Deep Impact [Blu-ray]

Director: Mimi Leder Mimi Leder

Overview

Mimi Leder (The Peacemaker) directed this science-fiction disaster drama about the possible extinction of human life after a comet is discovered headed toward Earth with the collision only one year away. Ambitious MSNBC reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the story, prompting a White House press conference. United States President Beck (Morgan Freeman) announces the government's solution: a team of astronauts will travel to the comet and destroy it. The team leader aboard the spaceship Messiah is Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), who was once the last man to walk on the moon. However, the mission fails, splitting off a chunk of the comet, now due to land in the Atlantic with the impact sending a 350-foot tidal wave flooding 650 miles inland, destroying New York and other cities. The larger part of the comet, hitting in Canada, will trigger an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event), not unlike a "nuclear winter" as dust clouds block out the sun and bring life to an end. President Beck reveals Plan B: a cavernous underground retreat constructed to hold one million Americans, with most to be selected through a national lottery. Since teenage amateur astronomer Leo Biederman (Elijah Wood) discovered the comet, his family gets a pass to enter the cave, but his girlfriend Sarah (Leelee Sobieski) and her parents will be left behind. Meanwhile, still in space, Spurgeon Tanner devises a plan for a kamikaze-styled operation that could possibly save the Earth. Special visual effects by Scott Farrar and Industrial Light & Magic.

Product Details

Release Date:	09/15/2009
UPC:	0097361433240
Original Release:	1998
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Paramount
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00
Sales rank:	16,006

Special Features

Commentary by director Mimi Leder and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar; Preparing for the end; Making an impact; Creating the perfect trafic jam; Parting thoughts; Photo gallery; Teaser trailer; Theatrical trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Duvall	Spurgeon Tanner
Téa Leoni	Jenny Lerner,Actor
Elijah Wood	Leo Biederman
Vanessa Redgrave	Robin Lerner
Morgan Freeman	President Beck
Maximilian Schell	Jason Lerner
James Cromwell	Alan Rittenhouse
Ron Eldard	Oren Monash
Jon Favreau	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
Gary Werntz	Chuck Hotchner
Bruce Weitz	Stuart Caley
Betsy Brantley	Ellen Biederman
O'Neal Compton	Morten Entrekin
Rya Kihlstedt	Chloe
Aleksandr Baluev	Mikhail Tulchinsky(as Alexander Baluev)
Caitlin Fein	Caitlin Stanley,Caitlin Stanley
Joe Urla	Ira Moskatel(as Joseph Urla)
Una Damon	Marianne Duclos

Technical Credits

Bruce Joel Rubin

Michael Tolkin

Bruce Joel Rubin	Screenwriter
Michael Tolkin	Screenwriter
Mimi Leder	Director
Joan Bradshaw	Executive Producer
Walter F. Parkes	Executive Producer
Steven Spielberg	Executive Producer
David Brown	Producer
Richard D. Zanuck	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Thanks to her brilliant work on TV's ER, Mimi Leder became one of Hollywood's premiere action-movie directors, and her sophomore feature, Deep Impact, is a flawed but nonetheless interesting effort that allows her to explore the notion of total Armageddon. Dark and pensive, the movie is more of a character-driven drama than a sci-fi disaster pic. Not surprisingly, Leder seems more at ease with the epic action sequences and less confident when directing the human interest scenes. The narrative becomes increasingly preachy as it evolves, culminating with Morgan Freeman's closing presidential speech punctuated with a hyper-dramatic score. While the finale does provide the cursory tidal waves and exploding cities, they still seem anti-climactic due to the countless sappy, tearful reunions peppered throughout the narrative. Even though Leder desperately tries to focus on characterization, the talented ensemble cast seems underdeveloped and unengaging, thanks in large part to the cardboard lines they are forced to deliver. Deep Impact simultaneously attempts to have the bang of Independence Day and the dramatics of Titanic, and moderately succeeds on both fronts. Even though audiences seeking a relentless thrill-ride may be disappointed, the film is still leagues better than Armageddon, the other asteroid blockbuster released in the summer of '98.