''Deep Impact'' is a 1998 American

science fiction disaster film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, mutants, i ...

directed by

Mimi Leder Miriam Leder (; born January 26, 1952) is an American film and television director and producer; she is noted for her action films and use of special effects.Hurd, Mary G. Women Directors and Their Films. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2007. She has dire ...

, written by

Bruce Joel Rubin Bruce Joel Rubin (born March 10, 1943) is an American screenwriter, meditation teacher, and photographer. His films often explore themes of life and death with metaphysical and science fiction elements. Prominent among them are ''Jacob's Ladder'' ...

and

Michael Tolkin Michael L. Tolkin (born October 17, 1950) is an American screenwriter, novelist, and director. He has written numerous screenplays, including ''The Player (1992 film), The Player'' (1992), which he adapted from his own 1988 novel of the same name ...

, and starring

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

Téa Leoni Téa Leoni (; born Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni; February 25, 1966) is an American actress. Early in her career, she starred on the television sitcoms '' Flying Blind'' (1992–1993) and '' The Naked Truth'' (1995–1998). Her breakthrough role was ...

Elijah Wood Elijah Jordan Wood (born January 28, 1981) is an American actor and producer. Wood made his film debut with a minor part in ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989) at the age of eight and achieved recognition in the early 1990s as a child acto ...

Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress. In her career spanning over six decades, she has garnered List of awards and nominations received by Vanessa Redgrave, numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony A ...

Maximilian Schell Maximilian Schell (8 December 1930 – 1 February 2014) was a Swiss actor. Born in First Austrian Republic, Austria, his parents were involved in the arts and he grew up surrounded by performance and literature. While he was still a child, his fa ...

, and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, producer, and narrator. In a career spanning six decades, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a Tony ...

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...

served as an executive producer of this film. It was released by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

in North America and by

DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Pictures (also known as DreamWorks SKG and commonly referred to as DreamWorks) is an American film studio and Film distribution, distribution label of Amblin Partners. It was originally founded on October 12, 1994, as a live-action a ...

internationally on May 8, 1998. The film depicts humanity's attempts to prepare for and destroy a wide

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction. ''Deep Impact'' was released in the same summer as the similarly themed ''

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

'', which fared better at the box office, while

astronomers An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either observ ...

described ''Deep Impact'' as being more accurate. ''Deep Impact'' was slightly better received critically than ''Armageddon'', although both ultimately received mixed reviews. ''Deep Impact'' grossed over $349.5 million worldwide on an $80 million

production budget Production budget is a term used specifically in film production and, more generally, in business. A "film production budget" determines how much will be spent on the entire film project. This involves identifying the elements and then estimatin ...

, becoming the sixth highest-grossing film of 1998. It was the final film by cinematographer

Dietrich Lohmann Dietrich Lohmann, B.V.K. (German Society of Cinematographers; 9 March 1943 – 13 November 1997) was a German cinematographer. He was born in Schnepfenthal, Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany. He studied at the Staatliche Fachschule für Optik un ...

, who died before the film's release.

Plot

On May 10, 1998 in

Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...

, Leo Biederman observes an unidentified object in the night sky at his astronomy club's star party. His picture is sent to astronomer Dr. Marcus Wolf, who realizes it is a

on a collision course with Earth. Wolf dies in a car crash while racing to raise the alarm. A year later, Jenny Lerner investigates

Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

Alan Rittenhouse over his connection with "Ellie", whom she assumes to be a mistress; she and Eric are confused when they find him and his daughter Lilly loading a boat with large amounts of food and other survival gear. Lerner is apprehended by the FBI and taken to meet President Tom Beck, who persuades her not to share the story in return for a prominent role in the press conference he will arrange. She subsequently discovers that "Ellie" is actually an acronym—E.L.E.—which stands for "

extinction-level event An extinction event (also known as a mass extinction or biotic crisis) is a widespread and rapid decrease in the biodiversity on Earth. Such an event is identified by a sharp fall in the diversity and abundance of multicellular organisms. It occ ...

". Two days later, Beck announces that the comet Wolf–Biederman is on course to impact the Earth in roughly one year and could cause humanity's extinction. He reveals that the United States and Russia have been constructing the ''Messiah'' in orbit, a spacecraft to transport a team to alter the comet's path with

nuclear bombs A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear explo ...

. The ''Messiah'' launches a short time later with a crew of five American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut led by Captain Spurgeon Tanner. They land on the comet's outer-most layer and drill the nuclear bombs deep beneath its surface, but the comet shifts into the sunlight. Consequently, Oren is blinded and an explosive release of gas propels Gus into space. The remaining crew escape the comet and detonate the bombs. However, rather than deflect the comet, the bombs split it in two. Beck announces the mission's failure in a television address, and that both pieces—the larger now named Wolf and the smaller named Biederman—are still headed for Earth. Wolf is on a collision course with western Canada, and its impact is expected to fill the atmosphere with dust, blocking all sunlight for two years and creating an

impact winter An impact winter is a hypothesized period of prolonged cold weather due to the impact of a large asteroid or comet on the Earth's surface. If an asteroid were to strike land or a shallow body of water, it would eject an enormous amount of dust ...

that will kill all life on the planet's surface.

Martial law Martial law is the replacement of civilian government by military rule and the suspension of civilian legal processes for military powers. Martial law can continue for a specified amount of time, or indefinitely, and standard civil liberties ...

is imposed and a lottery selects 800,000 Americans to join 200,000 pre-selected individuals in underground shelters in

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

's limestone bluffs. Lerner is pre-selected, as are the Biedermans as gratitude for Leo discovering the comet, though his girlfriend Sarah and her family are not selected. Lerner's mother Robin, upon learning most senior citizens are ineligible for the lottery, commits ritual suicide. Leo marries Sarah in a vain attempt; while this saves her, the Hotchners are still not selected, and she refuses to go without them. A last-ditch effort to deflect the comets with

ICBMs An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...

fails. Upon arrival at the shelter, Leo eschews his safety and leaves to find Sarah. He reaches her on the freeway and takes her and her baby brother to higher ground while Vicky and Chuck remain. Lerner gives up her seat on an evacuation helicopter to Beth and the latter's daughter Caitlin, and instead travels to her childhood beach home where she reconciles with her father Jason. Biederman hits the Atlantic Ocean near

Cape Hatteras Cape Hatteras is a cape located at a pronounced bend in Hatteras Island, one of the barrier islands of North Carolina. As a temperate barrier island, the landscape has been shaped by wind, waves, and storms. There are long stretches of beach ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

and creates a

megatsunami A megatsunami is an incredibly large wave created by a substantial and sudden displacement of material into a body of water. Megatsunamis have different features from ordinary tsunamis. Ordinary tsunamis are caused by underwater tectonic activi ...

that destroys several countries and much of the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

, reaching the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Tennessee Valley The Tennessee Valley is the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and is largely within the U.S. state of Tennessee. It stretches from southwest Kentucky to north Alabama and from northeast Mississippi to the mountains of Virginia and North C ...

s plus Europe and Africa. Millions including Lerner, Jason, Vicky and Chuck perish while countless more are left homeless. Leo, Sarah, Sarah's brother and other survivors make it to safety in the foothills of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

. The ''Messiah'' crew, now dangerously low on life-support and remaining propellant fuel, decide to sacrifice themselves by flying deep inside Wolf and detonating their remaining nuclear bombs. They except Spurgeon, whose sons are on active duty, and Mick say goodbye to their loved ones by video call before executing their plan. Wolf is blown into a million pieces which burn harmlessly in the atmosphere and light up the sky for an hour, averting further catastrophe. Sometime after the waters recede, Beck addresses thousands at an under-construction replacement

United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...

and announces the start of rebuilding their home that the ''Messiah'' has saved.

Cast

Crew of the ''Messiah'' spacecraft *

as Captain Spurgeon "Fish" Tanner, a widowed veteran astronaut and rendezvous pilot *

Ron Eldard Ronald Jason Eldard is an American actor. Early life Eldard was born on Long Island, New York. He is the sixth of seven children, and has four sisters and two brothers. He is of Irish and Scottish descent. Eldard's mother died in a car accident w ...

as Commander Oren Monash, Mission Commander *

Jon Favreau Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...

as Dr. Gus Partenza, medical officer *

Aleksandr Baluev Aleksandr Nikolaevich Baluev (; born 6 December 1958) is a Soviet and Russian theatre and film actor who has appeared in more than 100 films and numerous stage productions since 1980. Life and career Aleksandr Baluev was born in Moscow, Russian ...

as Colonel Mikhail "Mick" Tulchinsky, a Russian cosmonaut and nuclear specialist *

Mary McCormack Mary Catherine McCormack (born February 8, 1969) is an American actress. She has had leading roles as Justine Appleton on the series '' Murder One'' (1995–1997), as Deputy National Security Adviser Kate Harper on ''The West Wing'' (2004–20 ...

as Andrea "Andy" Baker, pilot *

Blair Underwood Blair Erwin Underwood (born August 25, 1964) is an American actor. He made his debut in the 1985 musical film '' Krush Groove'' and from 1987 to 1994 starred as attorney Jonathan Rollins in the NBC legal drama series ''L.A. Law''. Underwood has ...

as Mark Simon, navigator *

Kimberly Huie Kimberly Huie is a Jamaican-Canadians, Canadian actress,"An `exotic in the land of blondes' wants to move the masses She covets meaty roles exposing disturbing sides of the human psyche". ''Toronto Star'', March 12, 1995. best known for her lead ...

as Wendy Mogel, Mark Simon's fiancée *

Kurtwood Smith Kurtwood Larson Smith (born July 3, 1943) is an American actor. He is known for playing Clarence Boddicker in ''RoboCop'' (1987), Robert Griggs in '' Rambo III'' (1988), and Red Forman in ''That '70s Show'' (1998–2006) and '' That '90s Show' ...

as Otis "Mitch" Hefter, the mission flight director Government officials *

as Tom Beck, the President of the United States *

James Cromwell James Oliver Cromwell (born January 27, 1940) is an American actor. Known for his extensive work as a character actor, he has received a Primetime Emmy Award as well as a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Babe'' ( ...

as Alan Rittenhouse, the Secretary of the Treasury who resigns in light of the Wolf–Biederman comet threat *

O'Neal Compton Belton O'Neal Compton Jr. (February 5, 1951 – February 18, 2019) was an American actor and director. Early life He was born in Sumter, South Carolina, the son of educators Belton O. Compton Sr. and Dorothy Brunson Compton. Compton was best k ...

as Morten Entriken, advisor to the President * Francis X. McCarthy as General Scott Lerner family and MSNBC associates *

as Jenny Lerner, an MSNBC journalist and anchor *

Derek de Lint Dick Hein "Derek" de Lint (; born 17 July 1950) is a Dutch film and television actor, known for playing the role of Derek Rayne in '' Poltergeist: The Legacy''. Life and career Dick Hein de Lint was born on 17 July 1950 in The Hague in the N ...

as Theo Van Sertema, MSNBC's co-anchor *

as Robin Lerner, Jenny's mother and Jason's ex-wife *

as Jason Lerner, Jenny's estranged father and Robin's ex-husband *

Rya Kihlstedt Rya Kihlstedt (born July 23, 1970) is an American actress. She starred in the 1997 comedy film '' Home Alone 3'' as Alice Ribbons. Kihlstedt would go on to appear in the films '' Deep Impact'' (1998), '' Women in Trouble'' (2009) and '' The Atticu ...

as Chloe Lerner, Jason's 2nd wife *

Laura Innes Laura Innes (born August 16, 1957) is an American actress and television director. She played Kerry Weaver in the medical drama '' ER'' (1995–2009), which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2001, she received her third Primetim ...

as Beth Stanley, MSNBC's White House correspondent, Caitlin's mother, and one of Jenny's co-workers *

Mark Moses Mark Moses (born February 24, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Paul Young in the ABC comedy-drama '' Desperate Housewives'' (2004–2011) and as Herman "Duck" Phillips in the AMC period drama '' Mad Men'' (2007–2 ...

as Tim Urbanski, an MSNBC anchor, and one of Jenny's co-workers *

Dougray Scott Stephen Dougray Scott (born 26 November 1965) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared in the films '' Ever After'' (1998), '' Mission: Impossible 2'' (2000), '' Enigma'' (2001), '' Ripley's Game'' (2002), ''Hitman'' (2007), and '' My Week with Mar ...

as Eric Vennekor, an MSNBC cameraman, and one of Jenny's co-workers *

Bruce Weitz Bruce Peter Weitz (born May 27, 1943) is an American actor, best known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the TV series ''Hill Street Blues'', which ran from 1981 until 1987. For his role in the series, he received six nominations for ...

as Stuart Caley, Jenny's boss at MSNBC *

Suzy Nakamura Suzy Nakamura (born December 2, 1968) is an American actress and Improvisational theatre, improv comedian. She is known for her many guest appearances on sitcoms such as ''According to Jim'', ''Half & Half (TV series), Half and Half'', ''8 Simpl ...

as Lerner's assistant Biederman family and associates *

as Leo Biederman, a high school student who discovers the Wolf–Biederman comet *

Charles Martin Smith Charles Martin Smith (born October 30, 1953) is an American actor, director and writer based in British Columbia, Canada. His breakout role was as Terry "The Toad" Fields in George Lucas' film ''American Graffiti'' (1973), which he reprised ...

as Marcus Wolf, an astronomer who discovers the threat of the Wolf-Biederman comet *

Richard Schiff Richard Schiff (born May 27, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on ''The West Wing'', a role for which he received an Emmy Award. Schiff made his television directorial debut with ''The West Wing'', directing an ...

as Don Biederman, Leo's father *

Betsy Brantley Betsy Brantley is an American actress. She has appeared in numerous films, plays, and television shows since the early 1980s. Her breakout role was in the 1982 film '' Five Days One Summer'' with Sean Connery. Early life Betsy Brantley was bo ...

as Ellen Biederman, Leo's mother *

Leelee Sobieski Liliane Rudabet Gloria Elsveta "Leelee" Sobieski (born June 10, 1983) is an American artist and retired actress. She achieved fame in her teens with roles in films such as '' Deep Impact'' (1998), '' Never Been Kissed'', ''Eyes Wide Shut'' (both ...

as Sarah Hotchner, Leo's girlfriend and fellow Astronomy Club member *

Denise Crosby Denise Michelle Crosby (born November 24, 1957) is an American actress and model known for portraying Security Chief Tasha Yar mainly in Star Trek: The Next Generation (season 1), season one of ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'', and Yar's daug ...

as Vicky Hotchner, Sarah's pregnant mother * Gary Werntz as Chuck Hotchner, Sarah's father *

Jason Dohring Jason William Dohring (born March 30, 1982) is an American actor, known for his roles as Logan Echolls in ''Veronica Mars'' (2004–2007, 2019) and its 2014 film continuation, Josef Kostan in ''Moonlight'' (2007), Adam Carpenter in '' Ringer'' ...

as Jason Thurman, one of Leo's classmates *

Mike O'Malley Michael Edward O'Malley (born October 31, 1966) is an American actor, writer and television producer. Born in Boston and raised in New Hampshire, O'Malley hosted the early 1990s children's game shows '' Get the Picture'' and '' Nickelodeon Guts ...

as Mike Perry, Leo's Astronomy Club teacher

Production

The origins of ''Deep Impact'' started in the late 1970s when producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown approached

proposing a remake of the 1951 film ''

When Worlds Collide ''When Worlds Collide'' is a 1933 science fiction novel co-written by Edwin Balmer and Philip Wylie; they also co-authored the sequel '' After Worlds Collide'' (1934). It was first published as a six-part monthly serial (September 1932 through ...

''. Although several screenplay drafts were completed, the producers were not completely happy with any of them and the project remained in "

development hell Development hell, also known as development purgatory or development limbo, is media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in a stage of early development for a long time because of legal, technical, or artistic ...

" for many years. In the mid-1990s, they approached director

, with whom they had made the 1975 blockbuster '' Jaws'', to discuss their long-planned project. However, Spielberg had already bought the film rights to the 1993 novel '' The Hammer of God'' by

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

, which dealt with a similar theme of an asteroid on a collision course for Earth and humanity's attempts to prevent its own extinction. Spielberg planned to produce and direct ''The Hammer of God'' himself for his then-fledgling DreamWorks studio, but opted to merge the two projects with Zanuck and Brown, and they commissioned a screenplay for what would become ''Deep Impact''. In 1995, the forthcoming film was announced in industry publications as "Screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin, based on the film ''When Worlds Collide'' and ''The Hammer of God'' by Arthur C Clarke" though ultimately, following a subsequent redraft by Michael Tolkin, neither source work would be credited in the final film. Spielberg still planned to direct ''Deep Impact'' himself, but commitments to his 1997 film '' Amistad'' prevented him from doing so in time, particularly as

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...

had just announced their own similarly-themed film ''

'', also to be released in summer 1998. Not wanting to wait, the producers opted to hire Mimi Leder to direct ''Deep Impact'', with Spielberg acting as executive producer. Leder was unaware of the other film being made. “I couldn’t believe it. And the press was trying to pit us against each other. That didn’t feel good. Both films have great value and, fortunately, they both succeeded tremendously." Clarke's novel was used as part of the film's publicity campaign both before and after the film's release and he was disgruntled about not being credited on the film. Jenny Lerner, the character played by Téa Leoni, was originally intended to work for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. CNN rejected this because it would be "inappropriate". MSNBC agreed to be featured in the movie instead, seeing it as a way to gain exposure for the then newly created network. Director Mimi Leder later explained that she would have liked to travel to other countries to incorporate additional perspectives, but due to a strict filming schedule and a comparatively low budget, the idea was scratched.Leder, Mimi and Farrar, Scott. Audio commentary. ''Deep Impact'' DVD. Universal Studios, 2004.

Visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the pr ...

Scott Farrar felt that coverage of worldwide events would have distracted and detracted from the main characters' stories. A number of scientists worked as science consultants for the film including

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. Astronomers observe astronomical objects, such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, galax ...

Gene Shoemaker Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televi ...

Carolyn Shoemaker Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (June 24, 1929 – August 13, 2021) was an American astronomer and a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9. She discovered 32 comets (then a record for the most by an individu ...

, Josh Colwell and Chris Luchini, former

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

David Walker, and the former director of the

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Gerry Griffin Gerald D. Griffin (born December 25, 1934) is an American aeronautical engineer and former NASA official, who served as a Flight controller, flight director during the Apollo program and director of Johnson Space Center, succeeding Christopher ...

Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed and conducted by

James Horner James Roy Horner (August 14, 1953 – June 22, 2015) was an American film composer. He worked on more than 160 film and television productions between 1978 and 2015. He was known for the integration of choral and electronic elements alongside tr ...

and performed by the

Hollywood Studio Symphony The Hollywood Studio Symphony (sometimes the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony) is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', ''Suc ...

Release

Theatrical

''Deep Impact'' was released by

in the United States and

internationally on May 8, 1998.

Home media

''Deep Impact'' was released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

on October 20, 1998,

LaserDisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

on November 3 and DVD on December 15.

Reception

Box office

''Deep Impact'' debuted at the North American box office with $41 million in ticket sales. It managed to cross over ''

Twister Twister most commonly refers to a tornado. Twister or Twisters may also refer to: Aviation * Pipistrel Twister, a Slovenian ultralight trike * Silence Twister, a German homebuilt aircraft design * Wings of Change Twister, an Austrian paragli ...

'', scoring the tenth-highest opening weekend of all time. For a decade, the film held the record for having the biggest opening weekend for a female-directed film until it was taken by ''

Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...

'' in 2008. The film grossed $140 million in North America and an additional $209 million worldwide for a total gross of $349 million. Despite competition in the summer of 1998 from the similar ''Armageddon'', both films were widely successful, with ''Deep Impact'' being the higher opener of the two, while ''Armageddon'' was the most profitable overall.

Critical reception

''Deep Impact'' had a mixed critical reception. Based on 98 reviews collected by

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 45% of critics enjoyed the film, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A tidal wave of melodrama sinks ''Deep Impact''s chance at being the memorable disaster flick it aspires to be."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave a score of 40 out of 100 based on 20 reviews, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. Elvis Mitchell of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' said that the film "has a more brooding, thoughtful tone than this genre usually calls for", while Rita Kempley and Michael O'Sullivan of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' criticized what they saw as unemotional performances and a lack of tension.

Accolades

At the 1998

Stinkers Bad Movie Awards The Stinkers Bad Movie Awards (formerly known as the ''Hastings Bad Cinema Society'') was a Los Angeles–based group of film buffs and film critics devoted to honoring the worst films of the year. The society was founded by Mike Lancaster and R ...

, the film was nominated for Worst Supporting Actress for Leoni (lost to

Lacey Chabert Lacey Nicole Chabert ( ; born September 30, 1982) is an American actress. One of her first roles as a child actress was the part of Bianca Montgomery, the daughter of Erica Kane, on ''All My Children'' from 1992 to 1993. She gained further pro ...

for ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...

'') and Worst Screenplay For A Film Grossing More Than $100 Million (Using Hollywood Math) (lost to ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

''). The film was also nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at the

Saturn Awards The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

but lost to both '' Dark City'' and another

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...

film, ''Armageddon''.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deep Impact (Film) 1990s American films 1990s disaster films 1990s English-language films 1998 films 1998 science fiction films Amblin Entertainment films American disaster films American science fiction films American survival films Comets in film DreamWorks Pictures films English-language science fiction films Fiction about comets Fiction about near-Earth asteroids Films about astronauts Films about families Films about fictional presidents of the United States Films about impact events Films about tsunamis Films directed by Mimi Leder Films produced by David Brown Films produced by Richard D. Zanuck Films scored by James Horner Films set in 1998 Films set in 1999 Films set in 2000 Films set in the 1990s Films set in the 2000s Films set in Tucson, Arizona Films set in Arizona Films set in bunkers Films set in Houston Films set in Texas Films set in Missouri Films shot in New York City Films set in New York City Films shot in New York (state) Films set in New York (state) Films set in North Carolina Films set in the Atlantic Ocean Films set in the White House Films shot in Virginia Films set in Richmond, Virginia Films set in Virginia Films shot in Washington, D.C. Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Maryland Films set in Maryland Films shot in California Films shot in Los Angeles Films shot in Malibu, California Films set in outer space Films with screenplays by Bruce Joel Rubin Films with screenplays by Michael Tolkin Paramount Pictures films The Zanuck Company films