 Tagline: Oceans Rise. Cities Fall. Hope Survives. What would you do if you knew that in a handful of days in an enormous comet world collide with Earth and all humanity could be annihilated? The countdown to doomsday is underway in this "gut-wrenching, eye-opening blast of a movie experience" (Jeff Craig, Sixty Second Preview), Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker), directs, guiding an all-star cast featuring Robert Devall, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell and Morgan Freeman. With the film's dynamic fusion of large-scale excitement and touching, human-scale storylines, Deep Impact makes the impact felt in a big and unforgettable way. Storyline: Journalist Jenny Lerner is assigned to look into the background of Secretary Alan Rittenhouse who abruptly resigned from government citing his wife's ill health. She learns from his secretary that Rittenhouse was having an affair with someone named Ellie but when she confronts him, his strange reaction leads her to reconsider her story. In fact, a meteor, discovered the previous year by high school student Leo Biederman and astronomer Dr. Marcus Wolf, is on a collision course with the Earth, an Extinction Level Event. A joint US-Russian team is sent to destroy the meteor but should it fail, special measures are to be put in place to secure the future of mankind. As the space mission progresses, many individuals deal with their fears and ponder their future. Written by garykmcd Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman on October 5, 2009 -- Life will go on. Perhaps the greatest Disaster film of them all, Deep Impact foregoes the hackneyed faux emotion, trite clichés, and bigger-than-life heroes in favor of a more grounded, realistic, and by extension, altogether moving experience. A film about love, family, hope, and the perseverance of man in the face of certain doom, Deep Impact treats its material honestly and passionately, putting its people first and its special effects second. The danger of the looming disaster is not defined by its destructive force, massive size, or threat to destroy the planet, but by the heartache, raw emotion, and strength of the characters. The emotion of the picture is not derived from last-second heroics, catchy one-liners, or awe-inspiring special effects, but the plight of human beings, the ties that bind them together, and the strength of family. Deep Impact is a big-budget, special effects extravaganza, but it succeeds in conjunction with -- and not solely because of -- its superficialities. The film excels thanks to its deep and meaningful look at the human condition from several perspectives while commenting on the power of love, courage, sacrifice, integrity, perseverance, and spirit even in the face of tremendous odds. Young high school astronomer Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood, The Lord of the Rings trilogy) discovers an unidentifiable object in the sky. Dr. Wolf -- a prominent Tucson, Arizona-based astronomer to whom Leo sent his findings -- discovers that the object is a comet on a collision course with Earth. One year later, MSNBC journalist Jenny Lerner (Téa Leoni, Jurassic Park III) becomes privy to classified information that leads her to learn that the Earth may be facing what is known as an "Extinction Level Event." Cornering the White House by threatening to break the story ahead of schedule, President Beck (Morgan Freeman, The Sum of All Fears) grants Lerner her big break by allowing her a front-and-center seat at the Presidential Press conference breaking the news to the world two days later. Beck announces that a joint U.S.-Russian team has built The Messiah -- an advanced spacecraft armed with nuclear bombs meant to detonate deep within the comet in hopes of knocking it off course -- crewed by a young and talented collection of astronauts but solidified by the presence of veteran shuttle pilot Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall, Sling Blade). With the fate of mankind hanging in the balance, people come to better know themselves and discover the power of love, hope, and family in a time of great upheaval. Inevitably, every discussion of Deep Impact turns to a discussion on the pros and cons of the film in comparison to its sister movie, Armageddon. Released two months after Deep Impact and grossing a larger dollar figure at the box office, Armageddon may be the fan favorite of the two but it's clearly the lesser picture. Everything that Deep Impact does right, Armageddon gets wrong. The latter lacks an emotional core, the most crucial element of any Disaster movie. While Armageddon does boast more grandiose special effects, it lacks the heart, soul, and timelessness of Deep Impact, a film that delivers a universal message of love, faith, and family. Armageddon relies on its superficialities -- big special effects; glitzy camerawork; and a bigger, more widely-recognized cast and crew -- while Deep Impact puts its story first and the secondary and tertiary components that define the whole of Armageddon last. Sweet, meaningful, moving, and utterly captivating even after multiple viewings, Deep Impact withstands the test of time as a film that unequivocally delivers on every level, stirring the soul, churning at the base emotions, and even exciting the senses with healthy doses of action and suspense. Deep Impact is the perfect Disaster movie; from its collection of wonderfully-developed characters to its inspiring final shot, there's simply no better of its kind. Deep Impact's smart and moving script defines the core of the experience, but the film features a wonderful cast and crew that brings the pages to thrilling and moving life. Though Téa Leoni delivers something of a zombie-esque performance, her character arc is the best in the film, and her relationship with her father (brillianty played by the legendary Maximilian Schell) comes to define everything that Deep Impact is truly about. Robert Duvall turns in an inspired performance as an aging astronaut who serves as the glue that holds the crew -- and the mission -- together. Something of a father figure to the rest of the crew, Duvall's character and, by extension, his performance, is one that is solidified by a combination of courage and emotion, the character remaining steady, strong, and on-task but understanding and appropriately emotionally deep and perceptive. As the President of the United States, Morgan Freeman is an inspired choice; he emotes a humanity that doesn't make hum vulnerable but instead a true leader, a man higher in stature but not in heart. Deep Impact also features a strong performance by a younger Elijah Wood who shows a strong grasp of the film's meaning and emotional core. Directed by Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker), Deep Impact does well to visually represent the emotions of the story. From the topsy-turvy angles that define the President's initial address and the hectic handheld work that captures the chaos of the newsroom in the aftermath of the announcement to the steadier shots that allow the audience to linger in the emotion of the moment, Leder proves herself a first-class director with every expert shot. It's a shame Leder hasn't done more feature films since Deep Impact. She shows a tremendous talent in her ability to superbly mesh danger and excitement with raw emotion and humanity. If there is a director out there that deserves more work and more recognition, it's Mimi Leder. Rounded out by a stellar score courtesy of the best in the business, James Horner (Glory), Deep Impact delivers a complete cinematic experience from beginning to end and on both sides of the camera. A highly emotional, superbly crafted, and altogether timeless movie, Deep Impact may superficially fall into the "Disaster" movie category but it's more a tale of the human condition than the end of the world. Revolving around its themes of love, family, and sacrifice rather than building a ten-cent story around special effects and catchy one-liners, Deep Impact positively nails what its genre is all about and bests the competition in every regard. The pinnacle of the Disaster genre and one of the better emotionally-centered movies of the past several generations, Deep Impact withstands the test of time and holds up as an emotional tour-de-force examination of the human spirit. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Deep Impact does the film justice. Featuring a steady 1080p transfer, a wonderfully robust lossless soundtrack, and a fair collection of bonus materials, Deep Impact comes highly recommended. Cast Notes: Robert Duvall (Captain Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner Téa Leoni (Jenny Lerner Elijah Wood (Leo Biederman Vanessa Redgrave (Robin Lerner Morgan Freeman (President Tom Beck Maximilian Schell (Jason Lerner James Cromwell (Alan Rittenhouse Ron Eldard (Dr. Oren Monash Jon Favreau (Dr. Gus Partenza Laura Innes (Beth Stanley Mary McCormack (Andrea Baker Richard Schiff (Don Biederman Leelee Sobieski (Sarah Hotchner Blair Underwood (Mark Simon Dougray Scott (Eric Vennekor). IMDb Rating (05/27/13): 6.0/10 from 96,261 users IMDb Rating (09/08/12): 6.0/10 from 83,574 users
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