Deep Impact (1998)

This was the first 'Big-Rock-Heading-for-Earth' film of '98, followed by Armageddon. It follows up on such films like Meteor (1979) and the TV Movie A Fire in the Sky (1977). There was also a novel in 1977, Lucifer's Hammer, which was quite similar in plot. TV also got on the bandwagon around this time, with such SyFy-type films like Asteroid (1997). It may have been the huge tidal wave shown in the previews that resulted in the then-huge $41 million opening weekend...
In this one, a kid (Elijah Wood) in astronomy class happens to spot an unknown object in the sky. A year later, a reporter (Tea Leoni) stumbles onto the story which the government has been keeping secret to avoid panic and such. Very soon, everyone knows: a comet about 7 miles in length is set to strike Earth in about another year. The U.S. government (led by Prez Morgan Freeman) has been developing a couple of plans. The first one involves sending a space crew in the "biggest" spaceship ever constructed to blow up the rock. The crew includes an old astronaut/legend played by Robert Duvall and a group of young hotshots (incl.Ron Eldard, Jon Favreau, Mary McCormack, Blair Underwood).
As the audience might guess, this first plan doesn't go all as planned: pretty soon, we have two big rocks heading for Earth, one about a mile in size, the other - six. The 2nd plan involves digging out a number of huge caves in the soft limestone of Missouri; these will be big enuff and have enuff resources to provide living accomodations for a million people for 2 years, while the Earth undergoes a planet-wide death. Going by this plot trajectory, it's evident that the tone becomes more downbeat as the film progresses. Where once there was hope, now it's just oceans rising, know what I mean..?
This film has definite weaknesses; I know I got bored with any scenes with Vanessa Redgrave, who plays Leoni's mom. Why there was all this concentration on her story arc while most of the world is about to die off I cannot comprehend; it's almost as if the director, Mimi Leder, had to get as much use out of her as possible because it is Redgrave. Leoni herself annoys a lot of filmgoers and this I also understand (she has that scratchy voice), but her eventual character arc with her father (Maximillian Schell) and the sacrifice is kind of compelling, and the end does have a haunting quality. Of course, it all connects with Redgrave, but I just think Redgrave's part of it was too lengthy.
I liked Freeman as the Prez; he projects a sharp authority. Duvall is his old reliable self. The young space crew were OK, with McCormack & Eldard very good. There were also good smaller roles played by Kurtwood Smith, Richard Schiff, James Cromwell and Charles Martin Smith. Leelee Sobieski has an early role as Wood's girlfriend. It's a strong cast and they help propel the story along, keeping it fairly interesting, as it inexorably approaches the moment of at least some kind of doomsday (this is a disaster film, after all). BoG's Score: 7 out of 10
Deep Trivia:
Schell & Redgrave play a divorced husband-and-wife here; they had already played a married couple only a few years before in Little Odessa (94); Star Trek actor alert: Denise Crosby plays a mom here; she was playing Tasha Yar a decade earlier on Star Trek TNG