Plot Overview"Deep Impact" is a 1998 American science-fiction disaster film directed by Mimi Leder. The story centers around mankind's last-ditch effort to prevent a catastrophic comet impact on Earth. The film follows a press reporter, an astronomy student, a U.S. President, an astronaut team, and common families as they respond to this approaching international catastrophe.
The DiscoveryThe movie begins with teenager Leo Beiderman (Elijah Wood) finding a brand-new comet, later on called Comet Wolf-Biederman. Well-known reporter Jenny Lerner (Téa Leoni) stumbles upon the story, forcing President Tom Beck (Morgan Freeman) to announce the lethal reality: the comet is on a collision course with Earth, assuring an extinction-level event. The United States and Russia have actually worked together on an option, a spacecraft called Messiah, to intercept and damage the comet with nuclear weapons.
Mission MessiahThe team of Messiah, under the command of Captain Andy Tanner (Robert Duvall), triggers on their risky objective. Though the team manages to arrive on the comet and plant nuclear bombs, the surge just manages to divide the comet into two smaller sized chunks, both still headed towards Earth.
The LotteryBack on Earth, President Beck starts a lottery system to choose 800,000 Americans to sign up with 200,000 pre-selected individuals in underground shelters, called "Arks". These shelters have been covertly constructed to make sure the survival of the mankind. Leo weds his high school girlfriend Sarah (Leelee Sobieski) and both their households are selected for the Arks but are later separated in the ensuing turmoil.
Disastrous Impact and AftermathOne comet fragment lands in the Atlantic Ocean triggering a mega-tsunami that ravages the eastern coast of the United States, submerging entire cities, including New York. Jenny Lerner, having actually offered her area in the Arks to her good friend Beth's child, accepts her fate on a beach in her father's arms. Leo handles to find Sarah but they are too late to reach the Arks, so they move to high ground and make it through the deluge.
The Final Act of BraveryIn space, the Messiah team understands the last hope to save Earth is another suicide mission to damage the remaining fragment. With Captain Tanner leading, they crash their spacecraft into the comet, lastly shattering it. Their brave act is successful, conserving Earth from the 2nd impact.
After The CometThe movie ends with the comet dust forming a majestic ring around the Earth, noticeable even in the daytime. The survivors emerge from the Arks, and President Beck delivers a genuine speech about the world joining for rebuilding, just as Leo and Sarah reunite with their households.
"Deep Impact" analyzes not only the international action to an approaching catastrophe, however likewise the personal struggles and courage from those facing completion of the world. This mix of human drama and science-fiction aspects make it a poignant catastrophe movie.
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