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The Movie:
Ah, to remember a few years back, where competiting insect pictures, volcano pictures and asteroid pictures tried to fight against one another in the marketplace. As for the last match-up, that would be director Mimi Leder's "Deep Impact", which was released in theaters before Michael Bay's "Armageddon", with Leder's movie positioning itself as a serious drama that happened to have effects sequences.
The film stars Elijah Wood as Leo Biederman, who discovers a comet when he's at his local astronomy club. The comet, as the world will unfortunately find out, is on a crash course towards Earth. Later, TV reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) accidentially finds out about what she believes is a governmental affair with an "Elle", which turns out to be an E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event). Shortly after, the news about the comet is finally broken by the president (Morgan Freeman).
Despite the nearing disaster, the government has managed to create a spaceship that will be able to go to the comet, plant nuclear devices and knock it off course. The Russian/US team will be lead by Spurgeon Tanner (Robert Duvall), who is considerably older than the remainder of his crew. Back on Earth, humans prepare for the worst, as things look more and more grim.
Leder's film attempts to look at what people would face when confronted with the fact that there was a strong chance that Earth would be severely damaged or destroyed. While it is a noble idea and Leder has assembled a fine cast (Vanessa Redgrave, Leoni, Duvall, Maximilian Schell, James Cromwell, Freeman and others), the screenplay delivers some rather weak dialogue at times, occasionally seems somewhat cliched and the character building - which takes up the majority of the movie - is not always effective. Although I've warmed up to the movie in the years since I first saw it, I still don't feel as strongly about these characters as I should in a film like this - especially in the case of Wood's Leo and his girlfriend (Leelee Sobieski).
The film's visual effects were perfectly fine when the film was released in 1999, but the couple of major sequences here now appear slightly dated (possibly this new transfer makes some of the shots in the end sequence even more detailed, but it's also interesting to just see how CGI has advanced since "Impact"). I'm also still upset that "the caves", where people are sent to live when the crisis becomes worse, are never really shown. This could have been interesting to see and employed CGI well.
Pacing feels better now than it did when I first saw the film, but there are stretches at a few points in the middle that are rather slow. This is partly due to the screenplay and partially due to the performances. While none of the performances are inadequate, the film's energy level still seems a bit more subdued than it should be. Although the character drama in the film never quite lifts off, I've warmed up to the film over the years and feel that it's not bad.
The DVD
VIDEO: Paramount presents "Deep Impact" here in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. This release offers a fresh new anamorphic widescreen presentation, replacing the old non-anamorphic widescreen edition. While not without some faults, this new edition does provide some noticable improvements over the prior release. Sharpness and detail are better here, as the picture looks smoother and more detailed. While some shots still look a tad soft, the film overall appears visibly more well-defined.
Edge enhancement is not present, but there was a little bit of shimmering spotted in a couple of scenes. A couple of traces of pixelation were spotted, as were a few minor specks on the print. However, neither of these issues were really noticable. Grain is present in some shots.
The film's relatively subdued color palette appeared well-rendered and accurate, with no smearing or other faults. Occasional bright colors showed through nicely.
SOUND: Paramount once again presents "Deep Impact" in Dolby Digital 5.1. I've never found the film's sound design to be noteworthy, but with the film's lengthy dialogue-driven stretches, this is understandable. The few action moments do provide some moderately effective use of the surrounds for effects, but the soundtrack never becomes as aggressive as it could have been during the big sequences. James Horner's enjoyable score is nicely spread out across the front speakers and gets some minor reinforcement from the surrounds. Not much ambience present throughout, through. Dialogue is crisp and clear, while effects and score sounded full and well-recorded. Despite not having as much surround activity as I'd like, the film does pack some rather strong bass at times.
EXTRAS: The main supplement is a commentary from director Mimi Leder and effects supervisor Scott Farrar. Leder provides an enjoyable commentary, as she manages to offer a good deal of tidbits about the production while also retaining a fine sense of humor (she jokes that when Steven Spielberg told her about the movie, she thought that it sounded like a porn film and she wasn't interested). Farrar provides fine support, and provides some information about the effects in the film. In terms of production details, Leder provides an informative chat about working with the actors, changes to the film, deleted footage, the look of the film and operating on a tight schedule, among other aspects. While not an exceptional track, it is a largely enjoyable one.
We also get a series of featurettes. "Preparing For the End" is a fairly brief featurette that visits with both cast members and experts in the field, who chat about the realities of a potential comet impact in the future and how the story of "Deep Impact" developed. "Making an Impact" looks at the visual and physical effects, the elements that went into the major sequences and creating details and certain shots. We see (in rough/conceptual form) and hear about some interesting concepts that were not used. "Making the Perfect Traffic Jam" is a very enjoyable short piece that takes a look at the filmmaker's attempt to try and wrangle nearly two thousand cars on a stretch of highway to film a scene.
Finally, "Parting Thoughts" has director Leder talking about several aspects of the production in the matter of a few minutes, including the loss of cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann, test screenings, changes (we briefly see deleted footage) and what she was trying for with the film.
Rounding out the package are a photo gallery and both the teaser and theatrical trailers.
Final Thoughts: "Deep Impact" is an attempt to mix a dramatic character piece with an event film. It leans more towards character development, but the script has issues, such as being pulled thin by too many characters. It's a film with moments and I've warmed up to it over the years, but with more focus and intensity, it could have been better than it is. Paramount's new DVD edition offers improved image quality and a set of enjoyable supplements. Audio is the same. With the low price (around $12.99 in most stores), fans will want to pick this one up.
Film Grade
The Film ** 1/2
DVD Grades
Video 91/A
Audio: 87/B
Extras: 81/B
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