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Oceans rise. Cities fall. Hope survives.Viewed atManchester Showcase Cinemas.
Telephone 0161 220 8765 for programme information
- Cert: 12
- Running time: 120 minutes
- Year: 1998
- Released: 15th May 1998
- Widescreen Ratio : 2.35:1
- Rating: 9/10
Director:
- Mimi Leder
(The Peacemaker, TV: “E.R.”, “L.A. Law”)
Producers:
- Richard D. Zanuck & David Brown
Screenplay:
- Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin
Original Score :
- James Horner (Titanic)
Cast :
- Spurgeon Tanner: Robert Duvall (The Apostle, Falling Down, Rambling Rose)
Jenny Lerner: Tea Leoni (Flirting With Disaster, TV: “The Naked Truth”, “Flying Blind”)
Leo Biederman: Elijah Wood (Forever Young, Internal Affairs, The Ice Storm)
Robin Lerner: Vanessa Redgrave (Camelot, The Devils, Howard’s End)
President Beck: Morgan Freeman (Seven, The Shawshank Redemption, Kiss The Girls, Hard Rain)
Jason Lerner: Maximillian Schell (A Bridge Too Far, Topkapi, Judgement At Nuremberg)
Alan Rittenhouse: James Cromwell (Species 2, Babe, Eraser, L.A. Confidential, Star Trek: First Contact)
Oren Monash: Ron Eldard (Scent Of A Woman, Sleepers, The Last Supper, TV: “E.R.”, “Men Behaving Badly (USA)”)
Gus Parlenza: Jon Favreau (Swingers, Ruby, Very Bad Things, TV: “Friends”)
Beth Stanley: Laura Innes (And The Band Played On, TV: “E.R.”, “Party of Five”, “My So-Called Life”)
Sarah Hotchner: Leelee Sobieski (Eyes Wide Shut, A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries)
Mark Simon: Blair Underwood (Just Cause, Gattaca, Set It Off, TV: “L.A. Law”)
Mikhail Tulchinsky: Alexander Baluev (The Peacemaker)
Marcus Wolf: Charles Martin Smith (And The Band Played On, The Untouchables, American Graffiti)
Vicky Hotchner: Denise Crosby (Pet Semetary, Miracle Mile, TV: “Star Trek: Next Generation”)
Otis Heffer: Kurtwood Smith (Robocop, Fortress)
When up-and-coming investigative journalist Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni)hears of an affair between cabinet member Alan Rittenhouse (James Cromwell)and a girl called Ele, she suspects she’s hit upon the story of the year as shebelieves it was not him who had the affair, but the President (MorganFreeman) himself. One frightening experience later and she realises thatEle isn’t a woman at all, but “E.L.E.”, which stands for ExtinctionLevel Event.
A year beforehand a comet, discovered by Marcus Wolf (Charles MartinSmith) and Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood), was found to be headingdirectly for Earth, something that would cause worldwide devastation andthreaten the existence of mankind. As the President addresses the nation tellingthem that there is another year to go before the comet is due, panic sets inas he tells them there is to be a National Lottery in which 800,000 Americanswill be selected to accompany 200,000 scientists and other dignitaries inspecial bunkers underground which will house them for two years. The rest ofthe country will be left to their own devices.
A team of astronauts headed by Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall) isassembled to pilot the Messiah, a craft containing nuclear missiles which willdock with the comet, at which point the crew will bury them beneath the comet’scrust so that detenation will blow it apart and save the human race. Thequestion is, do they work? Well, if you’ve seen the trailer you’ll know thatit doesn’t as the comet eventually hits the planet causing massive tidal wavessweeping away skyscrapers and whole cities up to 700 miles inland. What hopeis there for mankind afterwards?
Director Mimi Leder is certainly making all the right moves in Hollywood.After being responsible for episodes of L.A. Law and E.R., shemade her feature film debut last year withThe Peacemaker,starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. That film had but two big names,and the cast of Deep Impact dwarves that.
As mentioned earlier, Robert Duvall heads the rescue mission in space,while reporter Tea Leoni, wife of The X-Files‘ David Duchovny hitsupon the story which will change her career and put her on the frontline as sheis promoted to helming the flagship news programme which stays on airpermanently as the fatal day draws near. Her role shows she can cope well withdrama as her main audience will come from her comedy shows The Naked Truthand Flying Blind.
Elijah Wood uses his new found fame to get his girlfriend LeeleeSobieski, who looks like a 15-year-old Helen Hunt, and her parents(Gary Werntz and Star Trek: Next Generation‘s Denise Crosby)a place in the underground bunkers.
Maximillian Schell and Vanessa Redgrave play Jenny’s parents,whom have grown apart from their daughter in recent years, but it begs thequestion – can the fate of mankind bring the family back together?
Links between some cast members and the director are abound as the film featurestwo stars of E.R., namely journalist Laura Innes (aka Dr. KerryWeaver in the TV series) and astronaut Ron Eldard (aka Shep, the firemanwho dated Carol Hathaway for a time). Scientist Charles Martin Smithappeared in the AIDS drama And The Band Played On, as did Laura Innes;while Blair Underwood appeared in L.A. Law and AlexanderBaluev was last seen on the big screen stealing nuclear missiles inThe Peacemaker.Another TV face is Jon Favreau who will be well-known to viewers ofFriends as Peter Becker, a Bill Gates-like billionaire who romancedCourtney Cox.
The rest of the cast includes the always-excellent Morgan Freeman whotirelessly attempts to ease the fears of the world as the President,Robocop‘s Clarence Bodicker – Kurtwood Smith who controls thespace rescue mission from ground control, and James Cromwell as theman accused of having an affair, but who gets such a small amount of screentime given how high up in the credits his name is.
If I had a couple of criticisms of Deep Impact, they’d be that whilethe film makes for compelling viewing, it may not have on repeat viewing. Like1996’s Independence Day, the world faces disaster and when severalcharacters are thrown together, the priorities within their relationshipschange dramatically, although Deep Impact has the edge in that category.As an aside, both films feature a few minutes of jaw-dropping special effects aschaos rules for a brief spell.
The other problem is the ending – there is an immense build-up of tension anddrama for the best part of two hours, save for a bit of a slow start, then thecomet hits, many people die and the President addresses the nation again,although it’s not clear whether this was later the same day or after thetwo-year period they were meant to be held underground for… and then that’sit.
Overall though this is a definite hit for Steven Spielberg‘s fledglingfilm company, Dreamworks SKG, who began life last year with thesuccessful actionerThe Peacemaker,and comes well-recommended to anyone who likes a good disaster-movie dramafollowed by some first-class special effects.
This is the first of two films due this year in which Earth is threatened bya comet, the other being Armageddon starring Bruce Willis,directed by Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys and produced byJerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Con Air, Crimson Tide).
Check out the official Deep Impact Website atwww.deepimpact.com
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.