... Deep Impact, although a disaster movie, is different to these two films by concentrating more on the relationships between different characters then on the disaster itself. Directed by Mimi Leder, what I liked best about Deep Impact is the way it engages with its key characters so that we ... Read review
When a couple of young astronomers discover an enormous comet on course to collide with ... more
Earth, the countdown to Doomsday begins and the Human Race embarks on the fight for survival...Mimi Leder directs an all-star cast including Robert Duvall, Tea Leon...
Release Date: 2005-04-04, Rating Suitable for 12 years and over,
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Fourteen-year-old Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood) did not expect to make an earth-shattering ... more
discovery when he joined his high school astronomy club. He didn't expect to make any discoveries at all; he simply hoped that classmate Sarah Hotchner (Leelee Sob...
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A reporter believes that she has discovered a Congressman's affair. But as it turns out, ... more
Elle isn't a mistress, but something used to describe an event so cataclysmic that it could destroy the planet...When it is discovered that an enormous comet is on a collision course with Earth, a handful of Americans make different preparations for the end of the world. While Leo Biederman (played by Elijah Wood), the fourteen-year-old amateur astronomer who discovered the comet, deals with the pangs of first love, an ambitious newswoman (played by Tea Leoni) attempts to reconcile with her estranged parents. A former astronaut (played by Robert Duvall) finds himself in the stars once again in an attempt to prevent the catastrophe from occurring. Mimi Leder directs from a script by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin.
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
Production Year: 2007 - Action/Adventure - Director: Paul Greengrass - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Matt Damon, Julia Stiles, Joan Allen, Edgar Ramirez, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine, Albert Finney
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Advantages: Concentrates more on plot then special effects Disadvantages: A little meandering at times
...if a little silly Armageddon. Deep Impact, although a disaster movie, is different to these two films by concentrating more on the relationships between different characters then on the disaster itself. Directed by Mimi Leder, what I liked best about Deep Impact is the way it engages with its key characters so that we actually care about what happens to them, in comparison to something like The Day After Tomorrow where the characterisation is pretty ... ...disaster films such as Armageddon, Deep Impact is for me a better film because it takes a thoughtful look at the possibility of mass extinction rather then rushing straight in with special effects. Armageddon is an action film through and through, whereas Deep Impact is much deeper then that, looking at the human emotions and relationships which come together in the face of disaster. There are three main storylines which the film concerns itself ... more
FILM ONLY REVIEW
The 1990s saw a glut of disaster movies being released, from the action packed and rather egotistical Independence Day to the good if a little silly Armageddon. Deep Impact, although a disaster movie, is different to these two films by concentrating more on the relationships between different characters then on the disaster itself. Directed by Mimi Leder, what I liked best about Deep Impact is the way it engages with its key characters so that we actually care about what happens to them, in comparison to something like The Day After Tomorrow where the characterisation is pretty poor. The stand out performance for me is Tea Leoni as reporter Jenny Lerner.
The drama unfolds when a teenage astronomer and his teacher discover an object against the stars, which turns out to be a comet on a collision course with earth. After the President (Morgan Freeman) announces the comet's existence to his country a space mission is prepared to destroy the comet. When the space mission backfires, 800,000 people and 200,000 scientists are randomly selected to stay in caves which have been specially built in order to survive the 'Deep Impact'. Everyone else not selected to go in caves must brace themselves for impact, among them reporter Jenny Lerner (Leoni) and youngster Leo Beirderman (Elijah Wood).
Although not as successful as other disaster films such as Armageddon, Deep Impact is for me a better film because it takes a thoughtful look at the possibility of mass extinction rather then rushing straight in with special effects. Armageddon is an action film through and through, whereas Deep Impact is much deeper then that, looking at the human emotions and relationships which come together in the face of disaster. There are three main storylines which the film concerns itself with. The first (and for me the best) is the struggles reporter Jenny Lerner faces with her parents and her job, second is the relationship between young lovers Leo Biederman and Sarah Hotchner (Leelee Sobieski) and lastly is the problems the crew of the Messiah (the spacecraft sent to destoy the comet) face.
The majority of the film's time is spent looking at Jenny's relationship with her father and the horrible choice she has to make towards the end of the film. Jenny is an extremely intelligent and competent news reporter who has a strained relationship with her dad, who lands her biggest scoop by telling the nation about the comet approaching earth. This is the most moving and thought provoking part of the film, aided by Tea Leoni's performance and the great characterisation on Jenny. She's a person you really care about and feel for as the film goes on, with her performance very believable and convincing. The storyline concerning the Messiah crew is also very good and again heartbreaking, as another stark choice has to be made. I thought the storyline between Leo and Sarah wasn't as good and a little rushed, although Lord of the Rings star Eijah Wood gives a good performance as the teenage boy thrust into the limelight by his discovery of the comet.
The special effects are also of a very high standard, but are overshadowed by the human relationships, which for me is all the better. It's good to have a film which actually thinks about the unthinkable raher then rushing into things. Independence Day for example was a good solid action film but this is all it was, an action film, with little, if any, characterisation. By the end of Deep Impact you form a relationship to the different characters and their personal struggles, something unseen in many disaster films. The cast and acting in the film is also of a high standard, with Morgan Freeman shining as the President, and definately not as mawkish as you would think. Robert Duvall also puts in a touching performance as Captain Spurgeon Tanner of the Messiah crew.
Of course the film isn't perfect, there are a few holes in the plot. The main one for me is the idea that massive underground caves can be built in such a short space of time, unless they were already there, although this isn't really explained. The film is also a little slow at times, but not slow enough to be offputting. Many film critics have called the film 'boring' but this is definately not the case. For me this is much better then having crummy dialogue and poor characterisation in favour of big special effects. For a two hour film Deep Impact fills in enough human emotions and sensitivity to leave you truly moved, with the relationships between the lead characters overshadowing the main event. It will leave you with a lot to think about long after you've watched it, showing not only love and relationships between people but the love people share for their country.
A truly touching film.
Deep Impact (1998): Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan Freeman, Maximilian Schell, Ron Eldard, Jon Faverau, James Cromwell, Mary McCormack, Richard Schiff, Leelee Sobieski, Blair Underwood, Dougray Scott, Kurtwood Smith.
Advantages: Good action film with excellent story Disadvantages: A little drawn out at time
I know what alot of people think when they read a brief description of the film review,because I did exactly the same,but ,curiosity got the better of me.
This is not just another end of the world film or disaster movie.
In my opinion this is a definitely film with a better than average disaster film ,with the end of the world theme.
Firstly,we see a young astronomy group out on a field trip,when one of the young men in the group,Leo Beiderman ... ...and sends it to and expert,Professor Wolf.
Professor Wolf investigates further,and discovers,this is more then just a comet.
He drives off to tell the authorities,when disaster strikes and he is killed in a car crash.
Meanwhile , A report (Tea Leoni)feels she has stumbled on what she believes to be political corruption.
However, whilst investigating further she discovers she has stumbled on more than she bargained for.
We see her forced in a ...
welshwickedone 12.07.2006 (13.07.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Deep Impact (DVD)
Advantages: this could happen Disadvantages: i hope it don`t happen
AFTER "Independence Day", what? Another end-of-the-world saga? Why not? Repetition makes for healthy box office. There aren't any aliens in this one, only a comet the size of New York heading for your back-yard. If it lands, say goodbye to Broadway. And everywhere else. Say goodbye to the human race. Yikes! What can the president do? Precious little. What can anyone do? Sit in front of the telly in family groups listening to the anchor people waffling ... ...The astronauts in their shuttle craft are the front line. The great ball of blue, with its wispy tail, is Armageddon squared. The writers, Michael ("The Player") Tolkin and Bruce Joel ("Ghost") Rubin are award winners. Why have they churned out a run-of-the-mildew script that makes "Volcano" read like a tight human interest item? They follow "ID" in having two or three little stories running at once. Trouble is, they're all cringeful. You don't expect ...
bobmaf 15.09.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: not helpful Review of Deep Impact (DVD)
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During the late nineties, there were a couple of American big budget films made about an asteroid heading towards Earth. DeepImpact was one of these movies.
DeepImpact is about a comet that is on a collision course with Earth and will result in mass destruction and extinction of the human race. A news reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni), stumbles upon this story by accident, whilst investigating a high level government officials, suspicious resignation. The US Preseident, Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman), initiates a plan to launch a spaceship into orbit to attempt to destroy the comet into smaller safer pieces. As a back-up plan, he also randomly selects 1 million people who will relocate to specially designed caves in order to save the population from extinction.
This is a decent film and has some good characters, including Elijah Wood ...
Advantages: A touching family film, pretty good all round really (though not brilliant) Disadvantages: Only really that there have been too many asteroid films, and this may not deliver the sci-fi thrills some want/expect
I?ve seen DeepImpact a couple of times now. Last time it came on telly, I couldn?t remember if I had or not ? it?s one of those ?meteor heading for the earth? films, a couple of which were popular a few years ago. I couldn?t tell it apart from Armageddon and others though, so ended up watching it again.
Just to help you, I?ll outline some plot without giving things away ? a young amateur astronomer spots a new ?star?, which turns out to be an asteroid heading for earth. Unfortunately the scientist who confirms this is killed in a road accident on his way to alert people. It?s a year later that the news comes up ? but the US government have been working on a plan with the Russians. A ship is to be sent out to plant explosives on the surface of the asteroid, blowing it into pieces and diverting its course.
Fairly obviously ...
Advantages: Good graphics, people actually die (which sounds like a strange advantage, it just makes a nice change thats all!) Disadvantages: They don't run quick enough!
fatalities to a minimum. Otherwise an ELE (Extinction Level Event) would occur (yes, it’d be like the dinosaurs all over again!)
The plan of course fails (that was predictable!).
As for the rest, well you’ll have to watch the next time its on if you are interested. Any more and it’ll ruin it for you.
So, to sum up this film….
DeepImpact = Armageddon
If you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all really. After all, an asteroid hitting the Earth means the same for us all anyway. DEATH.
The story line in DeepImpact follows pretty much the same path as Armageddon. In case you’ve not seen either then……..
a few men are sent into space to destroy an oncoming asteroid.
That’s all you need to know really.
This film, like Armageddon, really brings the whole issue home ...
A reporter believes that she has discovered a Congressman's affair. But as it turns out, Elle isn't a mistress, but something used to describe an event so cataclysmic that it could destroy the planet...
Release details
DVD Region
DVD
Studio(s)
4 FRONT VIDEO; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS, DREAMWORKS HOME ENTERTAINMENT; PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Release date
04/04/2005, 19/06/2006
No of Discs
1
Catalogue No
830 082 4, DSL 1278
Barcode
5050583008240, 5051188127831
Languages
Main Language
English
Technical information
Special Features
Special Edition
DVD Description
A reporter believes that she has discovered a Congressman's affair. But as it turns out, Elle isn't a mistress, but something used to describe an event so cataclysmic that it could destroy the planet... When it is discovered that an enormous comet is on a collision course with Earth, a handful of Americans make different preparations for the end of the world. While Leo Biederman (played by Elijah Wood), the fourteen-year-old amateur astronomer who discovered the comet, deals with the pangs of first love, an ambitious newswoman (played by Tea Leoni) attempts to reconcile with her estranged parents. A former astronaut (played by Robert Duvall) finds himself in the stars once again in an attempt to prevent the catastrophe from occurring. Mimi Leder directs from a script by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin.
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