Deep Impact

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The coming millennium made them as inevitable as the Year 2000 computer glitch: the apocalyptic disaster flicks. But who would have predicted that Paramount/DreamWorks' big budget contribution to the Armageddon genre would hinge on serious drama? Action collides with human interest in Leder's calamitous tale about a comet colliding with Earth. When the President of the United States (Freeman) confirms that the comet's impact is going to cause “an extinction-level event,” world leaders scramble to come up with a plan to save as many people as possible. Plan A: blow the rock out of the sky; Plan B: run for cover. Meanwhile, people prepare for doomsday by making peace with family and friends. Leoni stars as a reporter who seeks to patch up a bad relationship with her parents (Redgrave and Schell). Duvall is the pilot who leads the failed space mission to stop the rock and Wood plays a high-school kid who marries his girlfriend so they can secure a spot in the emergency underground caves. Because Leder takes the time to create genuine characters, the post-impact action is not just a special effects big-bang, but a shocking portrait of human loss.