Review

The first of 1998's two disaster films to the gate, Deep Impact is a visually striking end-of-the-world flick which is more on human emotion than special effects. Its counterpart, Armageddon, has much more action and F/X fun going for it, but that Disney-backed space saga is certainly inferior in the drama department. Young astronomer Wood discovers a huge comet hurdling towards Earth. This sets in motion the inevitable panic as the President (a stately Freeman) responds accordingly. Leoni is a TV reporter who breaks the news, and the story shuttles between her private and professional lives, the emotional toll the impending doom takes on everyone, and the space mission which attempts to destroy the comet. The effects at the end are good, but there's little of them, which could make one feel cheated. But the one shot of a tidal wave hitting New York City is alone worth the rental price.