Its a shame someone like Mathew Modine was suckered into this. He is good as usual at keeping a solid character portrayal but thats where it all ends. After that this is probably one of the hardest things I have ever made myself watch. A real lousy implementation of VFX. The fact that his partner did not complain to someone is totally unreal. Let us not forget of course the complete misrepresentation of scientific fact. Finally what happened to the payback against secretary of defense and his sidekick. The ending is a complete let down. Who ever funded this must be regretting it now! Don't waist your time unless you wan to see how not to make a sci-fi. This is more like a bad drama.

I gave a "3" instead of a "1" because of unintentional humor. It was so bad it was good. Start with the premise that a new weapon is tested for the first time in the presence of the President. Suddenly, "something goes wrong", the machine shoots the sun and creates a huge flare. Then satellites crash ONLY on large cities - London, Chicago, Boston, etcActing and plot are the real disasters. The politicians were as genuine as Daffy Duck/ The male hero is an older disgraced scientists whose divorced wife i kept confusing with the daughter. Said daughter's cop boyfriend looked like a model with zero acting experience. A young female scientist whines as she battles the evil Sec of Defense. The special effects remind one of the first Star Trek episodes in their amateurishness. Volcanoes erupt, the ground splits lakes boil, earthquakes strike yet cell phones, internet and power continue unimpeded. LOL As the new Madam Prez dashes the dastardly nuclear plans of the Sec of Defense with seconds to go the scientists (older guy and young heroine) fall in LUV in the mismatch of the millennium. Boyfriend announces he's marrying daughter & divorced wife's new hubby proves he's a hero too. Invite some friends and keep track of the errors for a fun night. (This thing is - believe it or not - in two parts.)

At the outset, let it be understood that there is virtually no suspension of disbelief to be found in this sci-fi folly.Science, and science fiction fans more importantly, understand that some scientific capital must be invested in a science fiction narrative to make it at least partially believable. No such investment occurred here, and therein lies the beginning of a bailout that never happened.The absence of suspension of disbelief is well supported. There clearly was a vulgar absence of scientific research within the arena's of the scientific disciplines upon which the (weak) foundation of this cinematic effort was based.Enough of this. Sci-fi fans of any stripe will understand the elements that are lacking. And that would be all of them. Satellites falling from orbit to impact Earth within MINUTES of critical solar events? International Space Station hitting the Earth and delivering an impact equivalent to the destruction delivered by hundreds of megatons of nuclear bombs? The I.S.S. is pretty much comprised of what amounts to little more than aluminum foil. The electro-magnetic effects of solar events assailing the Earth in mere seconds?It's hard not to laugh out loud at the sheer absurdity of these film elements. Oh wait. I did laugh. Out loud.The acting was careless and amateurish at best. Even veteran actor Matthew Modine delivered a performance that was stiff and over-rehearsed. The characters of the President and Vice President of the United States were just plain spooky and damned creepy. Personally, I feel the characters of the Prez and the Veep required lobotomies. That may seem a radical concept, but they *are* playing US politicians -- the majority of whom have already been lobotomized, I'd venture to guess. If you watch this film to its conclusion, I have the contact number for Lobotomies-R-Us.

Going into the second episode, however, there are some pretty significant issues with the main antagonist.There's just no background or reason for many of the things that the antagonist does. It's irritatingly irrational and the product of weak writing. The world is ending and everything is burning around you, and you're going to relentlessly hinder the one person who can help save mankind? For what purpose? To what end? This character just makes no sense. He's written as though he's suffered some sort of horrible psychotic break. It may have been mildly interesting if there was some sort of buildup that showed it was due to guilt or stress, but sadly this is not a series that strives for depth.I watched it over the span of a few days just for entertainment during my meals. I don't regret watching it, but it would be the bottom of my Netflix queue.