"Deep Impact" was the first of two summer blockbusters with similar stories. In "Deep Impact", a wayward comet threatens to strike Earth. In "Armageddon", it is an asteroid. Both holocausts threaten to end life as we know it. And in both films, astronauts are dispatched to rescue Earth from impending doom.
"Armageddon" is much more of a comedy and adventure film, concentrating on the heroics of the astronauts. In "Deep Impact", that is just one of several subplots, with the real story being the melodrama of choosing who lives and who dies.
At least "Deep Impact" has the better cast.
Robert Duvall is an aging astronaut, Morgan
Freeman a Lincolnesque President, Vanessa
Redgrave and Maximilian Schell are the bitterly
divorced parents of rising reporter Tea
Leoni. James Cromwell is a Presidential
advisor. These veteran actors are intended
to bring respect to "Deep Impact", and draw
older adults to the theaters. Leoni is
sad-faced throughout, and her performance
will be disappointing to fans of her comic
talents.
To entice teen interest, there is a romantic
subplot involving Elijah Wood and Leelee
Sobieski. Wood, whose character apparently
knows the name and location of every visible
star in the heavens, is the discoverer of the
comet. Wood and Sobieski have great love for
each other, and for their families, and for
each other's families, which involves self
sacrifice. This is all supposed to be deeply
moving, a la "Titanic", but is so blatantly
manipulative that it doesn't come off.
The special effects are more than satisfactory.
A tidal wave sends the Statue of Liberty
surfing, and the White House is likewise
totaled. Still, special effects will never
by itself make a movie good, especially
when they only take up a few minutes of screen
time.
The best disaster film that I have ever seen
is "Alive". This was a true story, and as a
result avoided the credibility-reducing formulas
that have plagued the genre since "The Towering
Inferno", namely melodramatic subplots and
acts of heroism and sacrifice. (56/100)
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