It is just another day at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a few astronauts were repairing a satellite until, out of nowhere, a series of asteroids came crashing into the shuttle, destroying it. These asteroids also decimated New York soon thereafter. Then, NASA discovered that there is an asteroid roughly the size of Texas heading towards the Earth, and when it does hit the Earth, the planet itself and all of its inhabitants will be obliterated, worse, the asteroid will hit the Earth in 18 days. Unfortunately, NASA's plans to destroy the asteroid are irrelevant. With the military, NASA scientists, led by Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) plan to embed a nuclear device 800 feet within the asteroid that, when detonated, will split the asteroid in two parts that will both safely fly past the Earth.That is when the U.S. military decides to use a nuclear warhead to blow the asteroid to pieces. Then, scientists decide to blow the asteroid with the warhead inside the asteroid itself. The only man to do it, is an oil driller named Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis). Harry returns to NASA along with his daughter Grace (Liv Tyler) to keep her away from one of his young and more rambunctious drillers, A. J. Frost (Ben Affleck), who has fallen in love with her much to Harry's dismay. As he and his drill team prepare for space excavation, the asteroid is still heading towards the Earth. When the crew are launched into outer space, they are determined to destroy this asteroid.
§Grayson McCouch as Gruber: Munitions specialist of shuttle Freedom.
§Jason Isaacs as Dr. Ronald Quincy: Head scientist at NASA, who comes up with the idea of blowing up the asteroid from inside.
§Judith Hoag as Denise Chappel: Chick's ex-wife who has not allowed Chick to be part of their son's life, until she realizes that he's one of the astronauts on the mission to destroy the comet.
§Dyllan Christopher as Tommy Chappel: Chick's son who does not know his father till the end of the movie.
Deep Impact is a 1998 science-fiction disaster-drama film released by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks in the United States on May 8, 1998. Mimi Leder and stars Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Téa Leoni, and Morgan Freeman directed the film. The plot describes the attempts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile wide comet, which is expected to collide with the Earth and cause a mass extinction.
Another "space impact" film, Armageddon, was released about two months after Deep Impact in the United States. Deep Impact's greater scientific credibility was recognized, though Armageddon fared better at the box office; however, Deep Impact was still a major financial success, grossing over $349 million worldwide on a $75 million production budget. Both films were similarly received by critics, with Armageddon scoring 41% and Deep Impact scoring 46% on the Tomatometer.
PLOT:
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.
RECEPTION:
Deep Impact debuted at the North American box office with $41,000,000 in ticket sales. The movie grossed $140,000,000 in North America and an additional $209,000,000 worldwide for a total gross of $350,000,000. Despite competition in the summer of 1998 from the similar Armageddon (which cost almost twice as much as Deep Impact to make), Deep Impact was still a box office hit and was the higher opener of the two.Domestically, it became the highest grossing film directed by a woman and held that record for a decade until Twilight claimed the record in 2008.
The film had a mixed critical reception. Based on 50 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, 46% of critics enjoyed the film, with an average rating of 5.7/10. Metacritic gave a score of 40 based on 20 reviews. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times said that the film "has a more brooding, thoughtful tone than this genre usually calls for", however Rita Kempley and Michael O'Sullivan of the Washington Post criticized what they saw as unemotional performances and a lack of tension for the scenario.
Point:Michael Bay could suck the emotional resonance out of a live, actual childbirth.
Never would I have suspected that the impending whithering and demise of mankind could mean so very, very little. I’ve had hangnails give me more cause for concern.
ADVANTAGE: Deep Impact
Point: The soundtrack to the end of the world would never be performed by Aerosmith.
Guns ‘n Roses… maybe. But not the guys who brought us “Love in an Elevator” and “Walk This Way.”
ADVANTAGE: Deep Impact
Point:Tea Leoni gets eaten by a tidal wave in Deep Impact. Everyone knows that the token hot chick always gets to live.
…no matter how much I might wish death upon all of the characters inArmageddon–including Liv Tyler’s–for abusing my senses with their one-dimensional, Cheez Whiz-laden triteness.
ADVANTAGE: Armageddon
Point: Morgan Freeman was born to play the President in Deep Impact.
Stanley Anderson, on the other hand, with credits including Robocop 3 and ten episodes on The Drew Carey Show, was entirely miscast as the President in Armageddon, when he clearly should have been playing the role of Space Shuttle Technician #2.
ADVANTAGE: Deep Impact
Point: In Armageddon, Bruce Willis sacrifices himself so that Ben Affleck can return safely to the passionate embrace of Liv Tyler, back on Earth.
You can find that in the dictionary under “Gross Miscarriages of Justice.” It’s the second example right after “ex-stripper and current trash-bomb Tila Tequila has her own television series on MTV.”
ADVANTAGE: Deep Impact
WINNER:Deep Impact
"Another point of view"
Boiling Point - Deep Impact vs Armageddon
Writing: Jonathan Hensleigh & JJ Abrams (Armageddon) vs Bruce Joel Rubin & Michael Tolkin (Deep Impact)
If you’re wondering who the latter two writers are, me too. On the other hand, you probably immediately recognized the name JJ Abrams and if you’re awesome, you probably know that Jonathan Hensleigh made The Punisher and wrote The Saint, Jumanji, and Die Hard: With a Vengeance.
Winner? Armageddon.
Plot: America Kicks an Asteroid’s Dick In Half (Armageddon) vs The Whole World Hides and Cries and Shit (Deep Impact)
Let’s face it, if an asteroid is heading towards Earth, who do you want calling the shots – someone who builds bunkers or someone who busts asteroids in half? Ain’t nothing more American than blowing up the shit that threatens you.
Winner? Armageddon
Director: Michael Bay (Armageddon) vs Mimi Leder (Deep Impact)
One of these directors brought us Megan Fox in slow-motion, the Transformers, Bad Boys II, and more fireballs than in all of Bowser’s castles combined. The other went on to Pay it Forward.
Seriously, it’s no contest. Michael Bay is one of the most visually interesting directors working today and has given so many adolescents so many different boners – from Victoria’s Secret commercials to robots cutting other robots in half. Everything Michael Bay does is AWESOME. And so is Verizon Fios.
Cast: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thorton, William Fichtner, Peter Stormare, Steve Buscemi and Ben Affleck (Armageddon) vs Robert Duvall, Tea Leoni, Blair Underwood, Morgan Freeman, and Dougray Scott (Deep Impact)
Just go up there and read that again. One movie has Bruce Willis. The other has Blair Underwood.
Winner? Armageddon
WINNER: Amageddon
My Opinion:
Armageddon is what I would consider the better version of Deep Impact. Where Deep Impact failed, Armageddon succeeded. This film though not perfect is an improvement over Mimi LEDER's dud. First off, the story is better and so is the acting. Second off, the casting decisions for this film are better, and the cast deliver good performances. Visually the film is appealing and the story is better than Deep Impact. However, I felt that Deep Impact had more human drama than Armageddon, and overall it was a better film. The cast deliver great performances and the film is action packed with thrills and suspense. Deep Impact is a good film that is far better than one might think. The concept behind the plot is different than an asteroid hitting earth, as this time around it's a comet that threatens earth, but it works well. What I love about the film is that its smart enough and doesn't pulverize the viewer the way that Mimi Leder's Deep Impact does. The film has a much more detailed plot, a smarter premise and way better acting than Deep Impact. Armageddon is a terrific disaster film that will appeal to everyone who enjoys a good disaster yarn. A superbly told story that is a very much recommended and better than most disaster films.
