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The Dominator reviews

Deep Impact logo

Oceans rise. Cities fall. Hope survives.
Heaven and Earth are about to collide.

Distributed by
United International Pictures / Dreamworks SKG

Viewed at Manchester Showcase Cinemas.
Telephone 0161 220 8765 for programme information

picture

Director:

Producers:

Screenplay:

Original Score :

Cast :

W hen 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 she believes it was not him who had the affair, but the President (Morgan Freeman) himself. One frightening experience later and she realises that Ele isn't a woman at all, but "E.L.E.", which stands for Extinction Level Event.

A year beforehand a comet, discovered by Marcus Wolf (Charles Martin Smith) and Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood), was found to be heading directly for Earth, something that would cause worldwide devastation and threaten the existence of mankind. As the President addresses the nation telling them that there is another year to go before the comet is due, panic sets in as he tells them there is to be a National Lottery in which 800,000 Americans will be selected to accompany 200,000 scientists and other dignitaries in special bunkers underground which will house them for two years. The rest of the country will be left to their own devices.

A team of astronauts headed by Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall) is assembled to pilot the Messiah, a craft containing nuclear missiles which will dock with the comet, at which point the crew will bury them beneath the comet's crust so that detenation will blow it apart and save the human race. The question is, do they work? Well, if you've seen the trailer you'll know that it doesn't as the comet eventually hits the planet causing massive tidal waves sweeping away skyscrapers and whole cities up to 700 miles inland. What hope is 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., she made her feature film debut last year with The 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 hits upon the story which will change her career and put her on the frontline as she is promoted to helming the flagship news programme which stays on air permanently as the fatal day draws near. Her role shows she can cope well with drama as her main audience will come from her comedy shows The Naked Truth and Flying Blind.

Elijah Wood uses his new found fame to get his girlfriend Leelee Sobieski, 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 the question - can the fate of mankind bring the family back together?

Links between some cast members and the director are abound as the film features two stars of E.R., namely journalist Laura Innes (aka Dr. Kerry Weaver in the TV series) and astronaut Ron Eldard (aka Shep, the fireman who dated Carol Hathaway for a time). Scientist Charles Martin Smith appeared in the AIDS drama And The Band Played On, as did Laura Innes; while Blair Underwood appeared in L.A. Law and Alexander Baluev was last seen on the big screen stealing nuclear missiles in The Peacemaker. Another TV face is Jon Favreau who will be well-known to viewers of Friends as Peter Becker, a Bill Gates-like billionaire who romanced Courtney Cox.

The rest of the cast includes the always-excellent Morgan Freeman who tirelessly attempts to ease the fears of the world as the President, Robocop's Clarence Bodicker - Kurtwood Smith who controls the space rescue mission from ground control, and James Cromwell as the man accused of having an affair, but who gets such a small amount of screen time given how high up in the credits his name is.

If I had a couple of criticisms of Deep Impact, they'd be that while the film makes for compelling viewing, it may not have on repeat viewing. Like 1996's Independence Day, the world faces disaster and when several characters are thrown together, the priorities within their relationships change dramatically, although Deep Impact has the edge in that category. As an aside, both films feature a few minutes of jaw-dropping special effects as chaos rules for a brief spell.

The other problem is the ending - there is an immense build-up of tension and drama for the best part of two hours, save for a bit of a slow start, then the comet 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 the two-year period they were meant to be held underground for... and then that's it.

Overall though this is a definite hit for Steven Spielberg's fledgling film company, Dreamworks SKG, who began life last year with the successful actioner The Peacemaker, and comes well-recommended to anyone who likes a good disaster-movie drama followed by some first-class special effects.

This is the first of two films due this year in which Earth is threatened by a comet, the other being Armageddon starring Bruce Willis, directed by Michael Bay (The Rock, Bad Boys and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (The Rock, Con Air, Crimson Tide).

Check out the official Deep Impact Website at www.deepimpact.com

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1998.

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