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Deep Impact

Play trailer 3:31 Poster for Deep Impact PG-13 1998 1h 55m Action Adventure Sci-Fi Drama Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
45% Tomatometer 98 Reviews 43% Popcornmeter 250,000+ Ratings
A comet is hurtling toward Earth and could mean the end of all human life. The U.S. government keeps the crisis under wraps, but crack reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) uncovers the truth -- forcing U.S. President Beck (Morgan Freeman) to announce his plan. Grizzled astronaut Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner (Robert Duvall) and his team will land on the comet and lay explosives, hopefully deterring the object from its doomsday course. If not, humanity will have to prepare for the worst.

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Deep Impact

Deep Impact

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Critics Consensus

A tidal wave of melodrama sinks Deep Impact's chance at being the memorable disaster flick it aspires to be.

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Critics Reviews

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Matthew Rozsa Salon.com 05/06/2023
3.5/4
The Chapmans are far from alone when it comes to scientists and artists who respect "Deep Impact," although usually praise has been reserved for its scientific merits. Go to Full Review
Richard Williams Guardian 02/02/2023
The vision of Morgan Freeman as the next President of the United States is virtually the only worthwhile idea to be found in Deep Impact. Go to Full Review
Ryan Gilbey Independent (UK) 02/02/2023
The movie spends so long plodding toward its catastrophic climax that you want to scream "Apocalypse! NOW!" Go to Full Review
Christie Cronan Common Sense Media 08/27/2024
Unfortunately, most of this film's impact is an asteroid-sized disaster -- sunk deep Go to Full Review
Wesley Lovell Cinema Sight 10/05/2023
3.5/4
The film portrays very well the human element and does something I rather enjoy. It plays on the emotions of the audience and creates sympathy for the characters and makes heroes out of the most unlikely of people. Go to Full Review
Dan DiNicola The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) 06/20/2023
D
The what-if-the-world-ends planning is the most interesting part, with impressive special effects but unconvincing emotional reactions from the endangered humans. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Garry A @heavyg 2d One of the worst disaster films. I didn't care too much who lived or died. The special effects were okay but not enough to justify its bloated two hour runtime. See more Carlos N @Can545 Apr 18 I actually like the overall "impact" of the film but watching Tara Leone is such a bummer. Her voice is horrible and she is so difficult on the eyes. Another more talented actress could have made a huge difference, it’s like if she has no range and no soul. Probably a nice person but on film she is like dry toast. The story is cute and the kids are to root for, but it just has problems that I cannot overcome, such as the running up the hill with the baby. Why? Still, I have watched it more than once, so it can’t be terrible. See more Keriel T. @kerielflacoboy Apr 11 I like this movie but I think Armageddon is slightly better than this movie See more Romas M @Romas Feb 9 I always liked "Deep Impact" (1998) since i first time saw in back in 1998. I liked "Armageddon" (1998) when i was a teenager back when it was released more, but that film did not age well - but still has a great entertainment value and still remains a fun popcorn flick. And "Deep Impact" has very similar concept but different story. Cast and acting in "Deep Impact" is very good given the material. Téa Leoni was a good lead and actors like Robert Duvall, Maximilian Schell, Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan Freeman all contributed to the overall experience. Special effects were superb at the end (for the time), and still looks solid today, but of course not as great as they looked back in the day. Music by James Horner is a very good one, although not as memorable as many of his other works. I like the approach that "Deep Impact" does to the idea of a comet destroying life - in my opinion it is a very realistic one and at the same time scary. It is one of the best disaster movies. See more Michael A @Tomato547 Dec 31 Deep impact was probably one of the best movies right before the 2000's AKA CRAPLAND Elijah Wood was great in this movie. sure, the CGI's pretty cheesy, but for 1998 it was considered great in those days and at least it's better than the crap we get nowadays. See more Traci F @Trace922 Dec 15 I love the movie. The concept was neat. What I didn't get was how did a bunch of kids from a science class see a meteor that a bunch of scientists and NASA just somehow missed so is it a good watch if you're in the mood for fiction. See more Read all reviews
Deep Impact

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A comet is hurtling toward Earth and could mean the end of all human life. The U.S. government keeps the crisis under wraps, but crack reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) uncovers the truth -- forcing U.S. President Beck (Morgan Freeman) to announce his plan. Grizzled astronaut Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner (Robert Duvall) and his team will land on the comet and lay explosives, hopefully deterring the object from its doomsday course. If not, humanity will have to prepare for the worst.
Director
Mimi Leder
Producer
Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown
Screenwriter
Bruce Joel Rubin, Michael Tolkin
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Production Co
Paramount Pictures, Zanuck/Brown Productions, DreamWorks SKG
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 8, 1998, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 1, 2013
Box Office (Gross USA)
$140.4M
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Surround