Deep Impact [Collector's Edition]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

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. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Audio: Dolby Digital Surround
• Features:
  • cc
  • Commentary with director Mimi Leder & visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar
  • "Preparing for the End"
  • "Making an Impact"
  • "Creating the Perfect Traffic Jam"
  • "Parting Thoughts"
  • Photo gallery
  • Teaser trailer
  • Theatrical trailers
  • Widescreen version enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs
  • Dolby Digital: English 5.1 surround, English Dolby surround, French 5.1 surround
  • English subtitles

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Robert Duvall - Spurgeon Tanner
       Tea Leoni - Jenny Lerner
       Elijah Wood - Leo Biederman
       Vanessa Redgrave - Robin Lerner
       Morgan Freeman - President Beck
       Leelee Sobieski - Sarah Hotchner
       James Cromwell - Allen Rittenhouse
       Ron Eldard - Oren Monash
       Maximilian Schell - Jason Lerner
       Jon Favreau - Gus Partenza
       Richard Schiff - Don Biederman
       Mary McCormack - Andrea Baker
       Alimi Ballard

• Director:

  Mimi Leder

• Producer:

  David Brown, Richard D. Zanuck

• Screenwriter:

  Bruce Joel Rubin, Michael Tolkin

• Cinematographer:

  Dietrich Lohmann

• Composer (Music Score):

  James Horner

• Editor:

  David Rosenbloom, Paul Cichocki

• Production Designer:

  Leslie Dilley

• Art Director:

  Dennis Bradford, Gary Kosko, Andrew Neskoromny, Tom Valentine

• Associate Producer:

  D. Scott Easton

• Executive Producer:

  Joan Bradshaw, Walter Parkes, Steven Spielberg

• Set Designer:

  Richard Mays, Peg Cummings, Josh Lusby, Dean Wolcott, Suzan Torres

• Costume Designer:

  Ruth Myers

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Mark Hopkins Mcnabb

• Special Effects:

  Industrial Light & Magic

• First Assistant Director:

  K.C. Colwell

• Camera Operator:

  Don Burgess

• Stunts:

  Seth Arnett

• Casting:

  Allison Jones

• Stunts Coordinator:

  M. James Arnett, Charlie Croughwell

• Special Effects Supervisor:

  Scott Farrar

• Second Unit Director Of Photogra:

  Tom Priestley Jr.

• Second Unit Director:

  Mark Vargo

• Second Unit Director Of Photogra:

  Mark Vargo

• Storyboard Artist:

  David Lowery

REVIEW:

• Thanks to her brilliant work on TV's ER, Mimi Leder became one of Hollywood's premiere action-movie directors, and her sophomore feature, Deep Impact, is a flawed but nonetheless interesting effort that allows her to explore the notion of total Armageddon. Dark and pensive, the movie is more of a character-driven drama than a sci-fi disaster pic. Not surprisingly, Leder seems more at ease with the epic action sequences and less confident when directing the human interest scenes. The narrative becomes increasingly preachy as it evolves, culminating with Morgan Freeman's closing presidential speech punctuated with a hyper-dramatic score. While the finale does provide the cursory tidal waves and exploding cities, they still seem anti-climactic due to the countless sappy, tearful reunions peppered throughout the narrative. Even though Leder desperately tries to focus on characterization, the talented ensemble cast seems underdeveloped and unengaging, thanks in large part to the cardboard lines they are forced to deliver. Deep Impact simultaneously attempts to have the bang of Independence Day and the dramatics of Titanic, and moderately succeeds on both fronts. Even though audiences seeking a relentless thrill-ride may be disappointed, the film is still leagues better than Armageddon, the other asteroid blockbuster released in the summer of '98. ~ Adam Goldberg, Rovi