Customer Reviews
An intelligent disaster movie - By: Frank antz, 01 Jan 2009 
Its rather interesting that both Deep Impact & Armageddon were released around the same time because the two films deal with the same subject matter butin vastly different ways. While Jerry Bruckheimer gives us Con Air In Space, Mimi Leder takes a more considered approach to the threat of human extinction by chosing to concentrate on how exactly many of us would respond to the idea of the end of the world. Characters are fleshed out, warts & all. If one didn't already know this was a film about a giant meteor heading towards earth & knew about as much as the reporter who wants to uncover why 'ELLE' is such a closely guarded govermnment secret it is entirely plausible that events would unfurl as portrayedin this film.
I prefer films that do not try to insult my intelligence, like Armageddon with its over-the-top posturing macho nonsense. Deep Impact tells its story simply & intelligently. Morgan Freeman gives a magnificent performance as the President, a kind of mature version of Barak Obama. Robert Duvall is brilliant as the seasoned old astronaut pilot giving the young guns a lesssonin seat-of-the-pants piloting. Tea Leoni, all inner turmoil & uncertainty until the end, is actually rather an inspired choice as a young ambitious reporter who suddenly realises that pulitzer prize fame is not the goal that she craves the most. And Elijah Wood plays the geeky kid from average familyin average town USA who helps discover the comet that is hurtling towards Earth.
Deep Impact is a moving film, about hope, crushing disappointment & ultimately redemption. Its the sort of movie that the Americans occasionally get right. More often than not we get Armageddon, which is why the contrast between the two films is so fascinating. It is one of my favourite disaster movies, primarily because it understands that the impact of any disaster is really only as big as one's involvement & indentification with the main characters affected by it. By the end of the film you care about the fate of the bedraggled survivors of the shuttle expedition who have one last, vital card up their sleeve. Its a tragic, but heroic ending to a superbly crafted tale.
So if you want something to look at while you concentrate on munching popcorn buy Armageddon. If you want to watch a movie that stirs your emotions then Deep Impact may well be for you.
One of my favourite films !! - By: Amyyyyyyy, 03 Oct 2008 This is such a fantastic film, unfortunately with a semi identical plot to armageddon, but far more the superior of the two! It doesn't have the stupid unrealistic hollywood love story & it isn't so comercial. I always bawl my eyes out at this film, it's so touching. And unlike other disaster movies - Day aftr tomorrow, i'm looking at you! It's not ridiculous!
Could have been perfect if ... - By: Michael M. Ordoukhani, 01 May 2008 
I love space stories, disaster movies & comet impact. I believe it is a man's tretory. The producers usually blendin some love story, sex scandal, & other feminine issues to make it appeal to non-scientific audiances, but they forget that the main reason why most men want to risk their life to go into space & face a baren empty space is to escape from these relational issues. A good producer does this seamlessly, but there were far too much contrasting storiesin this one, taking a lot from the main disaster story. I am a real fan of Morag Freeman, he was brilliant here & save the movie. On the other hand Tea Leoni's spoiled it with her cold acting, she was very irritating, not the right person for the role.
Compare to most movies with similar stories that are completely inaccurate, the facts were believable & digestable.
The director did a brilliant job. I think it was the best it could be done with the story. Still gave me a buzz.
As a whole the movie was not too bad. I take one star away for imbalance story line & bad acting by Tea Leoni.
A disaster movie that's not macho! - By: AnOldGoat, 14 Apr 2008 Taking several parallel threads that do not all meet at the end, 'Deep Impact' gives a very human feel to a very big, & very possible, disaster scenario.
I watched this (again) the other day, after watching about 10 minutes of the relatively dreadful 'Meteor'. Yes, DI is centred around the US, but there is nothing macho or gung-hoin there at all, just lots of nice touches - the conversation that Jenny Lerner has with the President, where he thinks she knows what ELE is, & she thinks she knows too - 'It might seem that you have us over a barrel, but it just seems that way' - is brilliant.
A particularly good thing about this film is the careful use of CGI - sparing, so it makes a bigger impact (ha ha) - which helps to concentrate the plot on the important bits - the Beidermans, the Lerners, the shuttle crew, & the passage of time is carefully marked, not just with the time captions, but things like Jenny Lerner's passage from reporter to 'news anchor', & the slow reconciliation with her father. Indeed the most impressive piece of CGI happens when they are on the beach & the tidal wave from the Beiderman meteorite (its hit the ocean, remember) pulls the water back to reveal the continental shelf. Wow!
One of the best disaster movies - By: KM, 05 Sep 2007 In 'Deep Impact" a meteor the size of New York is discovered heading straight towards Earth & civilization has one year to prepare for the collision which will most likely make the every living thing on Earth extinct unless it can be stopped.
The film is from America's perspective, lead by the US President (Morgan Freeman) who has set up a team of the best astronauts (including a fantastic performance by Robert Duvall) to drill some nuclear warheads into the meteor to hopefully break it up or change is course. The lead character (Tia Leoni) plays the news reporter who gives America the details of the mission as it happened.
The story is very similar to Armageddon which also came outin 1998, but instead of going for the macho, USA save the world (again) approach that Jerry Bruckhiemer gave his film, Deep Impact goes for a more emotional & realistic image, focussing more on everyday people & how this is going to affect their lives, rather than just following the "heroes".
I am a huge fan of disaster films (like The Day After Tomorrow, War of the Worlds, Independance Day, Twister etc) & although I did really like Armageddon I did feel that Deep Impact is definitely the superior film of the two. The acting is brilliant & believeable, the story is full of shocks & surprises, the special effects are extremely good for it's time & overall this is a hugely enjoyable film which I think will be still very re-watchablein years to come.
