Deep Impact is a film that has gotten better with age. Since its release 25 years ago this year, we’ve seen a slew of movies concerned with world-ending events, like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Moonfall, Knowing, and the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, and that’s not counting all the plague, zombie, and monster movies out there. As we look back over these recent years, what stands out is how Deep Impact is a more mature, but not always successful dramatic approach to the subject matter. Directed with a sure hand, strong screenplay, performances that range from reasonable to wonderful, and a brilliant score by the late James Horner, come together to deliver something a little different from the end of the world subgenre. If it’s been a while since you saw it, now’s a good time to rediscover how good Deep Impact can be, now with a fine 4K release.
The Production: 4/5
“We always thought the deadline for public knowledge was the publication of next year’s budget since we’ve spent more money than we can account for. That won’t happen for two weeks. I don’t suppose I could prevail upon you to wait two weeks in the name of national security?”
A comet is discovered on a collision course with earth. If it impacts, all life on earth will end. It’s the biggest story on the planet, and the reporter who uncovers it (Téa Leoni) is thrust in the center of what it all means when the world finds out, too. A mission to divert the comet becomes the focus of the planet, and if it fails, a controversial Plan B will see lives torn apart, and through it all, the persistence of hope and tragedy will define humanity.
Deep Impact, released the same year as Michael Bay’s similarly themed Armageddon, was the more serious expression of the “celestial body impacting the earth and potentially ending it” story. What was originally a desire by Steven Spielberg to see When World’s Collide remade, became a new story exploring the idea from a different angle. Writer Bruce Joel Rubin, who wrote the film with Michael Tolkin, shared in an interview (2007’s The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin) the impact When Worlds Collide on his outlook in life. There are echoes of that film in Deep Impact, (Téa Leoni’s character Jenny Lerner struggling with the weight of knowing about the fate of the earth before the world knows, for example), but Deep Impact wants to explore more of the impact on lives and, in some ways, the grounded reality of what it could look like in a handful of those lives as the potential end of it all approaches.
There’s an energy to the film as it begins, but the second act of Deep Impact is surprisingly downbeat for a film helping kickstart the summer movie going season (it launched on May 8; Bay’s Armageddon would follow with the prime July 1 spot). It’s here that the film shows itself to be a committed dramatic thriller rather than a thrilling action adventure, distinguishing itself neatly from Armageddon. But Deep Impact does achieve impressive action spectacle. The first sequence on the surface of the comet, the clogged highway with a thousand traffic jammed cars, and the inevitable impact sequence, are all impressively crafted and staged. But for Deep Impact, it’s a human drama first. The characters, the tension of the space mission, and the terrifying prospects for all life on earth from the impending disaster, are the anchor and persistent focus of the film. It’s refreshing but does mean Deep Impact is less ‘fun’ and escapist than audiences might have hoped or expected.
Mimi Leder, who just a year earlier had delivered the well received, but modestly successful thriller The Peacemaker, the first film from the DreamWorks studio, was tapped to helm. The film begins as a thriller, with a reporter sniffing around a story that doesn’t make sense and could be her big break if she can crack it. That’s a great way to open the film. The newsroom setting remains central as the story breaks and the impending impact and space mission unfold. Leder’s experience behind the camera on the popular medical drama ER would prove a strength in those chaotic newsroom scenes, notably once the president makes the official televised announcement of a mission failure and the lottery associated with the US’s plan B. Leder’s focus on character moments, reactions, emotional moments that could have been spent on predictable visual or special effects shots, is important. She chooses to secure the human drama of the scene. It’s a great choice supported through tight editing (courtesy Paul Cichocki and David Rosenbloom), and a beautifully effective score from James Horner, who himself anchors even the action sequences in the humanity of those moments.
The film has an interesting cast for the different story angles. The newsroom has Téa Leoni as reporter Jenny Lerner, an unusual choice. Leoni wasn’t a household name, and a good portion of the film requires her lead. She can be good in the role, but not always endearing as needed given the dramatic heft of her family drama and position as the ‘face’ of the story. Her mother and father, played by Vanessa Redgrave and Maximilian Schell, are both compelling but there was much more to have been mined from that story, so they feel underused. Morgan Freeman as President Beck is perfect casting. His first scene with Leoni is one of the best in the film simply from the way Freeman plays it, as a political negotiator with grounded realism, but an unmistakable sense of his position. Elijah Wood’s Leo Biederman, the young astronomy enthusiast credited as one of the discoverers of the rogue comet, is likeable, believable. Leelee Sobieski as his friend and ‘love interest’ Sarah Hotchner is good, too. Reportedly, more of the film’s focus was intended for their story but focus group feedback wasn’t as interested in that, so scenes were cut. Other scenes involving a romance Leoni has with her camera man, played by blink and you’ll miss him Dougray Scott (Mission: Impossible II), were also reportedly filmed and cut. As a result, the story intermittently focuses on their stories.
For the mission to insert and detonate a series of nuclear bombs on the comet in an attempt to divert it from hitting the earth, the crew are particularly good. Robert Duvall portrays, Spurgeon Tanner, the elder of the crew from his past having landed on the moon, Ron Eldard is crew captain Oren Monash, Jon Favreau is medic Gus Partenza, Blair Underwood is Mark Simon, Aleksandr Baluev is Mikhail Tulchinsky (he played a good villain in Leder’s The Peacemaker), and Mary McCormack is Andrea Baker, rounding this section of the cast out. Other actors, like ER’s Laura Innes, Richard Schiff, and Star Trek’s Denise Crosby have smaller but solid roles.
Deep Impact came in second to Armageddon (critically and commercially), but it’s by far the better film. The visual effects sequences aren’t as exciting and the human dramatic focus offers a more somber experience and less ‘fun,’ but the sequences rendered by the visual effects are far more emotionally engaging, more meaningful, and the sense of danger and hope more acute. The film holds up well after 25 years (yes, 25 years as if its 4K release!)
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
For Deep Impact, Paramount has given the film its best-looking presentation for home theaters. Presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, the best compliment I can give this is how unprocessed it looks. A very natural film grain is present, fitting its era, with crisp detail in many areas. The comet surface sequence is a good example with strong light/dark contrasts and the dark, icy surface offering fine detail. Skin tones and detail, evident mostly from close-up shots, are strong, too. Tones are natural, and while the Dolby Visio HDR grading allows a more saturated look to the colors and strong contrasts, it was never a film with a wide or bright color spectrum. Blues and greens are impressive when used, but it’s a muted color palette (clothes, sets, and more.)
A solid looking 4K from Paramount that should please fans.
Audio: 4.5/5
Once again Paramount reuses the previous Blu-ray audio. There are moments where Dolby Atmos could have been a fine feature, but the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track is no slouch. For good portions of the film, it’s a dialogue drama. Set-piece sequences like the mission on the comet have the most to do, and the 5.1 track manages them well. Explosions, either from the icy comet as the heat from the sun sets off explosive steam, or from the impact in the film’s finale, boom with purpose. Dialogue is clear of issues mostly from the center channel. Surrounds are effective and James Horner’s emotionally potent score invites you to turn the volume up to really feel the moments he’s helping create.
Special Features: 3/5
No special features on the 4K disc, but the Blu-ray disc (a repackage of the old Blu-ray release) carries the legacy extras. What you’ll find in these legacy extras is an appreciation for the earlier visual effects work and the creation of large-scale set pieces (the jammed traffic as people escape for the hills for example).
- Commentary by director Mimi Leder and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar
- Preparing For The End
- Making An Impact
- Creating The Perfect Traffic Jam
- Parting Thoughts
- Photo Gallery
- Trailers
Overall: 4/5
Deep Impact is a film that has gotten better with age. Since its release 25 years ago this year, we’ve seen a slew of movies concerned with world-ending events, like 2012, The Day After Tomorrow, Moonfall, Knowing, and the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, and that’s not counting all the plague, zombie, and monster movies out there. As we look back over these recent years, what stands out is how Deep Impact is a more mature, but not always successful dramatic approach to the subject matter. Directed with a sure hand, strong screenplay, performances that range from reasonable to wonderful, and a brilliant score by the late James Horner, come together to deliver something a little different from the end of the world subgenre. If it’s been a while since you saw it, now’s a good time to rediscover how good Deep Impact can be, now with a fine 4K release.
Deep Impact
$19.99
Neil has been a member of the Home Theater Forum reviewing staff since 2007, approaching a thousand reviews and interviews with actors, directors, writers, stunt performers, producers and more in that time. A senior communications manager and podcast host with a Fortune 500 company by day, Neil lives in the Charlotte, NC area with his wife and son, serves on the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Charlotte Board of Directors, and has a passion for film scores, with a collection in the thousands.
Post Disclaimer
Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks and Amazon) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.
Similar threads