Remember Armageddon? That was a great movie about an asteroid on its way to earth. an action movie to be precise. this movie has the same background story but puts its focus on a couple of random people and their fates. but some of their story line feel forced and the outcome was no surprise. at least they are trying to be more realistic in terms of what could happen in such event. overall the movie is just okay... not really bad but also not great. you might watch it once on the tv and then probably never again

Nice cast, especially Téa Leoni, as a fledgling reporter who catches an important story for TV news, and Morgan Freeman, as president of the United States, caught between a rock and a bigger rock.Téa Leoni was never a bravura actress. Her emotional range varies from casual, matter of fact, to slightly perturbed. It doesn't matter. Those incandescent incisors. How I would love to see her eat corn on the cob at an Iowa picnic. Her sleek features are just about perfectly arranged and clothing seems to drape itself loosely but eagerly around her slender form.Freeman is fine as well. Even those who have been repelled by the idea of an African-American president must admit that this is the kind of president you want to be able to lean on in times of crisis -- and CAN. Unlike Leoni Freeman has a broad range as an actor. Polite and reserved in "Driving Miss Daily" and a vicious pimp who kicks you in the family jewels in "Street Smart." Robert Duvall is the pilot of a space craft trying to destroy a monstrous comet on its way to inflict more punishment on the earth than human beings already have. Unfortunately Duval is in his dry period with little to do except the occasional arid chuckle. Too bad because he's been capable of some fine performances. Max Schell is bulkier than we remember but is one of the finest actors of his generation. He's given no chance to prove it here. Still, it's Noah's Ark time around the world.Let's see. I think that gets the good part out of the way. It's actually a pretty dumb movie, an unhealthy blend of rude science fiction and bathos. The plot is cobbled together from most other disaster movies you've seen. There's even a motorcycle racing away from an onrushing tsunami which is copped, I think, from "Earthquake," in which Los Angeles gets it. Vanessa Redgrave, an elegant matron, takes a long time before the disaster, carefully dressing, applying make up, wearing her most expensive but subdued jewelry, and then sits back in her opulent apartment to wait for it. ("On the Beach.") The least bearable part is when a two-year darkness appears about ready to engulf the earth and extinguish life. Fortunately, earth's governments have had time to drill and stock labyrinthine caverns in the limestone landscapes. In the United States the caves will accommodate some 3,000 survivors, including about 800 scientists and artists. The 3,000 will be chosen strictly at random. (Why do I doubt this?) No one over fifty allowed. Here I was experiencing nightmarish visions of Doctor Strangelove and his Gemeinschaft Gesellschaft. "Of course dzha WIMMEN vood heff to be of a highly STIMULATING nature!" The random plan means splitting up families and loved ones. Now I was worried about "When World's Collide" with a selfish and bitter billionaire offering to fund salvation only if he goes first. But no! When the time comes to bus the Select to their caves, it seems that NOBODY WANTS TO GO. Nope. They can't leave their loved ones behind -- their babies, their husbands, grand dad in his dotage. There's a great deal of sobbing. Kids are torn from their mother's arms. The armed and uniformed footmen of Unit Orange 245 must use their M-16s to force the survivors to get aboard.But not to worry. The world doesn't end -- yet. There is a disaster, yes, but a small one, a tidal waves that clears the coastal plan of the eastern United States of all the accumulated detritus. But Duval, his four or five passengers, decide to dive directly into the comet and blow it to smithereens with the nukes they have aboard. Plenty of time or parting words with the families via television. Tears abound. "Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll always be beside you." God, I hope not.

A passable, diverting, but sometimes boring disaster flick. At least it's better than some of the ones they made in the '70s, mainly due to the improved special effects. They just weren't able to do them justice in those days, so this blows METEOR out of the water pretty well, although it's still far, far below stuff like THE TOWERING INFERNO. Mainly because effects on their own do not make a film (take VOLCANO for instance).What makes this film better than most is the focus on the people, not the special effects, which is refreshing for a blockbuster like this these days. We do actually get to know and feel for the characters (even if we hate them), so the ending will have some meaning. Unfortunately, most of the film is made up of slow-moving exposition, lots of dialogue and drippy sentiment which comes across as shallow and pointless, it's so cheesy and bad it makes you sick. There are some good scenes like the mission to Mars, but these are few and far between. I can safely say that the ending is worth waiting for though.The special effects here involve cities exploding as they get hit by the tidal wave. Just like INDEPENDENCE DAY, but with water instead of fire. While some look unrealistic, they're certainly a lot more convincing than in many other, lower budgeted films, so these expensive movies do have something going for them I suppose. Anyway, the effects look amazing and jaw-dropping, just as to be expected, although there are surprisingly few of them (the whole tidal wave thing can't last longer than five minutes). The spaceship scenes are also good, with excellent character buildings, we really feel for the guys and girls at the end of the film.The cast is populated by lots of famous names which also adds to the enjoyment level. Tea Leoni is a pretty bland and obnoxious lead, although to be fair she's not as bad as some. Maximillian Schell is heavyweight support and fits his expensive-looking, amiable role like a glove, while Morgan Freeman is excellent, as to be expected, as the first black President, although woefully underused. Robert Duvall is also good value as the aged, grandfatherly astronaut, and he's a character we really care about. In fact the only characters that really grate are the teenagers, with a wimpish Elijah Wood simply awful and his 'wife' nearly as sickly. Further down in the cast list we have cult favourite Charles Martin Smith as a nervous scientist (what else? This guy spends his life playing scientists), and one of my personal favourites, Kurtwood Smith (ROBOCOP), as mission control operator.Unfortunately, DEEP IMPACT is only spoiled by the overlong, boring sentimental scenes. What we needed was more action and more plot development, instead of endless romances and farewells. What did surprise me was the relatively high mortality rate, a lot more actors and actresses die than you would imagine. Overall I would call this solid entertainment, a little too family-orientated for my liking.

It's crazy ... Throughout the movie, everyone shows very little reaction to the news that a comet the size of Manhattan is hurtling to Earth, potentially killing every person and creature on our planet. The expressions on the actors and actresses are blank, emotionless, kind of immediately resigned to dying in about a year. Weird how other reviews liked the acting and how the flick touched them. I seriously don't get it. Deep Impact was too unrealistic by how Americans acted or really didn't act. In reality, mass hysteria would build, criminal and impulsive behaviors would increase, and society would start unraveling. The President was totally unbelievable and and the reporter was literally like a zombie, stating horrible news like someone who is reporting the loss of a championship high school football game. No one reacted realistically. The characters on the rescue ship made efforts at showing some human emotion, but they came off as wooden and dull. The major flaw in the movie is that most people on Earth ... including the main characters ... would react far more strongly, more unpredictably, than the way everyone reacts in the flick.