 billion tons is discovered, on a collision-course with Earth. Tanner and his crew take on a mission, their transportation being the shuttle the Messiah. The mission: to blow up the comet before it hits the Earth. If all fails, all life will be extinct after impact. A national lottery is begun, selecting 1 million people (800,000 citizens under 50, and 200,000 military officers, doctors, teachers, and scientists) have been pre-selected to be included in the lottery, to livein underground caves for 2 years after impact, until the dust has cleared, and the Earth is livable again. In a sequence around the middle of the film, and the ending (gigantic tidal wave washing through NYC) have some of the most spectacular effects I have seen. The end scenes are suspenseful, and will make your eyes well up with tears. Deep Impact is an entertaining, well-written, brilliantly acted, all around amazing piece of film. It will leave you wondering what you would do if the Earth was facing certain extinction.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
As goofy and cartoonish as many self-professed "science fictions" pretend to be in this day and age it is refreshing to see a movie that's truly based on scientific speculation and yet very rich in character and emotion. "Deep Impact" is one of those films that left me applauding at the end. Not a film for the masses, perhaps, but a deeply moving and poignant film about heroism and sacrificein the face of apocalyptic catastrophe.

This is not solely a special effects film. It may be formulaic but the characters rise above themselves in high stakes situations and create high dramatic tension in the melodramatic finale of the film, where it counts the most. These are the types of people you would expect to see, sentimentally, on the Titanic, putting women and children into the lifeboats first and going down with the ship hugging each other tearfully. The sentimentality worked for me, resulting in a movie that affirms the best in our humanity. Again, quite refreshing.

This is also "hard" science fiction. There is no warp drive; there are no high energy plasma weapons that can vaporize galactic enemies, there are no barnstorming fighter pilots who can deliver nukes and zoom away with "Top Gun" proficiency. Instead there are huge ungainly rocketships with enormous engines whose heavy inertia prevents complex maneuvers and where there is only so much fuel to get something big done. Add some very real fleshed-out characters and you have a mixture of suspense and melodrama that thoroughly involves every emotion.

And then there is 700 billion tons of comet about to strike the earth, nothing to trifle with and absolutely nothing that a few direct hits from nuclear warheads is going to turn away. This is a species killer that will do unto humanity what the Yucatan asteroid did to the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. With modern digital special effects enhancing every bit and byte of the comets advance, the feeling of reality for me was almost overwhelming.

This is a win-win movie for all hands, especially the audience. Bring a hanky.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Deep impact? It more like a bomb!

Jan 25, 2000
On a science related field trip one night, Leo Biederman (played by Elijah Wood) spots an object in the sky that he can't seem to identify. Data about this object is sent to a research facility where it is confirmed to be a large asteroid and is on a collision course for.....Earth!

A year later, young news reporter, Jenny Lerner (played by Tea Leoni stumbles across a government cover up of what is then thought of as an affair of some kind.

....If only it was that simple. The Government comes clean with the American public, and everyone finds out that the world, as they know it, is going to be destroyed unless someone or something can save the day.

Morgan Freeman plays the role of US American President Beck. The President keeps us informed of the progress toward destroying the asteroid, and the progress of a deep tunnel project, into which they can put and save up to 1 million Americans.....to re-start the world after this great tragedy.

Robert Duvall plays the role of an aging astronaut who heads up a special mission with young recruits to try and save the planet.

Vanessa Redgrave and Denise Crosby have smaller roles as parents. Redgrave as the mother of Jenny Lerner (reporter), and Crosby as the mother of Leo's girlfriend, Sarah, played by Leelee Sobieski.

If you're looking for an all-out action movie, skip this one and head to the video store. This movie deals with what happens to peoples lives as "the end" nears. Sure, there are some good scenes of destruction, etc... but that's not what this movie is all about. I enjoyed this film because I knew what to expect going in. (I'll be expecting something completely different later this summer with Armageddon.

Copyright 1998 - Ron Higgins No unauthorized publication or distribution without the consent of Ron Higgins.

Jan 25, 2000
Deep Impact is the first of two films this summer to deal with the cataclysmic meeting of the Earth and a space-born traveller. This movie concentrates on the events on Earth, and how mankind deals with possible extinction. The second, Armageddon, sounds like it will concentrate more on the team that is in charge of changing the course of the doomsday projectile.

I remember when The Day Afterwas shown on TV in 1983. At that time, the cold war was still a reality, and the possibility of nuclear war was very real. This chilling depiction of the devastation wreaked by a nuclear attack affected me for quite some time.

Recently, with the stories in the news about cosmic collisions, such as Jupiter's recent experience, the aftermath of a comet colliding with Earth could be compared the devastation in The Day After.

Unfortunately, Deep Impact never creates the same amount of impending doom that a TV movie did 15 years ago. The performances were all believable for the most part (except that Morgan Freeman outclassed everyone else; kind of like wearing a tux to a picnic, you look good, but you don't fit in with everyone else), but you'll find yourself making your picks for who should be taken out when the big one hits.

You don't particularly care about any of the characters, to the point of being annoyed when they stop the action scenes to show you "the human element". As in many science fiction movies, special effects outweigh the plot, and in this case, the special effects were OK enough to make for a good disaster flick. Personally, I'm tiring of seeing New York get destroyed, how many times can it possibly be done?

So, turn off your brain, and see the movie for the special effects. For this reason alone, this movie rates a "Good" since the effects and sound will be lost on your average 27" TV with 3" speakers. Here's to hoping that Bruce Willis will bring some Die Hard to Armageddon, and make the choice easy when looking for a comet-destroys-earth popcorn flick.

This review is the property of Scott Jentsch, Copyright © 1998. This information cannot be reprinted without the permission of the author.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This is a "Must See", I was on the edge of my chair from the moment the movie started.It was action packed with mulitple main characters and plots. A real emotional. make you thinkmovie. On a scale from 1-5 (1 being low) I would personally give this a 4.9!!!

I walked out of that theater just amazed. It really make you apprieciate what you have in life.

Personal Opinion: I really would not recomend taking children under 13 due to the possible realalities of the plot may scare or otherwise give children the wrong impression on life. However if it is explained before viewing this may make a difference.

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Review for Deep Impact

One of the summer's most anticipated movies is Armageddon, an action film about a meteor that is coming to destroy the earth and a bunch of people that are sent up to blow it up. About two months before Armageddon was supposed to come out, another movie with an almost identical plot (though probably more drama and character study) Deep Impact came out hoping to get in on some of the money. Because I had to wait a while still for Armageddon, I went to see Deep Impact. This is a good movie, but I hate to say it, I think it would have been better without all the character development. Elijah Wood (The Good Son, The Ice Storm) plays a student who while searching the sky discovers a strange light and sends a picture to a lab. It is discovered that this light is a meteor on a direct path to hit earth. Tea Leoni (Bad Boys, TV's The Naked Truth) plays a reporter who gets the first news about it and does the broadcasts about it. Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Amistad) plays the President of the United States who tries to keep everyone informed and save the world. Robert Duvall (The Apostle, The Godfather) plays the astronaut with the most experience sent up to try to destroy the meteor. The film is exciting at times, especially the scenes on the meteor, but also boring at times, like some of the character scenes. Morgan Freeman is great as the President, but underused. Tea Leoni gives an average performance. Robert Duvall and Elijah Wood both give solid performances. Vanessa Redgrave (Mission: Impossible) is wasted. Ron Eldard (Sleepers, When Trumpets Fade) gives a somewhat touching performance in a smaller role as one of the astronauts. The film also suffers from not being able to decide who is the main character (Duvall, Leoni, and Wood), while the character I wanted to see more of Freeman's President isn't given much to do.
Grade: B
Rating PG-13 (language, disaster scenes)

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Having seen the 'Tidal Wave crushing NY" trailer, I couldn't wait for this flick. Critics praised it for its character development, but NOT A SINGLE ONE OF THEM INTRIGUED ME!!! Like Godzilla, I hoped to see the leading characters die, especially Elija Wood and his girlfriend, as well as Tea Leoni. The tidal wave scene comes in the last 10 minutes and is the only cool thing about this movie.

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The first comet film of the summer is an enjoyable one. "Deep Impact" begins with a young astronomer(Elijah Wood) discovering a comet. From then on it shows the reactions and fates of: a newswomen(Leoni), president(Freeman), and an astronaut(Duvall). It has a good opening with good characterization and performances, and finishes strongly with mindblowing special effects. The standard formula shows through, but everything else is done so well.

PG13-for disaster related peril, language, violence

[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Only impact this movie had was a deep one in our pockets. From the advertisings one expects a movie loaded with special effects but instead you are handed a boring teen love story with the bad guy being asteroids. Many story flaws. And by the way, the motorcycle used in this movie wasn't a Harley.

FATman and baldGUY

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I don't really feel like writing an in-depth review of this movie. It's not worth it. I will say this: DON'T LISTEN TO THE CRITICS WHO PRAISED THIS MOVIE FOR ITS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. The entire cast is annoying and uninteresting.

THIS IS NOT AN ACTION MOVIE. It is not fun to watch. It's boring and long. The only good part was the tidal wave scene, which occurs in the final 10 minutes.

GRADE: D (5 out of 10)

[--- Good ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Similar movie to Armageddon but to me it focused a bit more on the emotional impact such a cataclysmic event instead of how to solve the problem. The special effects were very daunting and I thought the acting was also very good.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
I fell a sleep and missed the last ten minutes. Granted I did catch a twilight showing this movie was dull and you cared little for the undeveloped characters. I prefer a witty script over "T2" special effects anyday, but this had neither. Big disappointment, I can see why it rushed to come out before "Armageddon."

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This is an excellent movie! It´s sad and touching but very good. It doesn´t lean on awesome effects. Characters are interesting and the movie makes you wonder what would you do in the situation like that. Worth of seeing. Great actors and actresses!

[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
The special effects was worth the wait, spectacular, although it wasn't enough. The production crew should have spent more on it. Overall, it was very good, but characterization should have been given more emphasis. Morgan Freeman was terrific as the President, and so is Robert Duvall. Elijah Wood's character and their love story is unappealing, but Tea Leoni's story was more emotionally felt. This will come as one of my best disaster flicks ever.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
This movie's ultimate flaw is the horrible acting. I myself am eighteen years old and (hopefully) plan to become a professional actor shortly after finishing college. Having said that, I was INSULTED at the poor performances in this film. As an actor, I am quite certain that if I recieved Elija Wood's role, I could have done a hell of a lot better job than he did. I don't feel guilty when I say that my acting abilities FAR exceed those of most of the cast members (except Morgan Freeman and Robert Duvall). These actors are insulting the craft of acting in there "interpretations". It is ironic that in Hollywood, the ultimate platform in which an actor can perform, many actors turn in performances that would get them fired in high school or commmunity theatre. This movie is a prime example of that.

Let me put it another way: the tidal wave at the end had more dramatic flare or personality than any of the real characters.

[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jan 25, 2000
Deep Impact is a disaster of a disaster movie. I didnÂ’t care about any of the characters in this film (although the filmmakers tried oh so hard for me to). Particularly bad were TĂ©a Leoni as the inappropriately moody news anchor who mumbles to the point where you can't undertand her. Morgan Freeman lowers himself to the mess as the boorish president. Major plot elements are introduced and then never developed. By the middle I was laughing at the film, definitely not a good sign. The much ballyhooed special effects finally roll around at the end of the picture but arenÂ’t even worth the wait. The movie then ends abruptly without addressing the fate of the "lottery winners." Very poor filmmaking.

10-point scale rating: 2

Jun 4, 2003
There are two movies about comets hitting the earth. \"Deep Impact\" is the first of them. It could be a remake of the 1952 film \"When Worlds Colide,\" in which two planets collided and the stories of the people who got off the planet. The film featured a group of people from every walks of like who are preparing for a collison with the comet. Some smart performances has helped the film, along with great special effects. Not much of a movie, but still a recommendation.

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