Released in 1998 right around the same time as Armageddon, Deep Impact is not held in anywhere near as high regard as Armageddon. If you ask me, the main reason for this is that Armageddon had an all-time classic rock ballad from Aerosmith that took the world by storm!
How to Download Deep Impact
Deep Impact was released on May 8, 1998. You can download or stream the film from a digital platform. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice.
The Movie Review
Deep Impact vs. Armageddon: A Comparison
In all seriousness, Aerosmith are amazing, but I have always felt that Armageddon was a straight-up better movie. The thing is, Deep Impact is not a bad movie, but it is near impossible to think, talk, or as in the case here, review it and not mention Armageddon as they are very similar movies.
Deep Impact is about an asteroid that is on a collision course with Earth and it will be an “extinction-level event”. While this is the main aspect of the movie, we have three main plots that are tied to this. We have a reporter called Jenny who is investigating a state senator and she stumbles across this whole thing. She has an estranged father and we get to see her story unfold.
As well as this. We have a teenager called Leo (a young Elijah Wood) who finds the asteroid in space, we also get to see how the comet heading to Earth affects him and his family. Jenny is played by Tea Leoni and I know that she is a talented actress, but she has never played a character that I like! There is just something about her that I have always found unlikable, although it is nowhere near as bad here as it is in Jurassic Park III!
The Core Plots of Deep Impact
Once the world is told about the comet that is heading to Earth, we have our other main portion of the plot and that is the Messiah. The Messiah is a space shuttle that is heading to the comet to try and blow it up so that it does not destroy the Earth. While we have the stuff with Jenny and Leo, the space shuttle trying to destroy the comet is pretty much the same as Armageddon!
The human drama that revolves around the comet coming to Earth here is just not as interesting or as fun as Armageddon. Yes, Armageddon is cheesy as hell, but I find that movie far more fun and I think the characters are more likable than the ones that we have here. This is not a bad movie at all and as a disaster movie, it is fine, but I would never watch this over Armageddon. As a matter of fact, if I were going to watch this, I would probably say screw it and just watch Armageddon instead.
Special Effects and Ending of Deep Impact
To be fair, Deep Impact does have some good special effects and I think that these hold up really well. One way that it does differ from Armageddon is that we do not have as “happy” an ending here as we do in Armageddon. Although, even with that being said, I feel that Armageddon’s ending has way more heartbreak than this does, even if on a larger scale what happens here is far worse.
I would not say that Deep Impact is a movie that is worth giving a miss and if you have never seen it before or have not seen it for years, give it a watch. However, I have watched this a few times over the years, and each time I have, I have enjoyed it, but have wished that I watched Armageddon instead.
