Deep Impact | Teen Ink

Deep Impact

January 20, 2020
By Anonymous

 Deep Impact proves to be an entertaining and well-composed science fiction story that focuses more on human emotion and drama than most other films in the genre. After the work of two high school astronomers gets noticed by a real astronomer, this said astronomer begins to discover that an enormous comet is on its way toward Earth. While there is a slight possibility that it's collision course could alter slightly, if the comet does in fact hit Earth, it could quite possibly mean that an extinction level event would occur and spell doom for the human race. Understanding that the entire human race could be affected, the United States government was quickly informed of the dangers and has secretly been working with the Russian government as well to try and find a solution. However, this incredible secret is forced to be released to the general republic when Jenny Lerner, a reporter and aspiring journalist, discovers the truth of the situation. Forcing the president, President Beck, to announce the plan of the United States and admit what is actually going on, believing that the general public have a right to know what's occurring, the general population of the entire world becomes informed about their potential fates. For nearly a year, the United States and Russian governments have effectively been building a massive rocket that they plan to send into outer space and meet the comet there. The rocket will be given tremendous nuclear weapons that will be put into the center of the comet by astronauts and used to try to destroy the comet once and for all. Lead by Spurgeon Tanner, who also goes by Fish, the team of astronauts plans on trying their best to deter the comet away from its course and save the entire planet. With Fish's experience as an astronaut that has previously gone to the moon and successfully landed, the astronauts feel that they are humanity's last hope to prevent doomsday. However, if the team fails, there will really be no second chances and the entire planet will have no choice but to plan for the next great period of extinction. 

 Deep Impact proves to be a dramatic and intense adventure that infuses together the threat of humanity's existence as a whole, while also posing plenty of thought-provoking scenarios, like what would a parent do for a child if both lives seem to be in immediate danger. Emphasizing the human element of the film, there is often the concept of how this comet will affect human lives, not just how it exists from a scientific perspective. This comet might be around the size of Mount Everest or weigh billions of tons, but its truth threat is the impact that it can have on families, children, and loved ones. No one on the planet can deny fearing the end of humanity's existence, and this natural fear of ultimate death is mostly responsible for causing all of the emotion and drama of the film. Human personality is almost always the heart of the movie, and that's why this adventure is able to produce mostly compelling and captivating characters that viewers can't help but root for. 
 Deep Impact relies on its ability to get to the heart of realism and produce a film that both has realistic science and realistic reactions to the threats to humanity. With aid from a few noteworthy performances, including Robert Duvall's Spurgeon Tanner, the movie does an impeccable job of making the characters at the core of the movie earnestly relatable and likable. Well-paced and steady enough to effectively produce meaningful drama, as well as substantial thrills at a fear of not knowing what happens next for the human race, the movie triumphantly deals with the issue of handling death. Death is still considered a threat in the movie, something to fear, and unlike other disaster movies where it seems like the death of a character feels significantly less profound, this is luckily not the case for this adventure. 

 Deep Impact takes audiences right to outer space and the comet itself, placing viewers directly into the various situations of all of the characters. With a balance between eccentric science fiction and very grounded human emotion, there is a stark contrast between the easy to like and the unbelievable, gifting watchers the best of both worlds. The cast is perfectly molded for the right characters, and headlined by Robert Duvall's terrific performance, the actors of the movie help to craft together the raw fear of uncertain death. The vivid visuals of the movie capture the true menace of the comet, but these visuals still never distract from the comet's emotional and mental impact. Capable of begging plenty of moral questions, the well-written story is sophisticated enough in all of the right ways. There might be a few questionable moments at times, but there's no denying that the movie's strengths are still superb. It's definitely worth seeing. 


The author's comments:

"Life will go on, we will prevail." - President Beck


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