Deep Impact (1998)

Director:

Mimi Leder

Writers (WGA):

Bruce Joel Rubin (written by) and
Michael Tolkin (written by)

Release Date:

8 May 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Heaven and Earth are about to collide.

Plot:

Unless a comet can be destroyed before colliding with Earth, only those allowed into shelters will survive. Which people will survive?

Plot Keywords:

Disaster Film | Female Director | Black U.S. President | End Of The World | Black President

Awards:

5 wins & 7 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. May 15	12:45 PM	TMC
Fri. May 23	8:00 AM	TMC

Cast

Robert Duvall	...	Capt. Spurgeon 'Fish' Tanner
Téa Leoni	...	Jenny Lerner
Elijah Wood	...	Leo Beiderman
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 'Andy' Baker
Richard Schiff	...	Don Beiderman
Leelee Sobieski	...	Sarah Hotchner
Blair Underwood	...	Mark Simon
Dougray Scott	...	Eric Vennekor

Also Known As:

Impact (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense disaster related elements and brief language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #35964) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KT | Chile:TE | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Mexico:A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

During the school assembly, one student makes the observation "You're going to be having sex a lot more often!" to Leo Biederman. This line was improvised by the young actor, and the reactions from the other students are genuine.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the Messiah is approaching the comet to land on it and Jenny Lerner is reporting on the ship's progress, she mentions that the ship will be entering the comet's "tail, or coma" (implying that the tail and coma are the same thing). In fact, the coma of a comet, along with the nucleus, actually form the head of the comet. The coma and the tail are two completely different parts.

Quotes:

President Beck: Life will go on, we will prevail.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Knocked Up (2007)

Soundtrack:

It Must Be Angel Day

Still good years later

I just saw this film again after several years. I feel that it was the best of all the disaster films made in recent years. Not too much cheese, a little heavy on sap but satisfying overall. It was much more realistic than Armageddon(which I think is one of the most overrated 'blockbusters' ever)There are no comic relief characters, no cheesy one-liners and no gorgeous movie stars(no offense to Tea Leoni). The solution to the problem was more real in Deep Impact and the time frame was much more believable. I like how the film focused more on what was happening on earth rather than in the spaceship. The end was interesting because the disaster wasn't totally averted so there was no cheerful hugging in the end with lame Aerosmith playing over it. The only thing that bothered me was that all of the nuclear missiles from the US and Russia had no effect on the comet. Wouldn't several hundred nukes do something? anything? and why wasn't the Messiah destroyed in the blast? So overall, good flick, deserves more credit.